The Susan Glaspell Society
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Recent Performances
Chains of Dew
At the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, U.K.
12 March - 5 April 2008
Directed by Kate Saxon
www.orangetreetheatre.co.uk
In
Chains of Dew, Glaspell pillories a
self-important poet, Seymore Standish, through a marvelous trio
of women characters: Nora Powers, his suitably named girlfriend;
Dotty, his wife; and his mother. Seymore lives a double
life, spending part of the year as a Greenwich Village bohemian
and the other part at home, living a typically bourgeois life in
the Midwest. Tired of his constant complaints of being
burdened by his marriage and his responsibilities as a
breadwinner, Nora herself goes west, only to find that it is
actually his wife and mother who feel stifled by him and his
need to be needed by them. With hilarious results, Nora
and Dotty join forces to establish the first Midwestern branch
of the Birth Control League in the Standish’s living room.
Of special historical and literary significance,
Chains of Dew examines the changing roles of
American women in the first two decades of the twentieth
century, focusing on gender ideology, differences among women
(age, class, and occupation), marital relations, reproductive
freedom, and the artist's role -
ideas that were crucial in 1922
and are still relevant today.
Ruth Everett as Nora, Charles Daish as Leon. Photo courtesy of Robert Day.
David Annen as Seymore, Katie McGuinness as Dotty |
Helen Ryan as
Mother Standish
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Additional performers: Ruth Everett as Nora, Charles Daish as Leon, Gwynfor Jones as James O'Brien
Chains of
Dew Receives Rave Reviews . . .
To read entire text of each review,
click on link
"Given the easy chuckles and enthusiastic applause that greeted Susan Glaspell’s provocative comedy on press night, it seems astonishing that this is the first and only revival of the play since its premiere at the Provincetown Playhouse on Cape Cod in 1922." John Thaxter, British Theatre Guide
"As part of its female playwrights' season, the Orange Tree has unearthed this astonishing play by Susan Glaspell: a contemporary of Eugene O'Neill. Writing in 1922, she tackles not only birth control, but the timeless battle between progressive east-coast liberalism and entrenched midwest conservatism." Michael Billington, The Guardian
"That Glaspell ends the play not with neat resolution, but with a sour twist, shows a bracing realism: she was clearly under no illusions about how far the struggle for equality still had to go." Sam Marlowe, London Times
" . . . Few male writers of the period or since could have Glaspell's awareness of the games men's minds and vanities play, and of the ways women are forced into the role of supporting their self-delusions. And a major strength of the play is that Glaspell's righteous anger only complements, and doesn't get in the way of the predominantly light comic tone." Gerald Berkowitz, TheatreguideLondon
"It’s a
chilling inversion of Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’, jolting what
starts as a sparky comedy of ideas and continues as a society
farce into a rather senseless personal tragedy."
Bella Todd, Time Out
The Susan Glaspell Society is pleased to make available an abridged version of Susan Glaspell's play, Chains of Dew, adapted and with a prologue by Cheryl Black, University of Missouri.This version, free to all, will enable theatre groups and universities to stage this witty and provocative play, the last ever produced by the original Provincetown Players in 1922. The only restriction is the request that Prof. Black and The Susan Glaspell Society be acknowledged in any program or print advertising connected with the production, by including the following note: "The script for this performance was adapted from the original by Cheryl Black, with the permission of Valentina Cook, and in cooperation with The Susan Glaspell Society." Note that to perform any of the plays, permission of Glaspell's estate is required.
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