364940

Lennox Robinson and Synge's Playboy (1911-1930): Two Decades of American Cultural Growth Author(s): Ida G.
Everson Source: The New England Quarterly, Vol. 44, No. 1 (Mar., 1971), pp. 3-21 Published by: The New England Quarterly, Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/364940 . Accessed: 14/02/2014 14:29
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NEW ENGLAND QA4RTERLY

MARCH
LENNOX
THE
1971
ROBINSON AND SYNGE'S PLAYBOY (1911-1930): TWO DECADES OF AMERICAN CULTURAL GROWTH
IDA G. EVERSON
1911, when Lennox Robinson and his Abbey BETWEEN first Players producedSynge's "Playboy"in America,'and it at Amherst withan all-American cast, 1930,whenhe revived a greatchangehad taken place in the attitudeof American audiencestowardthe playsof the Irish Literary Renaissance. In two decades,a drama thathad been booed and hissedin Bostonand New York,and had been termedimmoral, indecent,and libidinousin Philadelphia,had won its way to enthusiastic New Enacceptanceon the stageof a conservative gland college. What had wrought the change?A definitive answerto this would run to But excerpts question book-length proportions.
1 The Boston performancewas not the firsttime that "The Playboy" was produced in America.See JamesO'Donnell Bennett,"The Playboy of the Western World for the First Time in America" (The Sunday Record-Herald, Chicago, April 11, 19gog).The firstperformanceof "The Playboy" in America was given on Tuesday, April 13, at the Illinois Theater, Chicago, by Hart Conof Music. way's studentsin the School of Acting of the American Conservatory This performance was by a nonprofessionalcompany and seems to have made little stir.The reporterreferred to the acting as "extremelycreditable." (Photostat copy of the Chicago Record-Herald, April 14, 19gog, kindlyprovided by Mr. William Donovan, of the Chicago Public Library Newspaper Service, together with a letterto the author,February19, 1968).
THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY
fromMr. Robinson's own perceptive writingson the subject, togetherwith a consideration of the circumstancesin which he produced the play in 1911 and again in 1930, throw considerable light on a significantperiod in the development of the American dramatic consciousness. The storyof the stormyreception accorded "The Playboy of the Western World," when it was produced in New York as American tour (191 1part of the repertoireof the Abbey's first it is known need detailed too well to 1912) repetition.2Suffice to say that the New York audiences-especially their Irish contingents-saw in "The Playboy" such a defamation of the Irish character that their angry protestsmade it necessaryfor the whole of the firstact to be repeated. Arthur Sinclair, a gifted actor of the early Abbey Company, was pelted with potatoes when he made his first appearance in the play in New York. On that occasion, Robinson, a young man of twentyfive, took it upon himself, as Director of the Company, to throwout some of the offenders bodily fromthe theater.3The disturbance reached a climax in Philadelphia, where the whole Company was arrested.4 Upon a telephone call from Lady Gregory,however, John Quinn,5 a New York lawyer and a friend of Yeats, left his officeand appeared unexpectedly in the Philadelphia courtroom. "The dramatic event," wrote Lady Gregoryin Our Irish Theatre, "was the arrival of Quinn while a witness was being examined." Quinn's expert handling of the situation brought a victoryforthe Irish players,and the case was dismissed a few days later. "The Company are in a state of fury,"Lady Greg2 Lennox Robinson, Ireland's Abbey Theatre (London, 1951); see also Ida G. Everson, "Young Lennox Robinson and the Abbey Theatre's First American Tour (1911-1912)" in Modern Drama (May, 1966),74-89,and Michael J. O'Neill, Lennox Robinson (New York, 1964),653 See Robinson, Ireland's Abbey Theatre, 96-97; also his "Homage to America," (Iv, New York), Aug. 3o, 1956, 2. This is the last of a series of four talks given over Radio Eireann, typescript copies of which were provided by the late Mr. Francis MacManus, of Radio Eireann. 4 See Lady Gregory, Our Irish Theatre, 225. 5 For a full-lengthstudy of John Quinn, see Benjamin L. Reid, The Man fromNew York; John Quinn and His Friends (New York, 1968).
ROBINSON AND SYNGE'S PLAYBOY
adoreJohnQuinn, and his name will pass oryadds,"but they into folklore... . He spoke splendidly,with fire and full in You will see whathe said about the witnesses knowledge. theNorthAmerican and even Robinsonsayshe 'came like an There werea fewotherfriendly reactions to theIrishplays, but forthe mostpart,the plays,the actors,and theircourametwithviolentabuse in 1911.As Robgeousyoungdirector inson has modestly pointedout, withoutthe high qualityof the playsthemselves workof and the sincereand convincing the actors,he could have done little to win friendsamong thoseearlyhostileaudiences. Robinson did not accompanythe Abbey Playerson their in secondtourof 1912,but he waswiththemagain as director 1913 and 1914. When this last tour lost money,and Lady him formismanagement and blamed him criticized Gregory foritsfailure, withtheCompanyin his connection he severed June,1914. His nextmovewas to tryto enliston the side of The becauseofnearsightedness. theAllies,buthe wasrejected was the an annual tour States the make of of to plan Company Insurrection thwarted by World War I. Then came the Irish of 1916,duringwhichperiod he watchedthe AbbeyTheatre forexistence struggle againstgreatodds. In 1919,Lady Gregand rethevalue of his leadership, and Yeats,recognizing ory theirearliercensureof him, invitedhim to return gretting as Manager and Producer,a position which he readily achad neverbeen whollyalienated from cepted.His affections He the Abbey Company. was, in fact,exceptforbriefinterwiththeAbbeyfor or indirectly connected vals,to be directly when it October, fifty years-from produced his first 19o8, in his death The Name-until October,1958. Clancy play, career in but unremunerative an active After (1919-1928), producer,and editor, England and Ireland, as playwright, Robinson feltthat the time was ripe foranotherAmerican visit.He did not take the Playerswithhim thistime,but ar6 Gregory, 229, 231.
angel'."6
ranged a private lecture tour, which was to last from October 19, 1928, until January, 1929, and would take him fromNew York to Chicago. A passage in Curtain Up hints that Lady Gregory'scriticism still rankled: It was in theheightof theinflated timesand European lecturers could earngood money. I did not earn a greatdeal, I was one of the smallerfry, but forthe first timein the StatesI reallyenjoyedmyself.No theatreor companyof playerswas dependenton me, if I made mistakes no one paid thecostbut myself.... For the most part, Robinson's lectures on this informaltour were well received. The bitter opposition which he and his playershad encountered in 1911 had practicallyvanished. The "Troubles" in the homeland had brought perspective. The establishmentof the Irish Republic in 1925 made it less imperative that the image of the stage Irishman be kept freeof all traces of impurity.The battle forpolitical freedomwas being won, and therewas a whole new generation of Irish-Americans in the theater audiences. Education had made its impact, too, an impact difficult to estimate in termsof influenceon the cultural maturityof the audiences. In the first quarter of the century,dramatics on college campuses had gained such momentum that Robinson was able to write of this new generation of 1928: "Chauncy Alcott and Boucicault meant nothing to them, instead they rejoiced and took pride in Synge,Yeats, Murray,8Gregoryand O'Casey."' He was keenly sensitiveto the leavening influenceof American professorswho sympathized with the new movement. In Curtain Up he acknowledged his debt to them: Most Americanuniversities and collegesconsiderthe drama in all its aspects, to acting,scene-designing, play-writing, production, be a subject as seriousas mathematics or medicine and a student can "take" it. Such colleges have their theatres, which exist not 7Robinson, Curtain Up (London, 1947), 147-148. Permission to quote this
passage was generouslygiven by Michael Joseph,Ltd., the publisher. 8 T. C. Murray(1873-1959), author of Birthright, deservesto be betterknown. 9 Robinson, Ireland's Abbey Theatre, 98.
ROBINSON
AND SYNGE'S PLAYBOY
each solely for the sake of amusementnor for one performance termof Charley's Aunt or The Merchantof Venicebut as a workwill be taughtto act, to make and paint shop where the students to even to write plays. When we visited scenery, studylighting, Bostonin 1911GeorgeBaker had his play-writing class at Harvard and was muchscoffed at byfellowprofessors and thepublic but the laugh was withhim when a fewseasonslater the threebiggestsuccesseson Broadwaywere theworkof his pupils.10 Not only did Robinson sense greateroriginalityin dramatic productivity-a kind of coming of age of American playwriting-but an improvementin taste as well: The Broadwaysuccessesin 1911 had been mostlycopies of English or French drawing-room plays. Now all that was changed. There might, indeed,be drawing-room playsbut theiratmosphere was Park Avenue,not Mayfair. mostof the And, more significant, could have occurred than and for nowhere else in America plays this fact,I think,our visitsyearsbeforewere largelyresponsible. Our Irishplayshad taughtyoungAmericanplaywrights thatthere was Americanmateriallyingreadyto theirhands,materialwhich was germaneto Americansoil and to no other. Syngeand Lady T. C. Murrayand many another Irish playwright had Gregory, shown them how fromthe lives of "humble" people, tragedies, and comediesmight be shaped. Had not Syngewritproblem-plays, ten thegreatest one-acttragedy in themoderntheatre takingas his characters in fisherfolk a little in the West ofIreland? poor cottage Had not Lady Gregorymade high comedy-not farce-out of a butcher and a postmistress and a group of village characters? America was not slow to catchthe idea. The Negro became Young a subject,so did the toughChicago newspaperman, and the Kenwife in the Middle tuckymountainman and the lonely farmer's West."1
toCurtain up, 150. See also Barrett H. Clark, Eugene O'Neill (New York, 1947). When Clark asked J.V. A. Weaver, O'Neill's classmate,what O'Neill had to say about Baker's course in play-writing, he answered: "Well, not much out of the actual classworkitself....The plays I wroteforhim were rotten.... Yes, I did get a great deal fromBaker-personally. He encouraged me, made me feel it was worth while going ahead. My personal association with him meant the devil of a lot to me at that time," 27-28. Reprinted by permissionof the publisher,Dover Publications, New York. 11 Curtain Up, 153-
Perhaps Robinson's affectionfor his actors, his high regard for their talents, and his enthusiasm for the realistic plays which Irish authors were writing caused him to overestimate theirinfluenceon American playwrights, but Eugene O'Neill's is the Irish players..." "It was testimony convincing: seeing he wrote, "that gave me a glimpse of my opportunity... I went to see everything that theydid."12 Since his lecture tour of 1928-1929 took him as far west as Chicago, Robinson was now in a position to note new trends in the literature of the Middle West-trends other than those connected with the theater,and he was able to contrast these with what was going on in New England during the same period: When Boston was issuing a new annotated edition of Longfellow,Chicago was publishing "The Little Review"'3 edited by an impecuniousyoungwoman called MargaretAnderson.14 The in most States were conadvanced writers the to youngest, glad tributeto it. When it moved itselffrom to York the New Chicago first of in its chapters JamesJoyce's"Ulysses"appeared pages. In the earlyyearsof the century Frank Norrisin his powerfulnovel "The Pit" was showing up thegrainracketin his nativecity, Upton Sinclairdid the same thingabout the stockyards in "The Jungle" and Theodore Dreiserwas writing his pitilessnovelsabout middlemiddle-west American life. As for poetry,Harriet Monro class, her herself-had [sic]-a poet magazine "Poetry"in which young T. S. Eliot, Robert Frost,Ezra Pound, Vachell [sic] Lindsey [sic] and Carl Sandburgfoundtheirfirst readers.Their poetry shocked the conservative school: Carl Sandburgdefiantly retorted:"Here's the difference betweenus and Dante. He wrote a lot about Hell and neversaw the place. We're writing about Chicago afterlooking the townover."15
12Arthurand Barbara Gelb, O'Neill (New York, 1962), 172. 13 This was a quarterlyjournal of arts and letters.The special theaternumber (Winter, 1926) carried an article by Otto Kahn entitled "The American Stage: Reflectionsof an Amateur," in which he observed that "The sap is running strongin the tree of American dramatic art." 14See MargaretAnderson,My Thirty Years,An Autobiography(New York, 1930),forcopy of galley proofsof two pages of Ulyssescorrectedby JamesJoyce and (between 215 216). 15Robinson, "Homage to America," ni, 2-3 (Chicago), Aug. 16, 1956.
ences.When Robinsonwas in New Yorkhe made themostof an opportunity to call upon Otto Kahn,American millionaire and patronof thearts, who was easilypersuadedto guarantee a thousand poundsagainstpossiblelosson a projectedtourof theAbbeyPlayers.'" To the Irishplaywright, anotherparticularly regratifying sult of the tourwas a suggestion Mr. CurtisCanfield, from of he the Amherst that visit the New faculty, Englandcollegeas to assist the in their guest-producer productionof Masquers World." Synge's "PlayboyoftheWestern When Robinson arrivedon the campus in May, 193o,he came alone. His players had not been in Americasince 1914. This performance would be a testing time. His lecturetour had convinced him thattheplay'sreception would be warmer thanthatwhichhad greeted it in theharrowing but earlydays, he must have had some misgivings when he faced the new forthere wereno familiar facesamongthemgroupofactors, no Sara Allgood,no Marie Nic Shiublaigh, no Arthur Sinclair. Robinson was now on both and known Although forty-five, sidesoftheAtlantic as a versatile man ofletters,1T he was stilla very shyman.'8 hailed himas "one of themosteminent Irishdramatists of the a summary of theintroductory lecday,"and featured present turewhich,according to his long-established he gave custom, a week beforethe production opened. His subjectwas "The AbbeyTheatre." "Ireland had neverhad any real dramatists
16This was the long tour of 1931 which "lasted forsix monthsand was an almost unbroken success.West to Vancouver, South to New Orleans, twenty-six of the United States were visited" (Robinson, Ireland's Abbey Theatre, 127). 17 He was also one of the Directors of the Abbey Company, the author of several plays popular with Dublin audiences, and the editor of A Golden Treasuryof Irish Plays. He had conducted the weeklydrama column of the London Observer(1924-1925), and, with Yeats he had helped Ninette de Valois establish her school of Ballet, at the Peacock Theatre, an adjunct of the Abbey in Dublin. remained to haunt Robinson nearly all of his life, 18 "An ingrained shyness and this characteristic caused some to considerhim either regrettably supercilious or irritatingly aloof. Yet, he tried to overcomehis shynessbecause he was veryfond of people and of their company" (O'Neill, Lennox Robinson, 25).
This lecture tour of 1928-1929 brought rewarding experi-
The college newspaper, The Amherst Student, of May 15,
10
of her own," he maintained, "as Goldsmith, Sheridan and Congreve were Irish only in birth." Yeats, Lady Gregory,Edward Martyn,these were the names that stood out-names that firedhis imagination, for these three, he said, had, in recent years and through many hardships "worked tirelesslywithout ." Soon many native people bepay to carryout their ideal ... for the theater. It was now no came interestedand wrote plays longer necessaryto depend upon English playwrights.Instead of being customaryheroic or historical dramas, theytook on a truly Irish aspect. Another new tendency was the use of the peasant's speech in a serious way.19Thus Robinson prepared the audience to appreciate Synge's special contribution to new developments of the form. The cast had been chosen, and the rehearsals, under the direction of Mr. Canfield, had already been under way for six weeks. It would be of interestto know just how Mr. Robinson approached this new venture, forthe success of the "Playboy" on thisoccasion, must have meant a great deal to him. It would be his first attempt to produce the play in America since the to reconpainful experiences of 1911. But it has been difficult structanythingof what went on during the rehearsals. Impressions fade, and memoryplays tricks. Harriet Whicher, who took the part of the Widow Quin, wrote: Even afterthreeweeksof attemptedreminiscence, I have been unable to recall anything about Mr. Robinson's part in the direction of the play. He was at the rehearsals, but Mr. Cancertainly, fielddid all the actual directing. Since Lennox Robinson stayed at the Canfields', he undoubtedly of gave Mr. Canfieldthe benefit his experience,but the actors never had any direct advice from him. I thinkthatonlyMr. Canfieldcan tell you how much he contributed.I remember that Mr. Robinson had nothingto do with the castingof theplay. He was always charming,encouraging,and humorouslycom19 The AmherstStudent,May 15, 1930,1,4. While he was at Amherst, Robinson spoke also at Mount Holyoke and at Smith.
11
of the cast. But in his conversations with themembers plimentary to Mr. Canfield.20 I am surehe leftthedirecting Likewise, Ralph C. McGoun, a young instructorat Amherst in 1930, and technical director of the Masquers' production, was unable to help to recreate the scene of the rehearsals. "It is difficult to recall details that far back," he wrote, "but I think Curtis Canfield directed the play with assistance during the last rehearsals fromMr. Robinson.'"21 Professor Canfield was much more definite in his recollection: Lennox Robinson overhere in thespringof 1930 Yes, I brought to direct the AmherstMasquers' productionof "The [he wrote] Lennox and he staged was wonderful as our director, Playboy."... theplay in muchthesamewayas it was done at theAbbey.He was our house guest forthe rehearsalperiod and endeared himselfto the cast while charmingthe whole community.... The performance was an extraordinary success.22 The seeming discrepancy in these reports may best be explained by Mrs. Whicher's assumption that since the visiting producer stayed with the Canfields,he doubtless gave his host the benefitof much personal experience but relied upon Mr. Canfield to put it to practical use. Furthermore,Mr. Robinson's inordinate shyness may have prevented him from any show of authoritywhile he was directing. An interview with ProfessorHarold G. Merriam, at the University of Montana, who later invited Robinson to direct a play there and who was present at several of the Missoula rehearsals, reveals that the guest producer seldom, if ever, gave direct advice to the players. He made quiet observations from time to time-little
20 Excerpt from a letter from the late Mrs. George F. Whicher to Ida G. Everson, March 13, 196421 From a letter to Ida G. Everson, March 23, 1964. In a recent interviewat Amherst(Aug., 1968), ProfessorMcGoun was still unable to recall specificdetails of the production. 22From a letter fromDean F. Curtis Canfield to Ida G. Everson, April 6, 1964-
12
more than hints-and left the actors to discover their mistakes for themselvesand to take the initiative in correctingthem.23 Although it has not been possible to give an adequate account of the rehearsals of the "Playboy," rather full details of the physical difficulties under which the play was produced are available. An editorial entitled, "Dramatics under Handicap," in The AmherstStudent, May 22, 1930, is representative of a situation with which the dramatics departmentsof many American colleges of the era were faced. In fact,the editorial still has a familiarring: College Hall24 was built one hundred and one years ago foi churchand Sundayschoolexercises. The mostthatcan be said for it now is thatit is admirablyadapted forshadow pantomimes, and that it does provide a convenientplace for the annual ice-cream rush.... The sloping floormakes it all but impossible to put in stage is primitive;and thereis no provision screws;the lightingsystem forfly be in thecramped, Sets must constructed darkcellar, scenery. and thereis no roomforstorage. The uncomfortable seatsproduce a restless audience,hard to please; and the acousticsof thehall are deplorable. But such handicaps were no deterrentto the spirited players, and the Amherst Masquers were soon able to announce their production of J. M. Synge's "The Playboy of the Western World," to be given on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, May 21 and 22, 1930, with the following cast "Directed by Lennox Robinson and Curtis Canfield":25 Mahon ................... Christopher Old Mahon, his father ................ Michael JamesFlaherty...............
23
KennethK. Berry Curtis Canfield Richard G. Gettell
24 College Hall, built in 1829,restoredin 1905 by the class of 1884,still stands, an imposing example of early American architecture.It is no longer used for play production,however,having been superseded in 1938 by the new Kirby Theater, the bequest of Dr. Ellwood Kirby,of Philadelphia. 25From a photostat copy of the program provided by Amherst College Library.
Missoula, Montana, Aug., 1967.
Informationfrom an informal conversationwith ProfessorMerriam, at
ROBINSON AND SYNGE'S PLAYBOY MargaretFlaherty(called "Pegeen Mike") his daughter ................ Shawn Keogh [sic],her secondcousin, a small farmer ...................
Philly Cullen, ............
13
Hildegarde [sic] Thorp J. F. Webb III

Robert J. Ogilvie
small farmers
.....
.....
Jimmy Farrell,J...................... Widow Quin ...................... Sara Tansey ....................... Susan Brady ...................... village girls Nellie Doolanj ....................... Peasants .............................
FrancisR. St. John HarrietWhicher Katharine Canfield KatherineHoag Rita Dewey Malcolm C. Greenaway Andr6C. Fontaine William Allan JeremiahIngersoll JamesM. Weldon
Honor Blake f.......................
Irene Salmon
Since the review is not readily accessible, it is quoted here at some length: No riot occurred last night at College Hall as the Amherst Masquersopened theirlastplay of the season,Synge'srichcomedy, The Playboyof the WesternWorld,but an appreciativeaudience did greetthe intelligent, with a treperfectly-staged performance mendousburstof applause at thefinalcurtain.The Masquers surmounted the difficulty of getting across the elusive quality of drama a which testified to the Synge's by spiritedinterpretation workofCurtisCanfieldand thegeniusof theguest-producer, Len26 Olaf Gunnar Johnson,Amherst,class of 1932; M.A. Harvard, 1941; Phi Beta Kappa. A letterfrom Mr. Johnson,Oct. 11, 1967, states: "I regret that I can supply no significant informationon the circumstances of Lennox Robinson's visit to the Amherstcampus in the springof 1930. I....had no connection with the Amherstdrama organization.Why then did I write my brash review? I was competingfor a place on the staff of the college newspaper, the Student. to my article sends a shudder down my spine afterthese ...Your veryreference many years...."
son,"26 which appeared in The Amherst Student, May 22, 1930.
The chief primary source of our knowledge of the first night's performance is a student review, signed "O. G. John-
14
nox Robinson of the Abbey Theatre of Ireland. KennethBerry,27 in a vivid but sensitiveportrayalof the Playboy himself,dominated theplay from themomentwhenhe made his first, crestfallen gloriousexit,and Mrs. W. L. Thorp, who appearance to his final, shared thehonorswithBerry, was an admirablePegeen Mike.... The only flawof the eveningfromthe viewpointof the audience was the difficulty of catching all the speech when dialect and drunkenness would combine to hinderclear enunciation. In theirlast play of the year,the Masquers pass fromsatireon to the workof a man who believed thatthe Babbitryand life-lies, function of thestageis to present realityand joy.28 JohnM. Synge in his Playboyof the WesternWorld wroteof a group of colorful Irish peasant folkin theirown racy,lyricallanguage. Mr. Johnson then gave a summaryof the action of the play followed with comment on the acting: The significance of thedramaas a satiricalcomedyhingeson the transformation of Christy Mahon from a weaklinginto a man who can rule Old Mahon, his father, at the close of the play. Berry's intense portrayalof the Playboy succeeded in making this final to theaudience. Mrs. Thorp leftlittleto be dechangeconvincing siredas Pegeen Mike, a wild girland fine-looking. The tenderlove scene betweenChristy and Pegeen,probablythe finest part of the was handled and It is to difficult play, surely. delicately say much of the othercharacters. did well their They although parts were morein the natureof backgroundforthe two principals.Mrs. G. F. Whicherwas a comicWidow Quin, who had killed herown husband and now tooka greatinterest in menfolk. J. F. Webb was the as the Shawn perfect cringing type God-fearing Keogh [sic], Pegeen's cousin who would have married her but for Christy Mahon. Shawn was entirely unlucky;he didn't even have a father to murder so as to becomea hero.The role of Michael Flaherty was taken by Richard Gettell in good Elizabethan fashion but an overlyeffective brogue made much of his speech unintelligible. Old Mahon, with his dramaticentrances, was taken perfectly by
27Kenneth Kelita Berry (Amherst,class of 193o), the only student member of the cast who played a leading part in "The Playboy,"died at the age of 35. InformationfromAmherstGraduates' Quarterly,Aug., 1945, 414-415. 28 Synge's "Preface" to "The Playboy of the Western World," was printed in full on the back cover of the Masquers' program.In it Syngewrote: "On the stage one must have realityand one must have joy."
ROBINSON
AND SYNGE'S PLAYBOY
15
CurtisCanfield, visibleappearance of theyearin a makinghis first and St. even Masquers' production. John Ogilvie were thedrunks, succeeded in faces in a who their wonderdrunks, heavy distorting ful fashion, enjoyable,no doubt foran audience not too squeamish.There maybe hope forAmherst yet,when a quartetof faculty wives can frolicthroughthe Playboy as theydid, in the parts of barefooted and strangely cleanfooted villagegirls. R. C. McGoun, in chargeof thetechnicalend of theproduction, deservesthe creditfor the single set of the play, the room of the public house withits scoresof bottleswithall theirown memories. With a tribute to Robinson's quiet influence and unassuming manner, and with a fewwords of appreciation fromRobinson himself to Professor Canfield and the cast, Mr. Johnson brought his account to a close: withouta word Anyreviewof thePlayboywould be incomplete forthe man behind the presentation, Lennox Robinson. The entireperformance was run offso smoothly that no one stopped to considerwhat was making the wheels go round. The directness and effectiveness of thePlayboyshowedtheexperienceand knowledge thatwerebehindit. The play was Irishbut not Irishyand the of everylittledramaticdetail helped to make the play perfection the well-staged unit that it was in the hands of the visitingplayand wright producer. Lennox Robinson, afterthe presentation of the Playboy,spoke of his pleasure in working with the local group. He said that he liked Berry'swork verymuch indeed and also felt that he, perfrom his workwiththeproduction. sonally,had gained something The stagebusinessof thePlayboyhas becomestandardized in Irish with deviations from the presentations many original text,which the Masquers followedto the letterlast night.ConsequentlyRobinson believesthathe has gained a new outlook on severalpoints of theplay through thenew problemswhichhave presented themselvesand by his associationwithCurtisCanfieldand his interpretationof thePlayboy.29 If today's readers of the review regret Mr. Johnson's omission of furtherinterpretationof the play, and especially the
herst Student, May 22, 1930, 1, 2, 3-
29All of the quotations fromMr. Johnson'sreview are taken from The Am-
16
fromwhich omissionof Mr. Canfield'sinterpretation-that it mustbe borne Robinsonsaid he himself had gainedinsight, in mind thatSyngeadmittedthat "The Playboy"had many
different aspects.30 In 1930, criticism of The Playboy had not yet crystallized into our present-dayperspective. It is not likely that a formal
analysisof the meaningof the play had taken shape at Ambetween Mr. herst,except perhapsin privateconversations who doubtlesswiselyagreed Canfieldand his guest-producer, to leave it to theaudienceto interpret theplayforthemselves. world of the West Western World backward Pegeen's (the Coast of Ireland) as symbolic of thewhole greatworldof the western thepride,thehope,the as a worldembodying nations, the human tenderness and poeticimagiof the yearning spirit; nationand ecstasy ofhumanlove,theremorse, theanguishand the despairof lost opportunity, the ironyand the comedyof the human dilemma-all this and more-was therefor each memberof the audience to enjoy accordingto the degreeof his discovery and his acceptance ofit. There were otheromissions in Mr. Johnson's review,but thesewereof thekindthatonlythepassingyears could fillin. In theperspective of today, one of themostappealingaspects
See Greene and Stephens,J. M. Synge (New York, 1959), 244: In a letter 30so to the Irish Times, Syngeonce wrote,"There are, it may be stated,several sides to The Playboy." Upon anotheroccasion, he wroteto one of his correspondents: of the whole play is my "Whether or not I agree with your final interpretation secret.I follow Goethe's rule, to tell no one what one means in one's writings. I am sure that you will agree that the rule is a good one." Two letters,quoted in Benjamin L. Reid, The Man fromNew York; John Quinn and His Friends, give interestingcontemporaryinterpretationsof the One is fromT. W. Rollesplay, when it was the subject of Dublin controversy: ton,Oct. 31 (apparently1911): "One sees in thesepeople a turbulentbut powerful life, a sort of geyserburstingup fromunknown depths. They are pathetically ignorant, wrong-headed,tremendously impressionable,and with no power of choosing what impressions should move them and what they should be impervious to; but theyare richly,intenselyvital, and, with any sort of decent chance to grow straight,this should save them in the end" (115). The other is fromGeorge Russell (AE), Dec. 7: "If Irish people only realized that Syngeloved his charactersand thoughthe was placing them in the most favorable way to show their vitality,their genius for speech and their naturalness, I am sure therewould be no rows at all.... They were told by mistakencriticsthat Synge
17
of of the 1930 performance is the factthatso manymembers thecastbecamefamousin theirrespective The student fields. ofHildegard reviewer awareoftheprominence was,ofcourse, Thorp (Pegeen Mike) as the wifeof Willard L. Thorp, Professor of Economicsat Amherst; and of HarrietWhicher(the Widow Quin) as thewifeof GeorgeF. Whicher, of Professor And he to an referred additional of English. "quartet faculty cleanfooted wives"who tookthepartsofthe"strangely village girls" who frolicked throughthe play. Of these,Katharine Canfield(Sara Tansey) was the wife of Curtis Canfield,Inin Drama; KatherineHoag (Susan Brady) was the structor wife of Gilbert T. Hoag, Instructor in English Literature; Irene Salmon (Honor Blake) was thewifeof DwightSalmon, AssistantProfessorof History; and Rita Dewey (Nellie was thewifeofAlexanderGordonDewey,Lecturer Doolan)31 in Political Science. What the studentreportercould not know was that Mr. Canfield,who took the part of Old and helped to directthe play,would become Dean Mahon82 oftheSchoolofDrama,at Yale University; thatRalph C. Mcof the play,would become ProGoun, Jr.,technicaldirector fessor of DramaticArtsat Amherst and Directorof its Kirby nor he could know in the Theater; that,among the students cast,Richard Gettell,who was thena freshman (playingthe would becomePresident of Mount partof Michael Flaherty), that Michael would Head become Holyoke College; James"3 of the Drama Department and of theTheater at KenyonCollege; and thatJeanF. Webb III (ShawnKeough) would make a name for himselfas a teacherand as a writerof fiction. A photograph of the castand staff has been preserved at Amwas sneering at the people he wrote about, and hence all the trouble" (116). Printed with permissionof Mr. Diarmuid Russell. 31 The role of "Nellie Doolan" was, apparently,added for the Amherstproduction. The printedversionof the play has only threevillage girls. 32 The AmherstMasquers is a studentorganizationbut theysometimeshave to call upon facultymembers,facultywives, or women fromother colleges to fill the roles. 33 Mr. James's name does not appear in the program but he is identifiedin the photographof cast and staff.
18
parts.34
herst College, with identificationof those taking the leading The Masquers' Production of the play in 1930 had a remarkable guest-producer and a remarkable cast-sufficient qualification forits claim to recognition by futuregenerations -but a note in the program for the opening night added further luster to the occasion: "The original manuscript of 'The Playboy of the Western World' is on view in the lobby." How this document reached Amherst for display at the time of the performancehas not been determined. Perhaps Lennox Robinson had something to do with it, for he knew John Quinn, the New York lawyer who had come to the aid of the Abbey Players when they ran into trouble with "The Playboy" on their first American tour of 1911-1912. Quinn purchased the manuscript directly from Synge in 1907 for ?2o3, and its recent discovery in Indiana indicates that it had been in the possession of the Quinn family for a considerable length of time. In 1965, Mr. David A. Randall, Librarian at Indiana University,brought it to the attention of the public after its whereabouts had been unknown formany years: I do not know much about its provenanceexcept that John fromSyngein 1907 for?2o; and in Quinn purchasedit directly at his it sale 1924 brought$700. I do not know the purchaser.It turnedup in the estate of Miss Mildred Quinn of Indianapolis who was a relativeof somesortand was thenpurchasedby us.36 The Chicago Tribune, of January 1, 1965, errs in stating that the manuscript was "unreported since its sale in 1924 when the collection of John Quinn... was broken up." The storyof its display at Amhersthad, however,been told at some
34 A copy of the photograph and identifications was provided for my use by the Librarian of AmherstCollege, Mr. E. Porter Dickinson. See Catalog of the AndersonGalleries,"The Libraryof John Quinn," Part S5 Four (Morris-Sterne), 1924,1, 995, entryno. 9971; "Original Manuscript of 'The Playboy of the WesternWorld.' Typed and writtenby the author on 118 pages of varying sizes, mainly quarto. In a crushed blue levant morocco solander case... ." 36From letterof Mr. David A. Randall to Ida G. Everson,Oct. 24, 1967.
ROBINSON
AND SYNGE'S PLAYBOY
19
length, in the Boston Transcript, of May 17, 1930,o and retold in the Amherst Graduates Quarterly: The "Playboy"manuscript is typewritten-it was Synge'scustom to typehis own work-but many alterationsare writteninto the textin red ink,in Synge'shandwriting. There are, also, notations on thereverse as memoside of some sheets, intended,apparently, randa forSynge's own attention, only-such as bitsof dialogue and notes of changes that he wished to make. The memory-jogging made with the effort changesin the textare sometimes apparently at a more picturesqueand flavory with an speech,and sometimes and simplicity. A greatmanyalterationsare coneye to directness cerned with "stage business,"with directions, and this,taken in conjunctionwith other changes,conduces to the belief that the alterations were largelythe outgrowth of the author'sattendance on rehearsals [in Dublin]. It is interesting to note that thisversionof the play-which correspondscloselywith the printedversion-bears no signs of any on Synge'spart to softenthe language which,regardedas attempt a slur on the Irish peasantry, occasioned the riot at the Abbey Theatre.... The history of theplay'scareerin America, whereNew England students its and were most effective greatest college supporters against the ignorantand vicious opposition,makes it peculiarly appropriatethat Synge'soriginalmanuscriptof "The Playboyof theWestern World" should finda resting place in a New England college library.38 Although this did not prove to be its final resting place, three manuscript letters at Amherst College indicate that it did remain for several years. One of these, from Edward Hutchinson Synge,J. M. Synge'snephew, dated December 28, 1931, addressed to "Dear Sir" [the Librarian?] reads in part: I believe the M.S.S. [sic] of The Playboyof the WesternWorld whichbelonged to Mr. John Quinn is at presentin the possession of theAmherst College.
A photostat copy showing Synge's corrections, 73 togetherwith a reproduction of Synge'sphotograph,was provided by courtesyof Mr. E. Porter Dickinson (AmherstCollege). 38 xIx (1929-193o),259-261.
20
Possiblyyou would be so kind as to let me knowdates,and numor typedby the authorat the beginningof written bers,or letters, each Act. I should like to have them to compare with the earlier M.S.S. [sic]of The Playboy.A9 Apparently Mrs. Cornelius Sullivan was the owner of the "Playboy" manuscript when she wrote on December 26, 1934, to ProfessorFletcher, Librarian of Amherst College: "Dublin is eager to borrow the manuscript and I have promised to lend it to them. It seems a fittingplace for them [the manuscript and some letters] to visit. Although there need be no hurry about it, I would like to have them as soon as it is convenient for you ... to send them."40 On January 3, 1935, a prompt reply, signed "Librarian," was sent to Mrs. Sullivan: We are now sendingthe SyngeManuscript,Lettersand Photograph to you by prepaid expressand we trustthat theywill make thejourneysafely and arrivein good condition.I need hardlysay that we have appreciated verymuch indeed your generosity in lettingus keep theseas long as we have and you will understand me whenI saythatwe see themgo witha greatdeal of regret.41 "All art is a collaboration," wrote Synge in his "Preface" to "The Playboy." He would have been pleased with this collaboration which made of his once controversial comedy an event of significanceand satisfaction.Working with the playwright'soriginal manuscript at hand to inspire them and with a distinguished guest-conductorto guide them, the sensitive cast gave a warmly acclaimed performance of a play which
39 The letteris dated from"Knockroe, Dundrum Co Dublin Ireland," and signed "E. H. Synge." Printedwith permissionof AmherstCollege Library and of Professor John L. Synge,brotherof the late E. H. Synge.Robert S. Fletcher was Librarian of AmherstCollege in 1931. 40 The letteris dated from "111 East 62nd Street,New York City" and signed "Mary Sullivan (Mrs. Cornelius J.)." Printed with the permission of Amherst College Library. 41 Printedwith permissionof AmherstCollege Library and of Mrs. Henry G. Dravneek, daughter of the late Robert S. Fletcher, who retired in 1935. The three lettersquoted above are in AmherstCollege Library.
ROBINSON
AND SYNGE'S PLAYBOY
21
the American yearsbeforehad been nearlyhootedoff twenty Under an the and gifted of enthusiastic co-direction stage. American and a techteacher, young by competent supported nical staff and an energetic studentreporter, the Masquers'
production of 1930 set an indelible stamp of approval on the once maligned "Playboy." This performance stands today as a symbol of Lennox Robinson's unremittingdevotion to the
cause of Irishnationaldramaand of his faithin theeffectiveness of the educationalprocessto adjust strainedhuman reIt standsalso as a symbolof Americancultural lationships. As a place-howevermodest-in the growth. such,it deserves of New England college dramaticsas well as in the history annalsoftheAbbeyTheatre.

364940

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Lennox Robinson and Synge's Playboy (1911-1930): Two Decades of American Cultural Growth Author(s): Ida G.

NEW ENGLAND QA4RTERLY

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

ROBINSON AND SYNGE'S PLAYBOY

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

AND SYNGE'S PLAYBOY

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

ROBINSON AND SYNGE'S PLAYBOY

This lecture tour of 1928-1929 brought rewarding experi-

The college newspaper, The Amherst Student, of May 15,

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

ROBINSON AND SYNGE'S PLAYBOY

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

KennethK. Berry Curtis Canfield Richard G. Gettell

Missoula, Montana, Aug., 1967.

Informationfrom an informal conversationwith ProfessorMerriam, at

Hildegarde [sic] Thorp J. F. Webb III

Honor Blake f.......................

son,"26 which appeared in The Amherst Student, May 22, 1930.

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

AND SYNGE'S PLAYBOY

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

ROBINSON AND SYNGE'S PLAYBOY

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

AND SYNGE'S PLAYBOY

THE NEW ENGLAND QUARTERLY

AND SYNGE'S PLAYBOY

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