Library Extension Publication April 1954 "No. 3
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P LAY S OF TODAY 1 95 0 - 1 95 4 C ORN E L IA SP EN C ER L OV E CHAPEL fi THE UN IVERSITY OF N ORTH CAROLI NA LIBRARY b lished our times ar c to b e anua A r n u Pu f a ye , O r, J ry, p il a d J ly, b the niv ersit o N or h a li I/ib a/r nter d s y U y f t C ro na r y . E e a s co d- c ass e b r 9 de e n l matt r Fe rua y 5 , 1 26, un r c the a t of A ugust 24 , 1 91 2 . h e il C ap l H l, N . C . TA BLE OF C ONTENTS D ec i e tor b Sidne Kin sl CHAPTER I . e t t v S y, y y g ey o r o er J n Hart The F u p s t , b y a de og The R ose Tattoo b T nne sse e Williams CHAPTER II . , y e o H h Herb rt The M on I s Blue, b y F. ug e arkn ss at N oon b Sidne Kin sl e CHAPTER III . D e , y y g y e co t ro osals b Ho ard Lindsa The Pr s t P p , y w y Russel C rouse o le he b a b illiam n CHAPTER C me B ack, Litt S , y W I ge a l sb o rn Poin t of N 0 R e turn, b y P u O The Memb er o the Weddin b C ars n McC ullers CHAPTER V . f g, y o i A i a L o s f rom the novel of C ole tte G gi, b y n t o , s rv d b hrist o h er Fr CHAPTER Venus Ob e e , y C p y m l Ta l r S ab rina Fair, b y Sa ue y o hr k os h Kramm CHAPTER The S i e , b y J ep o er To n o se h Fields erom C h d r v W nd ful w , b y J p J e o o o A a a era ohn van Drut n CHAPTER V III . I m C m , b y J e h koo A r h r Laure nt The Time of t e C uc , b y t u s e ath Rob ert A nderson CHAPTER T a and S ymp y, b y “ ' r urder Fr deri Kn tt Dial M fo M , b y e ck o ni illiam n CHAPTER ' . Pic c, b y W I ge e ea b eor A lr The S ev n Y r I tch, y G ge xe od e rucib le A rthur ill r CHAPTER ' I . Th C , b y M e e ll ook and C andle ohn v an Drut n B , B , b y J e The Kin and Hamm i CHAPTER ' II . g I , b y Oscar erste n Richard Rodgers o h c b r H m r S ut Pacifi , y Osca am e stein Richard Rodgers l R r ri i i m Bib liography of P ays, efe ence C t c s , Biography Special Reference Bib liography A ddres ses of Pub lishers A dditional Reference Bib liography C HAPTER I DETE C TIVE STORY—THE FOURP OSTER Detective S tor y is a savage, philosophical melodrama, show Ing all the things that can happen in a New Yo rk precinct po lice M n station between the hours of and 9 R . C ops a d robbers, - reporters and pick pockets , prostitutes and complainants come and go . From the plaintive shoplifter to the Navy hero who has committed his first larceny, the characterizations are finely shad ed t , the alk pungent and provocative . Some of the criminals are incurably evil , while others need help and a kindly break . “ The law is upheld by an interestingly assorted crew of officers , k f wor ing with apparent casualness , but deadly e ficiency, from L the tough tf Monoghan to the humane detective Brody . Th Mc e e pivotal figure of the play is Detective L od, a plain clothesman whose hatred for a drunken father makes him favor d the third egree, pass sentence upon arrest, and hold that all human actions are either black o r white . When he beats up a surgeon , who has caused the death of two girls by illegal opera tions , he is trapped by his own fanatical intolerance . His wife ’ M as one of s ary, the apple of his eye, w onc e the doctor s patient , and McLeod cannot find it in his heart to forgive her, tho ugh f ’ he makes the ef ort His climactic death , from a killer s bullet , is perhaps the best solution , since we are told that his mother ended her days in an insane asylum . T urning from this crowded and turbulent scene , relief may be obtained in a gentle little two - character play endowed with o r oste charm and quietly engaging humor . F u p r takes its title from a huge o rnate bed with a tester that changes with the dec ades . It is a symb ol rather than the center of married life , standing in a corner and witnessing the happiness , the big and - fi e little tragedies of the wedded state , over a period o f thirty v years , 1 890 to 1 925 . n i Agnes a d Michael are shy on their wedding night . The r l b r T f first chi d is o n in a year . hey dif er strenuously over social b ehavior and the training of children , and twice are on the verge of separating . Seen through their commonplace experiences , im marriage looks ludicrous at times , occasionally downright f and . possible . But it is requently tender sometimes touching 2 P LAY S or TODAY a At the end of the pl y, their children married and settled , the couple prepares to move , leaving behind them the old family bed , which is too big for the new apartment . With sentimental re gret, plus a final bicker , they make it ready to greet the next ho generation of newlyweds , w without doubt will repeat the same familiar scenes . Fourposter was beautifully acted in its New York showing by Jessica Tandy and Hume C ronyn , a couple working together as harmoniously as the Lunts of yore , or as the Rex Harrisons — - - o f today who , b y the way, were Agnes and Michael in the moving picture version . SUBJECTS FOR STUDY i n Kin sl e 1 . D e te ctive S tory , b y S d ey g y om o f he scene s t o e rea al d. h Outline the plot , se le cting s e t b d ou S ow in these how Kingsle y has comb in e d b rilliant do cume nt ary reporting with m A lso that the ch aract ers are ell dra n the theat rical melodra a. w w , h e ro de scene s s ilf ull handle d. detectiv e s diff e rentiate d, t c w d k y r L h c e tion h e r e erienc e ith S chn id r to o Is Ma y Mc e o d t e ex p , xp w e e ? p atently manuf acture d t o fit the plot in on the inev itab le ne s a er re orte r too much Do you think Joe Fe s , w p p p , of a stock ch aract er ? i m tic h i air o Mc Le od in s ite of disli n hi . No Lt . Mo nog an s f t , p k g e ’ el h f o h m how McLe o d s ch aract e r gradually develop s . Do you fe t at r i death was the only solution ? nd lo e - stor b t een san C armichael and Do you think the se co ary v y, e w Su ? as ell -handled A rthur Kindre d, w w ? What is yo ur final e stimat e of the play h our oster b Jan de Harto 2 . T e F p , y g r f o A ne s Micha l and he i alici d lana Using thre e reade s, r g , e , t t ze exp m rmit If not c rtain art s uch as he h ole la if ti e e s . tions , give t w p y p , e p , s an ce ne I in b oth A cts Two and Three c o l d b e A ct One , S cene II , d S , u summarized and omitt e d. A dditio nal Re ading Men in White ; De ad E nd ; b y Sidney Kingsle y ir liff o de t C ountry G l, b y C rd O s CHAPTER II ROSE TATTOO—THE MOON IS BLUE T ennessee Williams, one of the most promising of our young playwrights , whose most successful plays have been S treetcar amed D esire lass Mena erie N and G g , has spent some time in t Italy and S icily, and come up with a play of a different ype, a - folk comedy about a Sicilian family living on the Gulf C oast , a erafina - between New Orle ns and Mobile .