Representative American Plays/Preface
PREFACE
This volume is the realization of a long-cherished desire to bring together in a form convenient to readers and students of the drama a number of representative American plays. It is the first attempt to include in one collection a series of plays which illustrate the development of our native drama from its beginning to the present day. No other branch of our native literature has been so inaccessible. The work of the elder playwrights is preserved largely in rare editions or in manuscript and that of the newer generation has frequently remained unpublished through considerations of a nature which fortunately obtain less and less, as the real significance of our drama is becoming better appreciated.
In selecting the plays, the first consideration, obviously, was that they should have been written by native Americans. The only exception to this principle of selection has been made in the case of Dion Boucicault, who is so significant a force in our dramatic history that his inclusion seemed necessary. At the outset also, it was determined that no play should be selected which had not had actual stage representation by a professional company. The closet drama is interesting in its place, but its significance is slight compared to that of the acted play. This consideration, for example, determined the exclusion of the satiric plays of the Revolution, as there is no certain evidence that they were performed even by amateurs. Preference has been given to the plays dealing with native themes, sixteen of the twenty-five plays being laid in this country, while in two others American characters appear. Care has been taken also to include, so far as possible, the principal types of play into which our drama has run, so that if the book is used in connection with a course of lectures upon the American Drama, the material will be at hand to illustrate its development. The comparison of the military plays, André, The Triumph at Plattsburg, Shenandoah, and Secret Service, or of the social comedies, The Contrast, Fashion, Her Great Match and The New York Idea, will be found most interesting, while a contrast between The Prince of Parthia and Francesca da Rimini will illustrate the growth in the field of romantic tragedy where our earlier drama scored so many triumphs. No play, however, has been chosen simply for its interest as a type; all have had to justify themselves on the score of their intrinsic excellence and the difficulty has been to choose among the wealth of material. In the cases of the modern plays, questions of copyright have sometimes interfered to restrict the freedom of choice. It is a matter of regret that the work of James A. Herne could not be represented and that the choice of a play by Clyde Fitch had to fall outside of those included in his "Memorial Edition." But it is a satisfaction to the editor to note how few changes had to be made from the first list of selections.
Before each play, a brief introduction explains its significance and gives a biographical sketch of the author, together with necessary information concerning his plays. No pains have been spared to make these introductions accurate, and the editor has fortunately had at his disposal not only the usual histories of the theatre, but also manuscript sources such as the Bird and Boker Papers and the Diary of William Wood, the Manager of the Chestnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, as well as the printed sources that are included in the Clothier Collection of American Plays in the Library of the University of Pennsylvania. In the cases of the modern plays the information has been checked in nearly every ease by the playwrights themselves. In each of the introductions a selected bibliography has been given. It has seemed unnecessary to cumber these with long lists of magazine articles of a fugitive character but it is hoped that the references given will be found helpful. A general bibliography of books relating to the American Drama has been placed at the end of the volume.
In each introduction is given also the source of the text. Where it was possible to obtain acting versions of the older texts, the differences between these and the reading versions have been indicated. In general where emendations have been made, they have been included in square brackets. The spelling has followed that of the original text, and the stage directions have been reprinted in the older plays as originally given. Several of the modern plays have been revised by the authors and their wishes have naturally been followed both as to text and stage directions. Some slight alterations have been made even here for the sake of uniformity, and where the preparation of the text has fallen on the editor alone, he has tried to present the stage directions in a readable form, according to modern standards of technique.
Many friends have helped in the preparation of this volume. Of primary importance was the establishment, through the generosity of Mr. Morris L. Clothier, of the Library of American Plays which bears his name. The continued interest in the collection of its donor and of the Chairman of the Library Committee, Dr. Joseph G. Rosengarten, has been of a degree of service that is difficult to measure. Special acknowledgments are made in the separate introductions to those who have aided in the cases of individual plays. Mention must be made here, however, of the help rendered by Mr. Augustus Thomas and Mr. Percy MacKaye, in connection with plays not their own. Valuable suggestions concerning the sources of the older plays have been made by my colleagues, Professor J. P. W. Crawford and Professor Arthur C. Rowland, and here, too, should be acknowledged the generous help in collation of texts and preparation of bibliography rendered by Dr. John L. Haney, by my colleagues in the English Department, Dr. A. C. Baugh, Mr. F. A. Laurie, Jr., Mr. Clement Foust, and by my Assistant, Mr. R. A. Robinson. The greatest help of all, however, came from her to whom this book is dedicated and for whose service there can be no adequate acknowledgment.
University of Pennsylvania, October, 1916. A. H. Q.
Note to Revised Edition.
The Editor has taken the opportunity of the fourth printing of the collection to bring up to date the references to the work of living playwrights, including the dates of performance of plays produced since October, 1916. Dates of revivals of the older plays have also been indicated and the most significant plays and works of reference published since that date have been noted. These additions to the Bibliography have been made to the individual chapters where they refer to the dramatists included in this volume. In addition, a list of the most important works in the general field of American Drama has been added to the General Bibliography at the end of the volume.
The Editor takes pleasure in acknowledging many kind expressions of appreciation and helpful criticism which he has reflected in the revision so far as was possible. If he had had no other reward than the satisfaction which has come to him from the recent growth of interest in our native drama, which perhaps this volume and those whose publication it has inspired, have had their share in producing, he would have been rewarded for the labor of preparing it.
April, 1920.