AMERICA’S SUCCESSFUL PROPAGANDA PLAY

Out There: A Dramatic Composition in Three Parts opened at Broadway’s Globe Theatre ten days prior to the United States declaration of war with Germany.  It played for eighty performances from March 27, 1917 into June.  The play is set in both England and France, but the characters are British.  Part One takes place during the autumn of 1915 in the one room Annie and her family occupy.  The leading character “Aunted” Annie possesses the spirit of patriotism which motivates her to go “out there” (to France) and do her part.

During Part Two, Annie, the young uneducated cockney woman from the London slums, is stationed at a field hospital and contentedly doing the humble cleaning work. Part Three, Division One takes place in the same location as Part One. Annie’s family learns she has returned to England to give recruiting speeches. Part Three, Division Two reveals Annie, in Trafalgar Square, as a fully qualified Red Cross Nurse giving an inspired and moving recruiting speech.  This play is about serving one’s country during the war, no matter how lowly the job may be.  It is a recruitment play for all manner of services needed during the war including soldering, nursing and manufacturing munitions.  

Out There was written by J. Hartley Manners (1870-1928), who was born in England. He dedicated Out There “To the wounded men in Cliveden Hospital in 1915, . . .”  Manners came to the United States in 1902 with a production of The Cross-ways which starred his co-writer, the famous British actress, Lily Langtry.  He also acted with her in the production.  He continue to act and write plays for the New York theatre after The Cross-ways closed rather than return to England. 

 His play written in 1909, The Great John Ganton, was well received and a young actress in the cast, named Laurette Taylor, was introduced to the American stage.  In 1912 Manners became a very successful playwright, when his production Peg O’ My Heart opened on Broadway with Laurette Taylor in the role of Peg.  This delightful production ran from December, 1912 until May, 1914.  It racked up 603 performances.  Taylor and Manners married in 1912 and he continued to write many starring roles for her, including “Aunted” Annie.

Out There was designated to be America’s professional theatre’s project to aid the Red Cross drive for 1918.  An “all-star” cast of fifteen leading Broadway actors and actresses was selected. The stars were household names across the United States, as well as in many cities in Canada.  The list of stars is impressive and may send you to Wikipedia to learn the extent of their fame, since actors are often as ephemeral as many plays tend to be. The cast included: Laurette Taylor, George Arliss, George M. Cohan, Chauncey Olcott, O.P. Heggie, James K. Hackett, George MacFarlane, Julia Arthur, Beryl Mercer, Helen Ware, H. B. Warner, James T. Powers.  Burr McIntosh spoke to the audience following the conclusion of Part One and sold one program autographed by the actors in each city.  Minnie Fiske, the most prominent actress on the American stage at this time, spoke after the play concluded about the Red Cross Appeal.  This was followed by Eleanora de Cisneros, an internationally recognized opera star, singing to conclude the event. De Wolf Hopper conducted the auction sales for seats prior to the arrival of the acting company.  All of these individuals donated their time and services to this project as well as paid their own expenses.

The play was scheduled to tour from May 13, 1918 to June 1, 1918. There were twenty-three performances in seventeen cities all east of the Mississippi River.  The tour was anticipated to raise a half million dollars, but the net income for the Red Cross tallied $683,248.  (Based on the value of the dollar in 2015, the “all-star” cast raised funds approximately equal to $11,700,000.) 

While Out There may sound serious and intensely patriotic, it has humor as well as its inspirational moments. The reviews were favorable.  Newspapers in Canada proclaimed this play as a “remarkable drama” when it was announced a different cast would tour several cities in Canada. The tour played Winnipeg in February, 1918.  A production was mounted in Vancouver to benefit the Great War Veterans. The Vancouver Daily World in its November 23, 1918 announcement about this production quoted the New York Times: “There is more that is good and true and appealing in “Out There” than in any other play the war has brought out.  It is just an unbefogged study in patriotism that may be more illuminating and inspiring than all the rhetorical records of valor in the history of this war. The really extraordinary hospital scene is of engrossing interest.”

Laurette Taylor wrote a diary of the all-star tour titled “The Greatest of These---“.  It was published shortly after the tour concluded.  It provides insights into the logistics of the tour itself. Out There and Laurette Taylor’s book provide an interesting glimpse into that specific time in history when the United States became actively involved in World War One.  The play touched the hearts and the consciences of many who saw it and helped to rally a nation to fulfill its promise to the Allies.

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.