''Can You Hear Their Voices? A Play of Our Time'' is a 1931 play by
Hallie Flanagan
Hallie Flanagan Davis (August 27, 1889 in Redfield, South Dakota – June 23, 1969 in Old Tappan, New Jersey) was an American theatrical producer and director, playwright, and author, best known as director of the Federal Theatre Project, a pa ...
and her former student Margaret Ellen Clifford, based on the short story "Can You Make Out Their Voices" by
Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938), ...
. The play premiered at
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...
on May 2, 1931,
and ran most recently
Off Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
June 3–27, 2010. ''Broadway World'' notes that it anticipated
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...
's ''
The Grapes of Wrath
''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award
and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...
'' and
Clifford Odets
Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdra ...
' ''
Waiting for Lefty
''Waiting for Lefty'' is a 1935 play by the American playwright Clifford Odets; it was his first play to be produced. Consisting of a series of related vignettes, the entire play is framed by a meeting of cab drivers who are planning a labor ...
'', predating them by eight years and by four years respectively.
[
]
Significance
![Whittaker Chambers](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Whittaker_Chambers.jpg)
This play is one of the earliest examples of
Political theatre in the U.S. It also is a forerunner of the "
Living Newspaper
Living Newspaper is a term for a theatrical form presenting factual information on current events to a popular audience. Historically, Living Newspapers have also urged social action (both implicitly and explicitly) and reacted against naturali ...
" theatrical form in the U.S.--which Flanagan herself championed as head of the
Federal Theatre Project
The Federal Theatre Project (FTP; 1935–1939) was a theatre program established during the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depression as part of the New Deal to fund live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United ...
later in the decade.
[
. See also Musher's book, Democratic Art: The New Deal's Influence on American Culture. Chicago: Univ of Chicago Press 2015. Also see articles on the Soviet ]Agitprop theatre
A political drama can describe a play, film or TV program that has a political component, whether reflecting the author's political opinion, or describing a politician or series of political events.
Dramatists who have written political dramas i ...
and Proletcult Theatre
Proletcult Theatre (Russian: Театры Пролеткульта; abbr. from Proletarian Cultural and Educational Organizations Theatre) was the theatrical branch of the Soviet cultural movement Proletcult. It was concerned with the powerful ex ...
). "''Can You Hear Their Voices'', which Flanagan produced in Vassar's experimental theater, became the prototype for Living Newspapers."
Chambers described the story's immediate impact in his memoirs:
It had a success far beyond anything that it pretended to be. It was timely. The ''New York World-Telegram
The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966.
History
Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...
'' spotted it at once and wrote a piece about it. International Publishers
International Publishers is a book publishing company based in New York City, specializing in Marxism, Marxist works of economics, political science, and history.
Company history
Establishment
International Publishers Company, Inc., was founded ...
, the official Communist publishing house, issued it as a pamphlet. Lincoln Steffens
Lincoln Austin Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He launched a series of articles in ''McClure's'', called "Twe ...
hailed it in an effusion that can be read in his collected letters. Hallie Flanagan, then head of Vassar's Experimental Theater, turned it into a play.[
]
In February 1932, the ''Vassar Miscellany News'' stated that since its opening only a few months before "the fame of this propaganda play has spread not only throughout America, but over Europe and into Russia, China, and Japan. The amount of enthusiasm which the play has evoked has been unexpected and exciting, starting, as it did, from an amateur performance." Beyond its timeliness, the newspaper noted a general widespread appeal, such that "letters from Vancouver to Shanghai" asked for rights to produce the play... The ''News Masses'' was already selling the play in book format for Germany, Denmark, France, and Spain, with special copies sent to the International Bureau of Revolutionary Literature in Russia, Greek and Hungarian workers clubs, a Yiddish theatrical group, a Finnish bookstore, and somewhere in Australia.
[
]
In fact, the ''New Masses'' had reviewed the play and started advertising for its sale in book form in its June 1931 issue twice near the end of that issue and then moved its advertisement to the front for July 1931.
In 2010, ''Broadway World'' noted: "Chambers' true tale of desperate tenant farmers inspired a play that was ahead of its time: it predates
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...
's ''
The Grapes of Wrath
''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award
and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...
'' by eight years and
Clifford Odets
Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdra ...
' ''
Waiting for Lefty
''Waiting for Lefty'' is a 1935 play by the American playwright Clifford Odets; it was his first play to be produced. Consisting of a series of related vignettes, the entire play is framed by a meeting of cab drivers who are planning a labor ...
'' by four.
[
]
Translations
According to Chambers, "In a few months, the little story had been translated even into Chinese and Japanese and was being played in workers' theaters all over the world."
In 1931, Nathaniel Buchwald translated the play into Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
as ''Trikenish'' ("''Drought''"). In November 1931, ARTEF performed the Yiddish-language play, directed by Beno Schneider, at the Heckscher Theatre on Fifth Avenue at 104 Street.
According to the ''Vassar Miscellany News'', by early 1932 "By this date, translations had already appeared in Japanese, Yiddish, German, French, and Russian "with immediate prospects of translation into Chinese, and possibly Spanish and other languages."[
]
Background
The short story "Can You Make Out Their Voices" first appeared in the March 1931 issue of ''New Masses
''New Masses'' (1926–1948) was an American Marxist magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA. It succeeded both ''The Masses'' (1912–1917) and ''The Liberator''. ''New Masses'' was later merged into '' Masses & Mainstream'' (19 ...
'' magazine. Chambers said that he wrote the story in a single night. It received immediate coverage in the ''New York World-Telegram
The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966.
History
Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...
''.
Flanagan herself later called it "one of the great American short stories."[
]
Among the story's earliest readers was Flanagan's former student, Margaret Ellen Clifford (later chair of Drama at Skidmore College
Skidmore College is a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,650 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in one of more than 60 areas of study.
History
Sk ...
, 1952-1971.) According to Flanagan, the two of them finished the scenario for a stage version in one night. Vassar library staff and journalism students contributed research, while her drama students helped with the writing.[
]
Plot synopsis
Short story
"Can You Make Out Their Voices" derives from a news story in January 1931 about tenant farmers in Arkansas, who raided a local Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
office to feed themselves. Chambers picked up on a common fear of the moment, namely, that this event marked the beginning of further popular uprisings in the face of drought and depression. In his story, the farmers have in their midst a quiet, dignified man—a communist—who unites them so that they take food by gunpoint, opposing the town's top businessman (a local banker, no less—a typical fat cat).
Chambers had been editing the ''Daily Worker
The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were m ...
'' newspaper for several years and wanted to stop writing "political polemics, which few people ever wanted to read." Instead, he wanted to write "stories that anybody might want to read—stories in which the correct conduct of the Communist would be shown in action and without political comment."
Play
''Can You Hear Their Voices?'' keeps much of the short story intact. It relates the effects of the first year of the Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) an ...
(and the second year of the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
) on the farmers of a small town in rural Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
. Interjecting into this story are scenes in Washington, DC, that show a spectrum of reactions to the plight of those farmers.
Flanagan added the Washington angle as new material. She also changed the short story's outcome in Arkansas from armed to non-violent confrontation—which Chambers had actually added in the first place, since the actual event itself was non-violent. In so doing, she changed the approach from Chambers' call to Communism to a call to stop Communism. "Chambers had presented a problem with a communist solution. Hallie and Margaret Ellen gave no solution. Instead, they ended their play with a question, Can you hear what the farmers are saying, and what will you do about it."
Production details
Theatrical runs
By 1932, Flannagan, Clifford, and Chambers had all offered productions of the play free to "workers groups."[
From Japan, director ]Seki Sano
Seki Sano (Japanese: 佐野 碩) (January 14, 1905, Tientsin – September 29, 1966, Mexico City) was a Japanese actor, stage director and choreographer. He contributed to the development of the theatre in Japan and later in Mexico, where he was kn ...
wrote on behand of the Japanese Proletarian Theatre League for permission to translate and perform the play at the Tokyo Left Theatre and other theatres: some 35,000 Japanese workers saw the play.[
]
Chronology
* May 2, 1931: Experimental Theatre of Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...
, directed by Flanagan: "The drama was presented without an intermission; lighting was used to indicate scene changes, while statistics and newspaper reports were flashed on a screen onstage and placed throughout the lobby."
* Between May 1931 and February 1932:
** Ford Hall Forum
The Ford Hall Forum is the oldest free public lecture series in the United States. Founded in 1908, it continues to host open lectures and discussions in the Greater Boston area. Some of the more well-known past speakers include Maya Angelou, Isa ...
(Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
)[
** ]Hedgerow Theatre
Hedgerow Theatre is a theatre company based in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, founded in 1923. It was "for many years the only true U. S. professional repertory theater." The building is a contributing structure in the Rose Valley H ...
(Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
)
** Smith College
Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
(Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571.
Northampton is known as an acade ...
)
** Artef Theatre (New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
)[
** Cleveland Play House (]Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
)[
** Vineyard Shore School (West Park-on-the-Hudson, New York)]
** Commonwealth College (Mena, Arkansas
Mena ( ) is a city in Polk County, Arkansas, United States. It is also the county seat of Polk County. The population was 5,558 as of the 2020 census. Mena is included in the Ark-La-Tex socio-economic region. Surrounded by the Ouachita National F ...
)[
** Shanghai People's Theater (Shanghai, China)]
** (Tokyo Left Theatre) (Japan)[
* October 30-November 21, 2004]
Steep Theatre
(Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
)
* June 3-June 27, 2010: Pop-Up Theater by the Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...
-winning Peculiar Works Project (New York, New York
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...
)
Details of 1931 theatrical run
The ''Vassar Miscellany News'' covered the play's opening on May 2, 1931.
=Cast
=
* Amelie von Behr: Hilda Francis
* Gwen Leys: Rose
* Fran Matteson: Frank Francis
* Helen Westerman: Harriet (senator's daughter)
Details of 2010 theatrical run
=Billing
=
* "Can You Hear Their Voices? (a play of our time)": title
* "by Hallie Flanagan and Margaret Ellen Clifford": adaptation
* "from a short story by Whittaker Chambers": author
=Production
=
* Ralph Lewis: co-director
* Barry Rowell: co-director
* David Castaneda: lighting
* Nikolay Levin: sets
* Deb O: costumes
* Gwen Orel: dramaturg
* Matthew Tennie: projection[
]
* Seth Bedford: music
* Peculiar Works Project: archival video
* Ryan Holsopple: sound
* Marte Johanne Ekhoougen: props
* Cathy Carlton: production associate/swing actor
Set and light crew included: Christoper Hurt, Janet Bryant, Dror Shnayer, Diana Byrne, Tricia Byrne, and Skip LaPlante.
Video came from ''The Plow That Broke the Plains
''The Plow That Broke the Plains'' is a 1936 short documentary film that shows the cultivation of the Great Plains region of the United States and Canada following the Civil War and leading up to the Dust Bowl as a result of farmers' exploitati ...
'' by Pare Lorentz
Pare Lorentz (December 11, 1905 – March 4, 1992) was an American filmmaker known for his film work about the New Deal. Born Leonard MacTaggart Lorentz in Clarksburg, West Virginia he was educated at Buckhannon High School, West Virginia Wesl ...
, Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
newsreels, '' Reaching for the Moon'' by Edmund Goulding
Edmund Goulding (20 March 1891 – 24 December 1959) was a British screenwriter and film director. As an actor early in his career he was one of the 'Ghosts' in the 1922 silent film ''Three Live Ghosts'' alongside Norman Kerry and Cyril Chadwick. ...
, '' Champagne (film)'' by Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
, and ''Rain for the Earth'' by Clair Laning/Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
.
Duration is about 70 minutes.
=Cast (in order of speaking)
=
* Ben Kopit: Frank, Bill
* Derek Jamison: Davis, ensemble
* Catherine Porter: Ann, ensemble
* Christopher Hurt: Wardell, ensemble
* Ken Glickfield: Sam, Congressman Bagehot[
]
* Carrie McCrossen: John, ensemble
* Tonya Canada: Doscher, Harriet
* Rebecca Servon: Rose, ensemble
* Mick Hilgers: Drdla, ensemble
* Patricia Drozda: Purcell, ensemble
* Sarah Elizondo: Hilda, ensemble
=Orchestra
=
* Aaron Dai: piano
* Brian Mark: clarinet
* Samuel C. Nedel: bass
Reviews
1930s Reviews
Flanagan's changes (cited under "Differences," above) are reflected in critical responses in the press:
* Poughkeepsie ''Sunday Courier'' (May 3, 1931): "If a certain crusading congressman could have seen last night's production he would have probably branded the whole company as dangerous, if not Red agitators."
* ''Vassar Miscellany News'' (May 6, 1931): "With restrained yet powerful acting, the cast carried the audience from the drab hopelessness of life in the drought-stricken areas to the extravagant, gay (shall we say, voluptuous) carelessness of social life at the Capitol, and back again... It would be difficult to pick out a climax in the play, unless it is, perhaps, the moment at which Hilda Francis (Amdie von Behr, who, by the way, did one of the finest pieces of acting of the veiling) smothers her baby to keep her from starvation... But, for the most part, the play was too tense, too fast-moving, too well acted to give one time to stop feeling and think. The effectiveness with which the producers secured the desired emotional sweep was, in my opinion, one of its chief merits. Another much to be commended feature of the performance was the absolute unity achieved throughout the play in spite of the constant shifting between two such sharply contrasted backgrounds..."
* ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' (May 10, 1931): "a searing, biting, smashing piece of propaganda"
* ''Theatre Guild Magazine'' (July 1931): "frankly propagandist play... (that) deeply moved its audiences."
* ''Theatre Arts Monthly'' (undated, probably 1931): "a good play, of important native material, well characterized, handling experimental technical material skillfully, worth any theatre's attention--amateur or professional."
* ''Workers' Theatre'' (January 1932): "Flanagan and Clifford mutilated the class line of the story and adapted it into a play form with a clear liberal ideology."
2010s Reviews
Change in times leads many reviewers to overlook key elements in story and style:
* ''New York Theater Wire'' (June 2, 2010): "This production is a reminder that clever staging and theatre with aural, spatial, and performance ingenuity aren't the exclusive province of the big budget."
* ''New York Theatre'' (June 5, 2010): "The play itself feels dated and stiff, very much an artifact of a period when American dramatists were only starting to find their native voice and learn to tell stories of our country with depth and texture. But the history it recounts—for it is based, we are told, on actual events—is eminently worth remembering. And it's easy to understand why the good people at Peculiar Works Project have chosen to bring it to the stage at this particular moment, for the parallels between then and now are pretty clear."
* ''Theater Mania'' (June 7, 2010): "There's a refreshingly -- and appropriate -- homespun quality to the Peculiar Works Project's revival of Hallie Flanagan and Margaret Ellen Clifford's Can You Hear Their Voices?"
* ''Variety (magazine)
''Variety'' is an American media company owned by Penske Media Corporation. The company was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933 it added ''Daily Variety'', based ...
'' (June 7, 2010): "high marks for research and a flunking grade for presentation"[
* ''BackStage'' (June 7, 2010): "without the pedigree of co-author Hallie Flanagan, famed as the head of the New Deal's four-year Federal Theatre Project (and memorably incarnated by Cherry Jones in the 1999 film "Cradle Will Rock"), there's little reason to excavate this dated play"
* '']Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...
'' (June 8, 2010): "Peculiar Works' production, impressively elaborate for such threadbare circumstances, tends to push the ideas at you heavily, but a genuine faith in the work's immediate relevance dignifies the pushing."
* ''New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' (June 8, 2010): "...This revival of "Can You Hear Their Voices?" confuses Depression with depressing—depressingly bad, that is..."
* ''Show Business Weekly
''Show Business'' is a performing arts trade magazine, magazine. Its mission is to help guide aspiring actors toward a successful career in the performing arts. ''Show Business'' content includes casting calls and audition notices as well as theate ...
'' (June 8, 2010): "This brisk production, under Ralph Lewis and Barry Rowell’s direction, brings Chambers’s story to life with live music and projections of Depression-era footage by Matthew Tennie that smooth the transition between scenes. Deb O’s period costumes expertly evoke the era and add depth to Nikolay Levin’s minimal set, which uses platforms to make the best of its site-specific location. The cast consistently performs as a well-integrated ensemble, with all the actors playing extras in addition to their main roles. Their energetic performances have that rousing quality, which is so essential to the genre."
* ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' (June 11, 2010): "Though “Can You Hear Their Voices?” is often more interesting than exciting, the script holds up surprisingly well. The scrappy Peculiar Works Project, which specializes in bringing theater to alternative sites, has made an intriguing move in reviving the story. And they've picked an intriguing time to tell it."
* ''Stage Grade'' (undated): "...for many critics, this topical urgency isn't enough to excuse what they see as poor casting, acting, design, and direction choices... most find the production a trifle too academic or amateurish."
* ''Theater Online'' (undated): "PWP’s production of Voices in the vacant storefront at 2 Great Jones Street in Noho fits perfectly with the company’s long-standing mission to “wake up” non-theater sites for theatrical performance."[
]
Characters
* Jim Wardell, farmer
* Ann Wardell, his wife
* John Wardell, 14-year-old son
* Sam Wardell, 12-year-old son
* Frank Francis, a young farmer
* Hilda Francis, his wife
* Mort Davis, an old farmer
* Dirdla, a Russian farmer
* Rose, his 18-year-old daughter
* Ms. Smythe, radio announcer
* Mr. Wordsworth, radio commentator
* Purcell, a rich local businessman
* Bagehot, a congressman
* Harriet, his debutante daughter
* Mrs. Martin, a neighbor
* Mary, her daughter
* Mrs. Doscher, another neighbor
* First Girl
* First Boy
* Second Girl
* Second Boy
* Third Girl
* Third Boy
* First Dowager
* Second Dowager
* Senator
* Another Senator
* Ambassador
* Painted Woman
* Young Attache
* Bill, Harriet's debutante ball date
* Governor Lee
* Red Cross Worker
Legacy
Vassar College houses a number of artifacts from and information about the play:
Philalelatheis
*
Audience Held by Propaganda Play
in ''Vassar Miscellany News'' (May 6, 1931)
*
Through the Campus Crates
in ''Vassar Quarterly'' (July 1, 1931)
* "Vassar Drama Arouses World-wide Interest," ''Vassar Miscellany News'' (February 24, 1932)[
]
See also
* Hallie Flanagan
Hallie Flanagan Davis (August 27, 1889 in Redfield, South Dakota – June 23, 1969 in Old Tappan, New Jersey) was an American theatrical producer and director, playwright, and author, best known as director of the Federal Theatre Project, a pa ...
* Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...
* Living Newspaper
Living Newspaper is a term for a theatrical form presenting factual information on current events to a popular audience. Historically, Living Newspapers have also urged social action (both implicitly and explicitly) and reacted against naturali ...
* Agitprop theatre
A political drama can describe a play, film or TV program that has a political component, whether reflecting the author's political opinion, or describing a politician or series of political events.
Dramatists who have written political dramas i ...
* Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938), ...
* Bibliography for Whittaker Chambers
* New Masses
''New Masses'' (1926–1948) was an American Marxist magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA. It succeeded both ''The Masses'' (1912–1917) and ''The Liberator''. ''New Masses'' was later merged into '' Masses & Mainstream'' (19 ...
* Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) an ...
* Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
References
{{reflist, 2
External links
Library collections
Library of Congress
Can You Hear Their Voices?
Guide to the Federal Theatre Project playscript and radioscript collection, 1930s
Other links
Can You Hear Their Voices? (2010)
Clyde Fitch Report
Interview with director Ralph Lewis (2010)
*
': book excerpt (2009)
1931 plays
Plays based on short fiction
Works originally published in American magazines
Works originally published in political magazines
Labor literature
Proletarian literature
Great Depression plays
Plays set in the United States
Works about the Dust Bowl