Early life
Lillian Trimble Bradley was born inCareer
The Broadhurst Theatre
Bradley’s career was able to find traction when Bradley became associated with producer George Broadhurst in 1918. Before Bradley met George Broadhurst, managers refused to believe that a woman could master the infinite technical detail which goes with the production of even the simplest play. Broadhurst expressed interest in producing Bradley’s play, ''The Woman on the Index'', and Bradley agreed under the condition that she would assist with the direction. Later that same year, Broadhurst appointed Bradley as the general stage director of the Broadhurst Theatre. It was this appointment which earned Bradley the title of “first American woman director”. Bradley continued to direct under Broadhurst’s management until 1924. During her time at the Broadhurst Theatre, Bradley directed a total of eight Broadway productions including ''The Wonderful Things'' (1920), ''Come Seven'' (1920), ''Tarzan of the Apes'' (1921), and ''Izzy'' (1924). She married Broadhurst in 1925 and appears to have retired and moved to Santa Barbara where Broadhurst died in 1952 and Bradley died in 1959.''The Crimson Alibi''
The production of ''The Crimson Alibi'' established Bradley as a director. A New York Times review praised the production, saying “the production of plays and its infinite detail – the working out of the lighting, etc. – have been regarded as man’s work, and Mrs. Bradley is probably the first woman in the country to go into it as a profession. There are, of course, several women playwrights, such as Rachel Crothers, who direct their own plays, but they are playwrights primarily, and directors secondarily. Mrs. Bradley, although she has written plays, did so only as a means to an end – and that end was directing.” The same article referred to Lillian Trimble Bradley as “the five-foot pocket edition of a woman Belasco.” This also refers to Edith Ellis, who directed ''The Return of Eve'' in 1908, but, based on reviews, Bradley was seen as the first woman director because she was able to project her identity in her own productions. While some critics viewed Bradley’s direction as similar to a man’s, others marked the work as specifically feminine.Directing melodrama
Melodrama was one of the most popular genres of performance at the time, and much of Bradley’s work fell into this genre. “Bradley believe in melodrama as the most effective stage presentation of the period as it has been at all times.” Bradley wrote and directed plays that starred women yet relied on the melodramatic trope of a woman getting and keeping a man’s attention. Bradley’s debut production ''The Woman on the Index'', is a melodrama which goes against gender expectations by having the man in the passive role and portrayed the women as the instigators of action, but the play still left both its female leads clamoring for the role of the “good wife” as their goal. It was not her work on stage but rather her work behind the scenes that was challenging to gender expectations of the time. When asked what she thought of stage directing as a profession for women, Mrs. Bradley laughed and said “Frankly, I can not honestly recommend it, though personally I love my work. Stage directing means very hard work, meals at odd times, loss of sleep, and no leisure”References
External links
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradley, Lilian Trimble 1875 births 1959 deaths American theatre directors American women theatre directors People from Trimble County, Kentucky