''Everyman'' is a modern play produced by

Charles Frohman Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Notably, he produced ''Peter Pan'', both in London and the US, the latter production ...

and directed by

Ben Greet Sir Philip Barling Greet (24 September 1857 – 17 May 1936), known professionally as Ben Greet, was a Shakespearean actor, director, impresario and actor-manager. Early life The younger son of Captain William Greet RN and his wife, Sarah Ba ...

that is based on the medieval

morality play The morality play is a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama. The term is used by scholars of literary and dramatic history to refer to a genre of play texts from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts ( ...

of the same name. The modern play was first performed in 1901 on tour in Britain. It opened in the United States in 1902 on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, where it ran for 75 performances, followed by tours over the next several years that included four Broadway revivals.

Performances

Original London opening

The original play was written by Dutch Monk

Peter van Diest Peter van Diest (Latinised as Petrus Diesthemius) was a medieval writer from the Low Countries. The late-15th-century morality play ''Elckerlijc'' is attributed to him. ''Elckerlijc'', which was translated into English to become the famous ''Eve ...

(Petrus Dorlandus) about 1470 and tells the story of

Everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...

, who being commanded by God to begin his journey to the grave looks for companions to accompany him. Everyman then approaches a series of allegorical characters - such as Fellowship, Kindred and Knowledge - but finds that only the character representing "Good Deeds" stays with him until the end of his journey. There is no record of a modern production of this play until July 1901 when the

Elizabethan Stage Society The Elizabethan Stage Society was a theatrical society dedicated to putting on productions of drama from the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, particularly (but not exclusively) those of William Shakespeare. It was founded in 1895 by William Poel. It ...

William Poel William Poel (1852-1934) was an English actor, theatrical manager and dramatist best known for his presentations of Shakespeare. Life and career A son of William Pole, he grew up among Pre-raphaelite painters and reportedly sat for William Holm ...

gave three Saturday productions in an outdoor courtyard at the Charterhouse (a former monastery) in London. Poel's production was distinctive in that the actors wore costumes based on designs from Flemish tapestries.

Broadway and West Coast productions

''Everyman'' attracted the notice of British actor

, who took over most of the production and direction responsibilities, and scheduled performances throughout England, Scotland and Ireland. Greet's productions differed from past performances in that he cast women in the title role, rather than the traditional male lead. The play was so successful that plans were soon made for a North American tour to be produced by American theater manager

, and directed by Greet. Everyman opened on Broadway with Edith Wynne Matthison in the title role on 12 October 1902 in Mendelssohn Hall, continuing on 3 November 1902 at Hoyt's Theatre, then on 17 November 1902 at the New York Theatre, and finally on 30 March 1903 at the Garden Theatre. Everyman closed its Broadway run in May 1903 after 75 performances. - 1902-1903, 1907, 1913 and 1918 productions; , 1910 production The first North American tour was so successful that Frohman and Greet for their second tour the next season staged both east coast and west coast productions of Everyman that also included several performances of Shakespeare tragedies and comedies. Matthison continued in the lead female roles for the east coast performances, whereas Constance Crawley, who had previously been Matthison's understudy, took the lead female roles in the west. Crawley then returned in the lead female roles in 1904 for the third North American tour, with

Sybil Thorndike Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969. Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her ...

as her understudy. Revivals of the Broadway production took place on 4 March 1907 at the Garden Theatre with

, and on 10 January 1910 at the Garden Theatre with Thorndike once again. For the 10 March 1913 revival at the Children's Theatre (24 performances), Matthison returned to the lead role, and the final revival on 18 January 1918 at the Cort Theatre (2 performances) featured Matthison in her final performances of the role she had created on Broadway over a decade before.

Film adaptations

The ''Everyman'' play was first brought to the cinema in 1913 using the Kinemacolor two-color process that projected black-and-white film through red and green filters to produce an early form of color movie.

Linda Arvidson Linda Arvidson (born Linda Arvidson Johnson, July 12, 1884 – July 26, 1949; sometimes credited as Linda Griffith) was an American stage and film actress who became one of America's early motion picture stars while working at Biograph Studios in ...

, a well-known actress who was recently separated from her movie producer husband D.W. Griffith, was cast in the title role, as she at the time was the leading lady for Kinemacolor studios. Unfortunately, Kinemacolor's parent company in Britain collapsed right after release of the movie, and Arvidson's estranged husband bought out the California operations of Kinemacolor, which included rights to their United States film releases. Griffith's acquisition of the ''Everyman'' film meant that distribution was a low priority, and despite the Broadway success of the play, the casting of a high-profile actress, and the novelty of color, the film made little impact. Subsequently, Crawley-Maude Features, which was owned by former ''Everyman'' leading lady Constance Crawley and her manager Arthur Maude, produced in 1914 their own film adaptation of ''Everyman'', which did little better than the Kinemacolor version. - 1914 film version.

Notes and references

External links

* * {{IBDB title, 5632, Everyman 1902 plays Broadway plays Everyman Off-Broadway plays