Play Suggestions

[mightyfelix]

My understanding of it is that the publication is key. If they were published somewhere, anywhere, before 1924, and we have proof of it, then it's a go. Otherwise, I'm not sure if we could do anything with it or not.

I'm curious about the years given in this list. If these aren't publication dates, what are they? Dates the play was written? First performed?

[Foon]

With a bit of sleuthing I found some that were published in magazines (although that was only after 1923 so far), or plays that have been published much later (such as this collection, published in 1978: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0878110224/nordellbookst-20 ). I'm sure that if they were indeed published back then, it should be possible to dig up a text somewhere!


Edit: both Mr Icky and Porcelain and Pink are in Tales of the Jazz Age: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6695

[leanneyauyau]

My understanding of it is that the publication is key. If they were published somewhere, anywhere, before 1924, and we have proof of it, then it's a go. Otherwise, I'm not sure if we could do anything with it or not.

I'm curious about the years given in this list. If these aren't publication dates, what are they? Dates the play was written? First performed?

I think they're publication dates but I'm trying to find evidence. Results of my digging (many of these results are according to the footnotes of 'Critical Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald' by Mary Tate)

- The Girl from Lazy J (1911), The Captured Shadow (1912), The Coward (1913), and Assorted Spirits (1914) are all part of Fitzgerald's "St. Paul Plays" which were written bor the Elizabethan Dramatic Club in St. Paul and also performed - Lazy J was performed in August 1911, for instance. They were collated and edited by Alan Margolies in 1978, though, so I have no idea whether this means they're PD - maybe the edited versions are, but are the original scripts???

- Shadow Laurels (1915) - first published in Nassau Literary Magazine, April 1915
- Precaution Primarily (1917) - was published in 'The Princeton Tiger', February 3, 1917, pg.13-14
- The Debutante (1917 and 1919 version) - was published in 1917 and 1919 (the 1919 version in 'The Smart Set')
I also found an adaptation which suggests it is in the public domain. https://www.playscripts.com/play/1472
- Porcelain and Pink (A One-Act Play) (January 1920) - also published in 'The Smart Set' in 1919-1920 along with Debutante.
- Mister Icky: The Quintessence of Quaintness in One Act - published in The Smart Set (March 1920)
- This is a Magazine (1920) - FOUND. https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/1920/12/this-is-a-magazine

[KevinS]

This is the second question today about an author I don't read much. (Some day...)

Porcelain and Pink and Mister Icky: The Quintessence of Quaintness in One Act were both published in Jazz Age Tales and are PD. They would be A LOT of fun to perform though they were probably not written to be performed. There is a fantastical element to them, an ironic edge to them that is very entertaining. They could easily be performed, I think, and quickly completed.

I hope you will go for it!

When I have time, I'll research the others. (They were probably written for fun for the Princeton literary magazine.)

EDIT: Oh, I see you're already make headway on them. Good for you!

[leanneyauyau]

If anyone can be bothered to sift through this list: http://modjourn.org/render.php?view=mjp_object&id=SmartSetCollection

[leanneyauyau]

FOUND

DEBUTANTE:
http://modjourn.org/render.php?id=1428352613940877&view=mjp_object
PORCELAIN AND PINK:
http://modjourn.org/render.php?id=1436988965883970&view=mjp_object

ALSO FOUND

1917 DEBUTANTE and SHADOW LAURELS can be found through a cursory search.
http://rbsc.princeton.edu/mudd-dbs/nassau_literatures?qname=Nassau+Lit&LNAME=Fitzgerald&FNAME=&CLASSYEAR=&TITLE=

[leanneyauyau]

I can't find Precaution Primarily - though given the footnote I found was so incredibly specific I highly doubt it was made up - and I still don't know about the four St. Paul Plays, but it looks like the others are a go! Currently not able to take this on so if anyone wanted to do them, go ahead.

[leanneyauyau]

What is the status of F. Scott Fitzgerald's pre-1920 plays? I know that The Vegetable is currently in production with WiltedScribe, but after some extensive digging on Google it turns out Fitzgerald wrote a BUNCH of short one-act plays that seem(?) to never have been published.

There is a website that hosts all of his pre 1920s works, some even from his freshman years. If you look at the link for drama scripts: http://fitzgerald.narod.ru/idrama.html you will find a whole host of one-act plays
- The Girl from Lazy J (1911)
- The Captured Shadow (1912)
- The Coward (1913)
- Assorted Spirits (1914)
- Shadow Laurels (1915)
- Precaution Primarily (1917)
- The Debutante (1917 and 1919 version) *This one-act play has been incorporated in This Side of Paradise novel.
- Porcelain and Pink (A One-Act Play) (January 1920)
- Mister Icky: The Quintessence of Quaintness in One Act (March 1920)
- This is a Magazine (1920)

Does anyone know about the PD status of these, or know where I can find out?

Regarding the four St. Paul plays (Girl from Lazy J, The Captured Shadow, The Coward, and Assorted Spirits), after contacting several libraries, societies, etc. I've confirmed that these are not PD. They were written and produced on stage in 1911-1914, but the Princeton University Library purchased the manuscripts and published them in 1978.

[Elizabby]

Suggestion moved over from DR suggestions as I think this is actually a play. It sounds good from the description, but I can't get the text link to work. It premiered in 1920, so should be PD.

"The Bat: A Play of Mystery in Three Acts by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood"

https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735037970435/viewer#page/8/mode/2up

I've just a done a book by Mary Roberts Rinehart and quite liked it. More information here: https://www.samuelfrench.com/s/9288/the-bat

There was an earlier collaboration by the same authors "Seven Days" which premiered in 1909.

[leanneyauyau]

Mary Elizabeth Braddon had a number of her most famous works adapted for the stage. Lady Audley's Secret which is about accidental bigamy (among other things) was converted into a two-act play: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t4zg7788d&view=1up&seq=3

[KevinS]

The Bat!
"A Play of Mystery in Three Acts by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood"
https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735037970435/viewer#page/8/mode/2up
I'd love to be Cornelia or Lizzie.
We already have the novelization in the catalogue: https://librivox.org/the-bat-by-mary-roberts-reinhart/

...more info... https://www.samuelfrench.com/s/9288/the-bat

This belongs in the play suggestion list I think, And would need a publication date for the play.

Anne

Ah.

I know it was first performed in 1920:
https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=10183275&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjE5MjcxMjU5LCJpYXQiOjE1Njc3ODk3NDQsImV4cCI6MTU2Nzg3NjE0NH0.Ycgq76eTO47meM9rYwFxNK_qGK4_slARHylU4lxb26o

And here is more information copied from the "Samuel French" website:
In this popular American mystery play, incident is piled on incident with skill and plausibility, and it is impossible to know who the real criminal is until the final curtain. This thriller revolves around Cornelia Van Gorder, a maiden lady of sixty, who rents the summer home of a banker reported killed in Colorado. She is warned that mysterious things are happening but she refuses to move. Then it is discovered that a large sum is missing from the dead man's bank and it is suspected that, far from being dead, he stole the money, hid it in a secret chamber in his house and is only waiting for a chance to sneak back to get it. Four others are after the money: the bank cashier who is wrongfully accused of taking it, a detective engaged by Miss Van Gorder to clear up the mystery, a doctor friend and supposed confederate of the missing banker and The Bat, a notorious thief who has long eluded the police. This genuine thriller is guaranteed to divert any audience.
https://www.samuelfrench.com/s/9288/the-bat

Can some Almighty Admin Person please move this topic to the Play Suggestions forum?

THANKS!
(p.s. -- I feel Cornelia in my bones...)

[ArthurNascimento]

One of the few Christopher Marlowe's plays that has not received a reading is Dido Queen Of Carthage. I've found a copy of the play on archive.org. Perhaps we should consider this?
https://archive.org/details/didoqueenofcarth00marluoft/page/n1

[alanmapstone]

One of the few Christopher Marlowe's plays that has not received a reading is Dido Queen Of Carthage.

I would agree that this play is worth doing. It was one of the sources for Purcell's opera. Another Marlowe play we have not done is The Massacre at Paris.

[ArthurNascimento]

Another Marlowe play we have not done is The Massacre at Paris

Yeas, I think these are the two that are missing.
I've just found out about another play that once was credited to William Shakespeare (In fact, it still is on the Gutenberg page). I'll leave it here too.
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4774/pg4774-images.html

[Elizabby]

So is it known who wrote The Merry Devil, if it no longer attributed to Shakespeare?