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AnnArbor,MI48106 ---------- - -- -- ----~- ~---- THEATRICALISM IN THE PLAYS OF WILLIAM SAROYAN A DISSERTATION SUBMITIED TO TfI..E GRADUATE DIVISIONOF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OFTIlE REQUIREMENTS FOR1HEDEGREE OF DOCTOR OFPlDLOSOPHY IN DRAMA AND THEATRE MAY 1990 By Ki-Ae Kim Dissertation Committee: W. Dennis Carroll, Chairman Edward A. Langhans Roger Long Juti Thompson Joseph Maltby ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend particular thanks to Dr. Dennis Carroll, for his guidance throughout the writing of this dissertation; and to Ronald J. Mahoney, librarian at the Henry Madden Library, California State University at Fresno, and to the librarians at the Fresno County Free Library, for their gracious assistance in providing access to their Saroyan collections. iii ABSlRACf William Saroyan (1908-1981) was one of the leading American playwrights to attempt to create an alternative form to realism in the theatre. This concern led him to adopt various dramatic and theatrical techniques used in Symbolism, Surrealism, and Expressionism, as well as elements from popular American entertainment, such as vaudeville and the circus, without limiting himself to any particular dramatic movement. His stylistic variety makes it difficult to classify him according to the established norms of playwriting, but his plays can be explained by the term theatricalism, used by John Gassner to explain some plays and productions that intended to create "histrionic reality," as opposed to the illusory reality of realistic theatre. Gassner's definition of theatricalism provides a theoretical basis for understanding Saroyan's published theatrical plays. Saroyan's plays show changes in theme and in dramatic and theatrical techniques. In the 1930s Saroyan fulfilled his initial intention to introduce the American theatre to themes about Americans in American settings. During this period he employed a variety of dramatic and theatrical techniques, including lighting, music, dance, and performance modes. In the 1940s he focused more on theatrical experimentation, expioring one particular technique in each play, while thematically his presentation of American lives and settings became more allegorical and symbolic. iv In the 19508 he continued experimenting with one particular technique in each play, while seeking to universalize his presentations of character and exploration of themes. Saroyan's experimentation with theatricalism is inseparable from his thematic exploration of the interplay between illusion and reality. He chose nonrealistic dramatic structures and techniques of theatricalism to affect the audience and suggest ways of using the creative imagination to improve human nature and create a humane community. v - - --- --------- - -- TABLE OFCONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .iii ABSTRACT 1 •••••• iv PREFACE ................................... vii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION.................................. 1 CHAP'fER 2. TIIE 1930S 20 Subway Circus (1935) 21 My Heart's in the Highlands (1939) 38 The Time of Your Life (1939). .. 61 CHAP'TER 3. TIIE 1940S 84 The Great American Goof (1940) 86 Sweeney in the Trees (1940) 94 Across the Board on Tomorrow Morninl: (1941) 107 Jim Dandy: A Fat Man in a Famine (1941) 118 Sam Ego's House (1947) 135 CHAP'TER 4. THE 19508 158 The Slaughter of the Innocents (1952) . .. 159 The Cave Dwellers (1957) 170 The Dogs. or the Paris Comedy (1960) . .. 186 Sam the Highest Jumper of Them All (1960) 189 CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION................................ 203 BffiLIOGRAPHY . .. 211 Works by Saroyan ................................. .. 211 Works Consulted. ................................. .. 214 PREFACE William Saroyan is one of the most important playwrights of the mid-twentieth century who attempted to challenge the realistic tradition in the American theatre. His attempt continued throughout his long literary career, during which he experimented with a variety of theatrical techniques. Saroyan's ambition as a playwright was great, as great as his proclamation of his own genius. He once told his son Aram that his writing was an attempt to find out if a work of writing can be achieved out of a special program that will somehow have both freedom and form, for as you may know, I have for a long time been concerned about these opposites. I have wanted to find out if it is possible for me at any rate to balance them in a new work. (Balakian, "Saroyan on Saroyan" 358) Throughout his career Saroyan tried to fulfill this task of creating a style of theatre and playwriting that combined "both freedom and form." Many critics contend that Saroyan failed in this attempt, and never established his own dramatic style, or "essential Saroyan," as Balakian puts it. Saroyan's style, however, lies in the experimentation itself--an experimentation to test the boundaries of the theatre. Saroyan believed that realism had limitations that prevented it from fulfilling his purpose in writing. Although he did write some realistic plays, most of his published plays fit better vii ---------- -- viii with the goal of the theatricalists, who in a broad sense strive to explore theatre activities through various nonrealistic theatrical techniques. In this dissertation I will discuss Saroyan's theatrical plays from the point of view of a theatricalist, stressing theme, dramatic structure, characterization, and the various theatricalist techniques Saroyan employed. A variety of valuable research works is available on Saroyan. Edward Halsey Foster's William Saroyan provides a good introductory overview. David Stephan Calonne's William Saroyan covers Saroyan's published writings, with good insight. In his dissertation, "The Dissolution Process in the Early Plays of William Saroyan," Robert George Everding discusses both selected realistic and nonrealistic plays of Saroyan, stressing their dramatic forms. His careful analysis of Saroyan's plays provides insight particularly into their dramatic structure. Kenneth Lyon Fitts in his dissertation, "The Comic Vision in the Published Plays of William Saroyan," discusses the use of theatricalism in Saroyan's playas a comic technique, but tends to overlook any changes or development in Saroyan's use of theatrical techniques in various plays. In my dissertation I will focus on theatricalism in Saroyan's published plays, and will focus on those plays that particularly feature theatricalist techniques, except for a few theatricalist dramatic sketches. Saroyan also wrote a number of unpublished plays. His unpublished works are held by the William Saroyan Foundation and kept at the Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley, and I was not granted access to these works. ix Because I had a chance to examine only a few copies of unpublished plays and miscellaneous writings found in other collections, I have chosen not to discuss Saroyan's unpublished works. I will discuss the published theatrical plays in chronological order, in order to examine any development in Saroyan's theatricalism. My major research was done at four libraries, including the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, the Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley, the Henry Madden Library at the California State University at Fresno, and the Fresno County Free Library, in Fresno, California. I have divided my work into five chapters. In Chapter 1 I briefly discuss biographical information about Saroyan as it relates to his use of theatricalism in his plays and set out a definition of theatricalism. In the following three chapters I have grouped the plays according to their chronological order: the 1930s, the 1940s, and the 1950s and 1960s. Each period shows some differences in the use of theatrical techniques. In the plays written in the 1930s, Saroyan was able to create a great emotional effect