A SAMPLE OF WORLD WAR ONE PLAYS ON BROADWAY IN 1917

Several years ago while researching the New York Times relative to one of the World War One plays I hope to publish later this year, I came across a headline for a review that claimed this new war play was one of many.  I was surprised by the feeling that the reviewer seemed bored and disgruntled with war plays, however, this comment did not interfere with my designated quest. Recently his words “one of many war plays” resurfaced in my mind.  I decided to go to the library to search the New York Times Theatre Reviews in book form.  I know it's old fashioned, but I enjoy being in a library and using books for research!

I started searching for war play reviews beginning in January, 1917. I wanted to know the names of plays appearing in New York City theatres related to the war during the first several months of the year, prior to the United States declaration of war.  I was amazed at the variety of plays and intrigued by several. The first play of interest is titled As It Was in the Beginning by Arture Giovannitti, a poet and playwright of international reputation.  It opened on January 28^th at the Gaiety Theatre and was produced by the Stage Society. The play had been performed in Italian the previous Fall at the People’s Theatre in New York City.  It is “a study of hideous and brutalizing war . . .” stated the reviewer.

During the second week of February 1917, a new sketch in the revue titled Show of Wonders premiered. The sketch titled Submarine F-7 was touted to be “realistic and thrilling”.  The set represented a cross-section of the interior of a war submersible.  It was represented both on the surface of the water and then submerged when it engaged in underwater battle with an enemy ship.

In mid-March an article discussed a play that was “a big hit” in London.  General Post by J.E. Harold Terry was reported to be “an almost flawless comedy that is regarded as the best thing of its kind given in London in the last ten years”. The reviewer reported that the rights to this play were already secured for America.  The play opened in New York on December 24, 1917 and it played for seventy-two performances, which was considered to be a very successful run.

Another popular war play titled Out There opened March 27, 1917.  This play was written by J. Hartley Manners, who was married to the popular actress Laurette Taylor.  She starred in the production.  Shortly after the initial positive review of the play a second article appeared in the New York Times review section. This commentary was written by Alexander Woollcott, a renowned critic/journalist with a flamboyant personality. He reported that he was deeply touched by the act set in the field hospital.  He believed it “splendidly illuminates the picture” and represents “good journalist human interest.”  Impressive recommendation coming from Woollcott.

The United States declared war with Germany on April 7, 1917.  Many war plays of all types and from different periods of history including the Civil War were staged in New York City following that event. However, I want to mention two more New York productions focused on World War One. The first production is three one-act plays written by James M. Barrie that opened on May 14, 1917 at the Empire Theatre.  Two of the plays dealt with the current war. The New Word is set during the first year of the war and The Old Lady Shows Her Medals is set during the third year of the war.  These two plays were popular and The New Word reopened in 1918 as a revival production.

The second selected production is L’Elévation by Henri Bernstein, an accomplished internationally recognized French playwright. A New York Times article on June 7, 1917 mentioned that this play was causing a sensation in Paris.  It opened in New York on November 14, 1917.  The play’s theme dealt with the uplifting influence of war on the leading characters.  It is set in a hospital located in Salonica, Greece.

This recount of World War One plays presented on Broadway during the first six months of 1917 illustrates the variety of themes, genres, countries of origin, plots, and ideas these theatrical endeavors represented.  Several of these plays seem to deserve individual posts in the future since they spoke meaningfully to international audiences and appear to portray aspects of the war that audiences desired to understand and acknowledge.

If you have comments about any of the mentioned plays or know titles and playwrights of others written relating to World War One and performed during the first six months of 1917, please send your commentary to this blog.

PARSING WORLD WAR ONE PLAYS

The first several posts discussing specific World War One plays relate to two plays written after the war and one penned prior to it.  After reading numerous World War One plays from a number of different countries, I began to realize that the plays fell into three distinct segments—Pre War, During the War and Post War.  This is particularly true for plays written in Europe and Great Britain; however, there were also voices in North American that followed this pattern.

                   PRE WAR PLAYS (1910-1914)

This group of plays anticipated a war and discuss specific attitudes about how to be patriotic and/or heroic.  Others scripts make a case for not engaging in a war.  There are also plays that examined possible social and political changes that a war might introduce into the social and cultural environments.  Edward Knoblauch is one example of a playwright trying to use his art to provide insight into the growing possibility of a war.  Knoblauch, who changed the spelling of his name in 1916 to Knoblock when he became a British citizen, was born in the United States. He moved to Europe and then to London in order to establish his credentials as a playwright. He achieved his goal in 1911-12 with his box office success Kismet that successfully played in England, United States and France.  Knoblauch wrote two plays that fit the pre-war plays category.  Marie-Odile written in 1913 had its world premiere on Broadway in 1914. The declaration of war by England delayed its originally scheduled opening in London.  The story is set during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 and relates to the impact of war on innocent citizens.  The other 1913 play Knoblauch wrote is My Lady’s Dress, which also appeared on stage in London and New York in 1914. Its premise is that all countries share the responsibility of maintaining the achieved level of civilization, since many basic commodities for daily life were based on international manufacturing cooperative practices.  His example is a lady’s gown.  The silk was spun in Italy, it was woven into fabric in France, lace was made in Holland, sable trim came from Siberia and the garment was assembled in London. It was sold at a Bond Street establishment.

          DURING THE WAR (1914-1918)

There are several different types of plays that fit into this timeframe. 

•  Perhaps the most popular commercial plays written in English were the spy plays.  These plays were thrillers and often they included the element of romance.  They were very popular at the box office in many countries.  In Great Britain these dramas played to the public’s fears of embedded German spies, who had immigrated to England years earlier. Many of these plays also represented the British phobia of a surprise invasion by sea.

•  Patriotic plays helped to encourage behavior relating to supporting the war effort as well as building hope and developing courage. Sarah Bernhardt commissioned a play by Eugene Morand shortly after the war commenced in France. The play titled Les Cathedrals raised the hopes of the French citizenry and the soldiers at the front by providing national pride in victories of the past. Another type of patriotic play may also be dubbed recruitment plays. These dramas urged the population to contribute actively to the war effort. A patriotic identity also applied to women who were urged to join the war efforts in such areas as nursing or working in armament factories.

•  Social change plays were written during the war as well as after its conclusion.  There were plays concerned with the possible rise of Communism in their country following the war.  Many British and European plays in this category related to the erosion of the class system.    J. E. Harold Terry’s 1917 comedy titled General Post was a huge success throughout Great Britain for over a decade.  It is an entertaining play that was also well received on Broadway.  

•  There were numerous antiwar plays written in many countries.  While some countries banned antiwar plays from their stages during the war years, these plays were read by individuals.  One stunning example is the play Ein Geschlecht, It was written by Fritz von Unruh, an officer in the German army, who was from an aristocratic Prussian military family.  He wrote this play in 1916, as he fought his way to Verdun.  It is reported that young German soldiers in the trenches read hand written copies of this play.  This drama was an international success throughout Europe after the war ended.

•  Propaganda plays were assumed necessary to insure continuing support from the home front. These plays generally display negative sentiments about the enemy and his actions toward innocent victims caught in the jaws of war.  Outrageous acts of violence committed by the named enemy were thought to fuel the audiences’ hatred and add another layer of fear if the war was lost to this vicious foe. 

My listing of categories only focus on the plays presented on professional stages.  However, many theatre professionals presented productions written for charity events during the war years.  These plays were usually shorter in length and were often labelled skits or sketches.  There were various topics for these special events plays and many of the leading playwrights contributed to this type of endeavor. Some of the plays became popular and had a life beyond one event.

The third period for World War One plays will be discussed in the forthcoming post.