Heartbreak House, 1959: a Fantasia in What Manner?
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2014-09-23 Heartbreak House, 1959: A Fantasia in What Manner? MacWhirter, Kristal MacWhirter, K. (2014). Heartbreak House, 1959: A Fantasia in What Manner? (Unpublished master's thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26345 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/1781 master thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Heartbreak House, 1959 A Fantasia in What Manner? by Kristal L. MacWhirter A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF FINE ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN DRAMA CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER, 2014 © Kristal L. MacWhirter 2014 Abstract This thesis is a reconstruction of the 1959 Broadway production of G. Bernard Shaw’s play Heartbreak House. The first chapter examines the world in 1959. The second chapter consists of biographies of those involved in the production. The third chapter describes the action of the play and analyzes the reasons for the directorial, design, and acting choices. The fourth and final chapter gives the critical response to the play. The paper questions whether or not the vision of the director was realized by the cast and crew, and understood by the audience. It finds that while some aspects were understood the larger political point was lost, perhaps due to conflicts backstage or to cuts made from the original Shavian script. ii Acknowledgements Thank you to Dr. Barry Yzereef and Dr. Penny Farfan for their guidance, encouragement, and patience throughout the course of my studies. Thank you to George Demonakos and Jim Demonakos for taking the time to decipher, sound out, and generally make sense of the Greek letters that had been scrawled across a script in pencil 55 years ago, and then photo-copied. Thank you to my marvelous family, who always believed that I could do this, and never hesitated to remind me if I forgot; and in particular to Jenna MacWhirter and Katrina L. MacWhirter who provided copy-editing on a moment’s notice. Thanks also to my wonderful roommates Lindsay Thomas and Kandrix Foong who let me commandeer whatever section of the house I found most conducive to writing, and never, ever muddled my huge stacks of paper. Thank you to all of those who loved me through this lengthy process and never complained when I missed important events because I was lost in thesis land. Without any of these people none of this would have been possible. iii Dedication To my parents, Gil and Lois MacWhirter, who have always been proud of me. iv Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .................................................................................................................v List of Figures and Illustrations ......................................................................................... vi WHY THIS PRODUCTION?..............................................................................................1 THE WORLD AROUND THE PLAY ................................................................................6 THE MAKERS OF THE PLAY ........................................................................................15 HOW THE PLAY HAPPENED ........................................................................................48 HOW THE AUDIENCE VIEWED THE PLAY ...............................................................72 THE FINAL NOTE ...........................................................................................................79 APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................83 References ........................................................................................................................101 v List of Figures and Illustrations Playbill cover for Heartbreak House October, 1959. Image courtesy of Lilly Library, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN ............................................................................... 83 Ellie Dunn. Design by Freddy Wittop. Image courtesy of Hargrett Library, University of Georgia, Athens, GA ............................................................................................................. 84 Hesione Hushabye. Design by Freddy Wittop. Image courtesy of Hargrett Library, University of Georgia, Athens, GA ........................................................................................................ 85 Hector Hushabye. Design by Freddy Wittop. Image courtesy of Hargrett Library, University of Georgia, Athens, GA ........................................................................................................ 86 Captain Shotover. Design by Freddy Wittop. Image courtesy of Hargrett Library, University of Georgia, Athens, GA ........................................................................................................ 87 Diane Cilento as Ellie Dunn and Maurice Evans as Captain Shotover. Costumes by Freddy Wittop. Set by Ben Edwards. ................................................................................................ 88 Page 1-18 from prompt script, Act 1. Courtesy of Lilly Library, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN ................................................................................................................... 89 Page 2-18 from prompt script, Act 2. Courtesy of Lilly Library, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN. .................................................................................................................. 90 Page 3-9 from prompt script, Act 3. Courtesy of Lilly Library, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN. .................................................................................................................. 91 Handwritten composition for Shotover’s song in Act 1. Courtesy of Lilly Library, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN. ................................................................................................ 92 Elevations by Ben Edwards. Image courtesy of Lilly Library, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN. .................................................................................................................. 93 Elevations by Ben Edwards. Image courtesy of Lilly Library, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN. .................................................................................................................. 94 Elevations by Ben Edwards. Image courtesy of Lilly Library, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN. .................................................................................................................. 95 Elevations by Ben Edwards. Image Courtesy of Lilly Library, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN. .................................................................................................................. 96 Vines. Design by Ben Edwards. Image courtesy of Lilly Library, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN. .................................................................................................................. 97 vi Ground Plan by Ben Edwards. Image courtesy of Lilly Library, University of Indian, Bloomington, IN. .................................................................................................................. 98 Billy Rose Theater. Drawn by Ben Edwards. Image courtesy of Lilly Library, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN. .................................................................................................... 99 Letter of Permission from The University of Georgia ................................................................ 100 Letter of Permission from The Lilly Library .............................................................................. 100 vii INTRODUCTION WHY THIS PRODUCTION? “I should put quite plainly here at the beginning that I regard Bernard Shaw as the best and most useful dramatist in English since the author of Much Ado About Nothing turned gentleman and let fall the feather” (Vidal 223). This quote appears in the opening paragraphs of Gore Vidal’s review of Harold Clurman’s 1959 production of Heartbreak House. Vidal is not alone in his opinion of Shaw; many others enjoy the acerbic wit blended with social humanism. By the end of his life Shaw was respected my many, feared by some, and known to almost all of the western world. In the last forty years of his long life he wrote many of what are considered his greatest plays including Saint Joan, Major Barbara, Pygmalion, and as concerns this paper, Heartbreak House. Of all the plays he wrote in that period of his life Heartbreak House is very possibly the strangest. It was written during World War I, and the darkness