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THESIS
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN SPEECH
IN THE GRADUATE COLLEGE OF 1HE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, 1961
URBANA, ILLINOIS
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
February 6, 1961
1
In Charge of Thesis
Head of Department
mfrwui /. /WJ*U^
DS17
1
ill
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pag«
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vi
INTRODUCTION 1
Chapter
I. BACKGROUND U
IV. TEACHING 32
Studios 32
Aim 37
The D e l s a r t e Method 3&
Curriculum U6
V. DIRECTING 62
Nondramatic R e c i t a l s 62
Dramatic Productions 66
D e l s a r t e productions 68
The new drama . * 69
Standard and c l a s s i c a l drama 87
Chicago and student drama 97
BIBLIOGRAPHY 12l*
i
V
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure Page
la. Captain Fry's Birthday Party Cast, Courtesy of the Newberry
Library . . . . . . 18
lb. Identification of la 19
2. Anna Morgan's Studio, After Remodeling, From Anna Morgan Studios
Catalogue, Courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society Library. %
3. Ground Plan of Stage, Anna Morgan's Studio, Constructed from
Measurements Taken by the Author 35
\x. Hamlet Cast, The Chicago Tribune. May 9, 1903, p. 3 9h
5. Florence Bradley as Hamlet, The Chicago Tribune. May 9, 1903, p. 3. • 9$
A
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
attorney.
Mrs. Helen Young, Professor Lucy Barton, Mr. Cloyd Head, and
copy of My Chicago.
INTRODUCTION
This is a study of the life and work of Anna Morgan, which aims to
assess the importance of her work and to ascertain her place in the history of
speech education and theatre in the United States. She was a public reader end
dramatics, and "cultural" training for forty yearsj and 8 director of plays,
including some of the new dramas of Europe, the works of beginning American
The most important single source of material was the collection of Anna
Morgan Scrapbooks and Letters at the Chicago Historical Society. The scrapbooks
contain programs, cast listings, course catalogues for the Anna Morgan Studios,
and newspaper clippings which are unsorted and often undated. Usually, the day
of the month and the day of the week are given, but the year is not. By compar-
ing the cast members of the undated programs with those on which the year is
also written, I determined the approximate years in which the former were
students, and therefore, the approximate period in which the undated programs
were given. I then used the perpetual calendar to find the year within this
period in which a particular day of the month fell upon a particular day of the
week. Most of these dates were later validated by notices and reviews in the
newspapers.
Also important were the files of Chicago newspapers of the period held
the Newberry Library, and the Chicago Public Library. Unfortunately, the news-
paper coverage of Anna Morgan's productions dwindled during the latter half of
2
her career. The only official document obtainable was a Certificate of Death
which helped substantiate several facts about her. Of some use, too, were the
Little Room and Henry B. Fuller collections at the Newberry Library. Although
newspaper accounts prove that the given dates are often inaccurate, the books
of which Anna Morgan was author, helped to determine the aims and methods of
her teaching, the plays she produced, and the circumstances of their production.
Anna Morgan was unmarried, and her parents, brothers, and sisters died
before she did. Although she left no immediate family, there was a niece, Mrs.
Catherine Carr Lloyd, but I have been unable to trace her beyond 1938. Miss
Alice Gerstenberg, friend and student of Anna Morgan, has been of invaluable aid
in supplying me with personal descriptions of Anna Morgan and her work, with
pictures and newspaper clippings, and in directing me to other sources of materi-
al and other friends and associates of Anna Morgan. Helpful descriptions and
evaluations of Miss Morgan and her work were also provided by Ralph Fletcher
Seymour, Mrs. Jacob Baur, Mrs. Nancy Cox-McCormack Cushman, Cloyd Head, Mrs.
Maurice Browne, Professor Lucy Barton, and Mrs. Mable Parks, sister of Miss
Jessie Harding, Anna Morgan's associate teacher who continued as head of the
Anna Morgan Studios after Miss Morgan's retirement. Undoubtedly, there is valu-
able material concerning Anna Morgan's association with George Bernard Shaw in
the Archibald Henderson collection. In answer to my inquiry, Mr. Henderson in-
formed me that this material is not yet classified, and is, therefore, unavail-
able for use at this time.
Because I feel that Anna Morgan's work is important from several aspects,
I am presenting this material in a topical pattern. Chapter I presents a sketch
of Anna Morgan's life and background necessary to the understanding of her work
In speech education and theatre. Chapter II describes the social and cultural
milieu in which she lived and worked, and her place in it. Chapter III traces
her career as a public reader and shows the changing literary tastes of both
3
teacher, the aim of her instruction, her interpretation and use of the Delsarte
Method, and the curriculum offered in her school. Chapter V is devoted to Hiss
presentations of the new dramas of Europe and her use of new staging techniques.
Chapter VI briefly sketches the later careers of Miss Morgan's more prominent
students. Chapter VII presents an evaluation of her life and work. Included In
the appendices are: two lists of Anna Morgan's patrons and friends) a chronologi-
cal listing of Anna Morgan's public reading itinerary and repertoire; lists of
lecture series given In the Anna Morgan Studios; a selected chronological list
a list of all persons known to have been students of Anna Morgan; and an article
t
h
CHAPTER I
BACKGROUND
Anna Morgan enjoyed a long life and en active career during a period
which brought a general cultural expansion to the United States, and many
She was born in Auburn, New York, February 2li, 1851,1 the daughter of
Mary Jane (Thornton) and Allen Den Is on Morgan, a gentleman farmer and mealier of
the New York legislature from 1860-61. She had two sisters, Ida and Marian,
and two brothers, Charles P. and Seward J., the latter named after William H.
Seward. Miss Morgan received her education in the schools of Auburn, New York. 2
In l8?6y following Mr. Morgan's death, the family moved to Chicago, and the next
year Miss Morgan began her study of elocution at the Hershey School of Music
under the tutelage of Samuel Kayzer. Although she began reading publicly in
I878, her reputation was not firmly established until 1880 when she successfully
appeared on a program with the celebrated Mrs. Scott-Slddons. For the next four
years she traveled extensively throughout the eastern half of the United States,
giving elocution programs. In 188{|, she began her work as an educator, a voca-
tion which restricted her reading engagements largely to the Chicago area.
When David Henderson became the manager of the newly built Chicago Opera
the same way that the Academy of Dramatic Art was connected with the Empire
Theatre in New York. Samuel Kayzer was selected to organize the Chicago Opera
the northeast corner of Washington Street, diagonally across from the Opera House.
5
Anna Morgan was asked to Join the faculty as a teacher of elocution and
students at the Conservatory, became interested in the school, and when the
Auditorium Building was erected, arranged for the Conservatory to be moved there
into rooms especially designed for it. The school, now called simply the Chicago
In the summer of 1898, Miss Morgan resigned from the Chicago Conserva-
tory, and set up her own School of Expression on the eighth floor of the Fine
Arts Building, IilO South Michigan Avenue. The following year, the school was
reorganized and incorporated as the Anna Morgan Studios,? the name by which it
was known until her retirement around 1925. The actual date of her retirement
of Death, filled out by her close friend, Jessie Harding, says she retired
January 1, 1925. A letter from another close friend, Henry B. Fuller, dated
August 23, 1926, expresses surprise that she has retired. A catalogue for 192U-
25, and a recital program for April, 1925, indicate that she was active until the
summer of 1925. Anna Morgan died on August 27, 1936, at the age of eighty-five.
'Anna Morgan was the author of three books pertaining to speech and
theatres An Hour with Delsarte, 1890; Selected Readings, and The Art of Speech
and Deportment, 1909. In 1909, she and Alice Ward Bailey wrote a short play
introducing the major women of Shakespeare's plays, called The Great Experiment,
scribes not only her life, work, and friends, but also the artistic and social
climate in Chicago during her times. These books will be discussed more
longer tribute, one of her students, Katherine Welles, describes Anna Morgan's
appearance 1
6
In the grand old Auditorium,
With its towering walls so gray,
There reigns a queenly woman,
O'er her subjects day by day.
According to another pupil, the actress Sarah Truax, Anna Morgan "was
a handsome woman, tall, dark, and striking."7 Her pupil and friend, the socially
Still another pupil and friend, the playwright Alice Gerstenberg, describes her
succinctly by saying that she would have made "a good dowager in a play. "9
complex task. From my study of her writings and her scrapbooks, from letters
and conversations with her friends, I derive the following image. She was arabl-
i
tious but never took advantage of others to achieve her goals; aware of her
talents, merits, and achievements, but also cognizant of her limitations; quick
to learn and unafraid to experiment with new ideas; outspoken, courageous, and
even stubborn for a worthy aim or cause, but always a perfect lady in speech,
dress, and manner; warm and friendly, but proud; emotional and sympathetic, but
Miss Gerstenberg says Anna Morgan had courage, faith and vision; a brilliance
of mind which gave her good literary taste, and an understanding of Browning
and other great writers. Her professed love for good literature was completely
genuine end deeply ingrained.11 Along with these qualities, Anna Morgan had
an enormous capacity for enjoying life. Miss Gerstenberg reports that she was
very womanly being extremely fond of beautiful clothes, pretty hats, flowers,
and a compliment, to the point of being slightly vain. 12 More than these, how-
ever, she loved people. This was manifested by her thoughtfulness. In the Anna
Morgan Scrapbooks are innumerable notes thanking her for flowers and little
gifts, for notes of sympathy, and for letters on birthdays and Christmas. Because
she liked people, she liked parties and entertained often. Characteristic of
her as an innovator, long before the invention of the television table, she had
twelve little tables made, all different colors, so that she could have dinner
She was popular with artists in all fields. She was well liked by both
men and women. Her relationship with men was more of an intellectual than B
flirtatious one, although "she had the natural vanity of a woman."^ She was
such a close friend of Henry B. Fuller that after his death she worked vigorous-
ly to compile and edit a memorial volume of tributes to him which was published
ity, capacity for enjoyment, and genuine love for people, account for her host
of friends, and the place she occupied in Chicago's social and cultural world,
education, and in play production* One of the most significant educational and
cultural movements of the nineteenth century was the establishment of the lyceum
8
system. In 1826, Josiah Holbrook had established the first lyceum in Millbury,
arousing more interest in the common schools, and by educating the adult popula-
tion through the diffusion of scientific and "generally useful knowledge."1" The
system grew rapidly, and soon included thousands of branch lyceums throughout the
country. The notable lecturers of the time included all the best known figures
in theatre, education, and literature. The lyceum ceased to exist with the out-
break of the Civil War, but after the hostilities ended, it was revived, mainly
through the efforts of James Rudpath. In 1868, Redpath organized the Boston
Lyceum Bureau, later called the Redpath Lyceum Bureau. The postwar lyceum
system differed from the pre-war one in two ways. First, the emphasis changed
musicians, and even greater demand for readers. According to Carl Bodt, in
The American Lyceum. Town Meeting of the Mind, this increased interest in public
reading had both a beneficial and a detrimental effect upon literature. On one
book sales. On the other hand, audiences called more and more for selections
which were broadly humorous, and many writers pandered to public taste. '
Secondly, Redpath and the other lyceum bureaus were not educational institutions
but commercial booking agencies and competition among managers led to the "Star
Course" lecture series, with emphasis upon the fame of the performer rather than
high fees, and was mainly responsible for the gradual demise of the lyceum system.
By 1890, the lyceum system had been largely supplanted by the Chautauqua system,
which grew out of religious revival meetings but turned rapidly into cultural
entertainment.
The popularity of the lyceum reader and lecturer was partly responsible
for an increased demand for elocutionary training. However, in the latter part
9
of the nineteenth century, elocution had tended toward the artificial end
exhlbitionlstlc. This tendency was strengthened by the distorted forms of
the Delsarte Method, introduced in the eighteen-seventies. Consequently,
elocution fell into some disrepute and lost its place In the curricula of many
institutions of higher learning. 18 The study of elocution and theatre was then
fostered by private schools and by itinerant elocutionists whose chief aim was
to train entertainers. During the period of 1890-1920, which includes Miss
Morgan's most productive years, speech and theatre training gradually became
accepted as a legitimate educational subject, and was included in the curricula
of secondary schools and institutions of higher education.
Despite the popularity of platform reading, the theatre was the chief
medium of entertainment In the nineteenth century. During the latter portion
of the century, the theatre became increasingly commercial. Plays were chosen
for popular appeal rather than for literary merit, and were produced with elabo-
rate scenery and spectacular effects. In Europe, however, some producers were
rebelling agBinst this commercialism and establishing the "New Theatre" and
"New Stagecraft" movements. The New Theatre movement began with Andre Antoine's
Thefitre Libre in 1887, Otto Brahm's Freie Buhne In 1899, J. T. Grein's Independ-
ent Theatre in 1891, Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theatre in I898, and Max Rein-
hardt's Klelnes Theater In 1902. These men wanted to produce plays of artistic
and intellectual merit regardless of their commercial value. Instead of the
romantic, often weak, plays which the commercial theatres were offering, the
New Theatres, or "Art Theatres," produced the new naturalistic and symbolistic
dramas of Ibsen, Strindberg, Wedeklnd, Shaw, and Porto-Riche. They encouraged
new playwrights and staged the unproduced plays of l i t t l e known writers, many of
whom became famous later. They experimented with new forms of drama.
This movement was slow in coming to the United States. The earliest
efforts to establish the New Theatre are usually thought to have occurred in
10
Chicago with the Hull House Players, organized under the direction of Laura
Dainty Pelham in 1901 (although Hull House had been presenting plays in some
form since its founding In I889), the New Theatre of Victor Mapes, and the
Robertson Players under the direction of Donald Robertson, the latter during
1906-07. In 1911, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Aldls opened their Lake Forest Playhouse,
and In 1912, Maurice Browne opened his Chicago Little Theatre.
The New Stagecraft movement began with the designs and writings of Gordon
Craig and Adolphe Appia. In essence, the movement asked for simplification in
contrast to the elaborate settings of the nineteenth century; suggestion of
environment by a few representative objects rather than a complete, realistic
setting; and synthesis, which meant that the stage setting should be consistent
in rhythm and mood with the play and the acting. The New Stagecraft movement,
like the New Theatre movement, was late in coming to the United States. The
first examples of this stagecraft in the United States are thought to have been
the Toy Theatre of Boston's settings for Two Out of Time, Reinhardt's settings
for Suraurun, and Joseph Urben's opera settings, in 1912.
While the New Theatre movement was developing in Europe, Chicago was
enjoying a vigorous cultural growth. In earlier years, the energies of Its
citizens had been largely devoted to fighting the swamp, building commerce and
industry, and rebuilding after the great fire, but Its tremendous physical and
financial growth made possible a cultural and a r t i s t i c expansion from 1880 to
1920, unparalleled In its history. Anna Morgan's career was an integral part
of this expansion. She played an important role in Chicago's cultural and
artistic growth.
11
1. I l l i n o i s , Cook County, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Certificate of Death,
no. 25199.
2. Anna Morgan, My Chicago (Chicago: Ralph Fletcher Seymour, 1918), p. lit.
3. Ibid., p. 36.
It. Ibid., p. U3.
5. National Encyclopedia of American Biography. Vol. XVII (New York: James T.
White and Co., 1920), p. 262.
7. Sarah Truax, A Woman of Parts (New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 19U9),
p. 12.
8. Letter to me from Mrs. Jacob Baur, June 3, 1959.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
11. Ibid.
15. Anna Morgan (ed.), Henry B. Fuller (Chicago: Ralph Fletcher Seymour, 1929).
16. Robert E. Spiller, Villard Thorp, Thomas H. Johnson, and Henry Seidel Canby
(ed.), Literary History of the United States (New York: The MacMillan Co.,
19W), pp. 237-238.
17. Carl Bode, The American Lyceum. Town Meeting of the Mind (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1956J, pp. 2J6-237.
16. Mary Margaret Robb, "The Elocutionary Movement and i t s Chief Figures,"
The History of Speech Education in America, ed. Karl R. Wallace (New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 195h), p. 1§8.
12
CHAPTER II
the world's finest opera.2 By 1882, Chicago developed her Art Institute from
the old Academy of Design, and soon attracted and developed many excellent
artists. For more than thirty years, Lorado Taft maintained studios in Chicago
making it one of the sculpture centers of the nation, if not, as Alson J. Smith
claims, the "sculpture-capital of the universe."-'
During this period, Chicago was the home at one time or another of so
many writers that around 1920 H. L. Mencken called it "The Literary Capital of
America." They included George Ade, Robert Herrick, Hamlin Garland, Eugene
Field, John Gunther, Sherwood Anderson, Theodore Dreiser, Llewellyn Jones, Lew
Sarett, Hendrick Van Loon, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Edna Ferber, Ring Lardner,
Edgar Lee Masters, Carl Sandburg, Vachel Lindsay, Upton Sinclair, Ben Hecht,
Eunice Tietjens, I . K. Friedman, Will Payne, Henry K. Webster, Edgar Rice
Burroughs, Mary Hastings Bradley, Anne H. Spicer, Julia Cooley, Elia W. Peattie,
Alice Gerstenberg, Opie Read, Edith Wyatt, and Kenneth Sawyer Goodman.'* Between
I89U-96, Herbert Stuart Stone, Bliss Carman, and Harrison Rhodes published a
literary miscellany called The Chap-Book. In I898, this was absorbed by The Dial,
then being published in Chicago by Francis F. Browne. In 1912, Margaret Anderson
began publishing The Little Review, the "bellwether of the avant-garde in American
letters" from 191U-1929. In this same year, 1912, Harriet Monroe, Chicago-born,
13
a poet In her own right and an ex-teacher in Anna Morgan's school, became editor
of the newly established Poetry—A Magazine of Verse.? i n the Anna Morgan Letters
is a note dated July 15, 1912, from Harriet Monroe, asking Miss Morgan for the
first $25 installment of her endowment of the magazine. Its literary committee
was composed of Anna Morgan's close friends, Chicago writers, Henry B. Fuller,
Edith Wyatt, and Hobart Chatfield Chatfield-Taylor. 6 Poetry was the first to
publish Tagore and Vachel Lindsay, and claimed among its regular contributors
Amy Lowell and William Butler Yeats. Ezra Pound was the magazine's foreign
correspondent.?
Chicago became the jazz capital of the world in 1918 when the legal
authorities closed down "Storyville" in New Orleans. The Jazz artists came to
Chicago. gs*e Jazz a new energy and faster tempo, making i t an art form.8
When the Fine Arts Building was remodeled from the old Studebaker build-
ing in the late nineties, it "immediately became an outpost of culture in the
frontier of Megapolis," and "was the center of artistic endeavor in town for
years. . . . "" Here were the studios of John McCutcheon, cartoonist; Lorado
Taft; painters Charles Francis Browne, Frank and Joe Leyendecker, and Ralph
Clarkson; Ralph Fletcher Seymour, artist, illustrator, publisher, and author; the
Alderbrink Press; Blanche Ostertag; George Ade; the Rose Bindery, presided over
by Mrs. Hobart Chatfield Chatfield-Taylor; Mrs. Milward Adams, a teacher of
deportment; and Anna Morgan.10 In the Fine Arts Building the Municipal Art
League, the Cliff-Dwellers, and the Cordon clubs were established. It was the
headquarters for the Little Room, and "the Fortnightly Club, a lady's literary
organization centering around the mater famlliaa of Chicago belles-lettres, Anna
Morgan."11
According to Miss Morgan, there was a social as well as an artistic bond
among these artists:
/
111
In the beginning years of The Fine Arts Building there was a blending
of the social with the artistic life in the studios that was truly
delightful. We were all prosperous, with plenty of work to do, yet
somehow there seemed to be time to exchange visits with our co-workers
and take an active interest in the work which each was doing. Visitors
were frequent; almost any day we were sure to see a group of Chicago friends
who were entertaining out-of-town guests by bringing them to The Fine Arts
Building and its attractive studios. It was a showplacc in the town, a
rendezvous where you were sure to see interesting people. The samovar was
in daily service between the hours of four and seven, and for a few years
it was almost a continuous party . . . . Not only afternoon teas but night
spreads, generally in the Browne studio, were of weekly occurrence, the
company being augmented by a privileged few from the outside, with an
occasional out-of-town visitor. There was an informality, a comradeship
that is sweet to remember.12
To Anna Morgan's studio on the eighth floor came such notables as Eugene
Field, Richard Mansfield, Joseph Jefferson, Edwin Booth, David Warfield, Edgar
I should like to recount if it were possible the many social affairs given
in my Studios. . . . Such an account would include a famous luncheon given
on my stage to Sir Forbes-Robertson and Gertrude Elliott in 1902, at which
Mae. Modjeska and her husband, Count Bozenta, also were guests; and of the
visits of Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, Maxine Elliott, E. H. Sothern, Julia
Marlowe, and hosts of other men and women illustrious in the various fields
of art.13
It was the scene of many social and cultural affairs outside the strict
bounds of lectures, recitals, and dramatic productions. Even before she moved
into the Fine Arts Building, Miss Morgan established a practice of giving teas:
"High Bohemia" is the name given the studio teas recently inaugurated by
Miss Anna Morgan. They are given each Saturday afternoon from four to
seven o'clock at Miss Morgan's rooms in the Auditorium Building. Fully
200 congenial spirits found their way to this popular rendezvous yesterday
afternoon, and everybody had a perfectly informal and therefore a thoroughly
charming time. The guests were mostly artists, litterateurs, and people
of affairs. There was no coteries [sic] or cliques, but all drank the
beverage that cheers and talked cleverly on themes interesting to all.
There is always an informal program at these functions and the one yesterday
was devoted to the Belgian playwright, Maurice Maeterlinck. Mr. Henry
Fuller read a clever paper on "Maeterlinck and the Symbolists," Mrs.
Elizabeth Winslow Harmon added her tribute to the man, and Miss Morgan
told of her interesting visit to his hone last summer. Maeterlinck was
then sojourning at his summer home near Oostacker, a short distance from
Ghent. He was depicted as a host in whom dignity and cordiality are most
happily blended, and one who would thoroughly enjoy "High Bohemia."
Interspersed with these talks were piano selections by Mrs. A. C. Mason
and songs by Mrs. Minnie Fish Griffen.
15
This program was particularly interesting as a prelude to the
production of one of Maeterlinck's plays, "The Intruder," to be given
at 9 o'clock Thursday evening, February 27 at Stelnway Hall under the
supervision of Miss Morgan Bnd by members of the Chicago Conservatory.
The picturesque background added to the attractiveness of the scene.
Every available inch of wall was adorned with brilliant posters and
interesting Oriental curios, while divans with a profusion of Oriental
pillows filled the corners.1**
Her studios were sometimes referred to as a "salon," and Miss Gerstenberg
attests that they really were one. Sometimes her studios served as a means to
promote a person or a cause. For instance, November 10 and 17, 1915, Miss Morgan
gave "two talks illustrated by readings" for the benefit of the French Red Cross
and the families of the French reservists. The t i t l e of one talk was "The
Imagists—-Revolting Angels."1^ (See Appendix A, p.l3U for patrons.) The
Friends of France met in her studios March 20, 1919, to be addressed by Mile.
M. Marfaing of the Bordeaux High School, 16 and the Friends of American Writers
17
met there, November 9, 1922, to hear Llewellyn Jones and Charles Blandon. '
To Miss Morgan's studios came members of Chicago's highest social echelon.
When the Chicago a r t i s t , Nancy Cox-McCormack (Mrs. Charles Cushman) returned
from a three year sojourn in Europe, Anna Morgan gave 8 tea in her honor. She
was assisted by Miss Alice Gerstenberg and the Mesdames: L. Hamilton McCormack,
John T. McCutcheon, Walter Brewster, Jacob Baur, Walter E. Carr, Robert McCorraick
Adams, Everett Millard, Albert Brunker, Carlos Drake, and George Halleek Taylor.
Mrs. McCormick reportedly spoke on Mussolini. 18 The committee for a surprise
party given Miss Morgan by her friends and pupils, celebrating the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the founding of the Anna Morgan Studios was headed by Mrs. Jacob
Baur, chairman, Miss Emily Larned, co-chairman, and Mr. Arthur Bissell, secretary
and treasurer. 1 ? The complete committee i s listed in Appendix A, p. 13U.
She was active in the leading cultural clubs of the time; these included
the Chicago Woman's Club, the Twentieth Century Club, the Sappho Club, the Fort-
nightly Club, and the Antiquarian Club. She was a charter member of both the
Cordon Club and the Little Room.20
The activities and members of the Little Room were especially delight-
ful to her, for she speaks enthusiastically and at great length about them in
My Chlcsfao. The Little Room provided a place where Chlcagoans could regularly
discuss art and literature, and where they could meet distinguished artists,
such as Amy Lowell and Percy Grainger, whenever the latter came to Chicago.
At first they met in Miss Bessie Potter's studio. When the Fine Arts Building
was remodeled from the old Studebaker building, they met In Ralph Clarkson's
Bernard Duffey, of the Michigan State College English faculty, says that the
members of the Little Room, unlike the bohemians of many cities, functioned
"as a bridge between the Chicago artist and his local society." The Little
Room was composed of Chicago's "more respectable society," and was "Chicago's
best substitute for a fully developed leisured and cultivated class." 22 In
the years following its founding in the nineties, nearly all of Chicago's best
writers and artists were members. Some of these were: Jane Addams, George Ade,
Mrs. Carrie Jacobs Bond, Charles Francis Browne, Ralph Clarkson, Marjorie
Anna Morgan was active, too, in other areas of Chicago l i f e . She lectured
and wrote on subjects which ranged from the wearing of corsets and "What is
Woman's Ideal Existence?" to politics. In 1911, Professor Charles E. Merriara,
professor of political science at the University of Chicago, ran for Mayor on
Figure la. Captain Fry's Birthday Party Cast
OB
Figure lb. Identification of la.
1.Ralph Clarkson, 2.A.C.Pond, 3.Franklin Head, U.Henry Hyde, 5.Allen Spencer, 6.Karleton Hackett,
7.W111 Payne, 8.I.K.Friedman, 9.Arthur Huehn, lO.William Morton Payne, 11.Clara Laughlin, 12.John T.
McCutcheon, 13.Roswell Field, lU.Ottilie Liljencrantz, 15.Harriet Monroe, l6.Mrs. Coonley-Ward,
17.Clara Louise Burnham, 18.Miss Holden, 19.Anna Morgan, 20.Lucy Monroe, 21.Mrs. Ella W. Peattie,
22.Howard Van Doren Shaw, 23.Irving K. Pond, 2U.Eve Sumners, 25.Edith Wyatt, 26.Melville E. Stone, Jr.
27.Isabel McDougall, 28.George Barr McCutcheon, 29.Hugh Garden
v>
the Republican ticket, losing to his opponent, Carter H. Harrison by only
18,000 votes. 2 6 Anna Morgan campaigned for Professor Merrlara. Under the
banner, "Anna Morgan Booms Merriam as Sincere," the press said "The most
tireless worker in the city is Anna Morgan, author, artist and pilot of what
she herself calls 'cultural experience.' The immaculate James Hamilton Lewis,
speaking from the other side of the political fence, declares that Miss Morgan
is the best man to be found on Alderman Merriam's firing line" and "like the
name of Abou Ban Adhem, 'leads all the rest.'" Although she had never seen
Merriam, she passed out buttons, talked to people, and actively campaigned for
him because she considered him to be intellectual, clean, and "a man whose l i f e
is above reproach, and isn't backed by a machine composed of ward heelers."
She believed he was sincere end would try to live up to his promises. "Women
are coming Into their own," she said, "and will change the pebbles of man's
thought to Orient pearls. There is no limit to the sphere of women. . . . If
the suffragettes were not so noisy they would accomplish something. If I were
to become an active suffragette I would accomplish something."27 And she would
have.
During the years that she maintained her studios in Chicago, Anna Morgan
was offered positions in other cities and in other countries. While visiting
Florence after the turn of the century, slie was entertained by the Royal School
of Art, of which Tomnaao Salvinl was the director. Miss Morgan spoke to the
students and gave several monologues and recitations, whereupon Salvini asked
her to remain as an instructor in the school. 2 " She declined this and other
Invitations, electing to remain in Chicago. As one news story stated, "Although
she had offers to teach in Paris, in the National School of Italy, in London and
in New York, she has decided to remain in Chicago. Miss Morgan's career is
intimately related to the artistic and finest social l i f e in this city." 2 ? Mrs.
21
i
Nancy Cox-McCormack Cushman's description of Miss Morgan near the end of her
l i f e suggests how important she was: " . . . I called for her and took her to
the opera. She was very lame but s t i l l courageous. Everyone was considerate,
for everyone knew what she had been as a forceful teacher on the social stage
of Chicago . . . ." Perhaps that importance is best summed up in Mrs. Cushman's
words: "She was a cultural force."3°
22
1. Alson J. Smith, Chicago's Left Bank (Chicago; Henry Regnery, Co., 1953),
p. 107.
2. I b i d . , p. 117.
3. Ibid., pp. 158-162.
U. Arthur Meeker, Chicago With Love (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1955),
pp. 286-287.
5. Smith, p. 10.
6. The Anna Morgan Letters, Chicago Historical Society.
7. Smith, pp. 10-13, 5U.
8. Ibid., p. 80.
9. Ibid., p. 9.
10. Anna Morgan, My Chicago (Chicago: Ralph Fletcher Seymour, 1918), pp. 61-62.
11. Smith, p. 9.
12. Morgan, My Chicago, pp. 61-62.
13. Ibid., p. 81.
1U. Unidentified clipping (probably February 16, 1896), The Anna Morgan Scrap-
books.
2U. Herma Clark, "The Little Room, a Famous Artistic Group In the Chicago of
Yesterday," Townsfolk (May, 19UU), p. 29.
25. Playbills, The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks; Morgan, My Chicago, pp. 188-191.
CHAPTER III
i
PUBLIC READING
"Miss Morgan's style Is purely her own, and Is a very natural and agreeable ~
Following this appearance, she was able to secure "Immediate openings In the
larger lecture courses of the country," and her fee "rose from $25 to $100."°
For the next four years, Anna Morgan toured extensively, reading for
audiences In the East, the Middle Vest, and the West. Many of these tours
were under the management of the Redpath Lyceum Bureau. Sometimes she shared
the program with such attractions as "Corinne and her Thirty Merrle Makers,"
and "Master Lew, the Little American Wonder in Artistic Banjo and Bone Solos."
One occasion found Miss Morgan and Laura Dainty appearing for the same audience.
In Chicago, she was engaged by the Slayton Lyceum Course for a season which
Morgan read for the Memorial Day Exercises} whereupon the local citizens induced
her to give elocutionary instruction to "society" people. She stayed and taught
for six weeks. With this experience, she returned to Chicago where she became
a member of the Chicago Opera House Conservatory staff. From this time on her
reading appearances were less frequent, and often connected with her student
recitals.
very well received. In the smaller communities, she was rated superior to other
touring performers. Alexander Gilchrist, a local pastor In Richmond, Indiana,
said "I consider the entertainment . . . by Miss Anna Morgan the best on the
Star Course." Her reading In Aberdeen (probably Ohio) was:
i
. . . decidedly the most enjoyable entertainment ever given In Aberdeen. . .
Throughout the whole programme she held the audience entranced, playing upon
their sensibilities as she pleased, making them uproarious with laughter or
stilling them by her pathos until you could almost hear the dropping of the
tears. That she is an elocutionist of the very highest order is conceded
by every one who had the pleasure of hearing her. It will be a long time,
we fear, before our citizens will be favored with an entertainment so
praiseworthy in every particular.
During these first six years, Miss Morgan's repertoire included selec-
tions which had wide appeal at the time, but whose popularity was only transi-
tory. Dramatic selections Included "The Polish Boy," a heroic poem in which a
Polish boy, confronted by Russian troups at the side of his patriot father's
bier, stabs himself rather than be taken by the enemy, and falls on the breast
of his mother who, apparently from shock, has died a second earlier. Another
appealing poem was "The Pride of Battery B," in which a little Southern orphan,
living with Battery B of the Confederate Army, crosses to the Yankee troups to
beg tobacco for her Confederate friends. Humorous selections Included dialect
pieces such as "Love In the Kitchen" and her favorite, "How Ruby Played." The
latter Is Jed Brovnln's description of Rubenstein playing the piano, and begins:
Well, sir, he had the blamedest, biggest, catty-cornedest planner you
ever laid eyes on; somethln' like a distracted billiard table on three
legs. The lid was hoisted, and mighty veil it was. If it hadn't been he'd
a tore the 10entire inside clean out, and scattered- 'em to the four winds
of heaven.
From her earliest appearances, however, Miss Morgan's programs also included
better selections such as Rossettl's "A Royal Princess" and a scene from
Shakespeare's Richard III.
From 188U on, her appearances were mainly, although not entirely, re-
stricted to the Chicago area. In addition to brief tours in New York and the
Vest, she read on programs with her students, and for the graduating exercises
L -
27
of the elocution class at Valparaiso College. Later, she read for women's
groups congregated in the homes of leaders of society, and she gave series of
readings in her studios.
There was a steady change in her repertoire beginning in 188U. "How
Ruby Played" and similar readings diminished In number and eventually disappeared.
t
In the middle eighteen-eighties, she was reading a scene from Schiller's Mary
Stuart. Whittler's "Marguerite," Bnd "The Broken Seal" from the French of Legouve'.
A decade later, her programs included selections by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Eugene
Field, Joaquin Miller, Kate Douglas Wlggln, and Robert Browning. At the turn
of the century she was reading the poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, and excerpts
from Tolstoi. By 1900, she was presenting lectures on authors, illustrated by
readings from their work. Programs from 1910 on were usually devoted to a single
author, such as Edna St. Vincent Mi Hay. In 1910, she gave a series of what she
called "Lenten Readings." The first four of these were in the homes of leading
Chlcagoans. On February 7, she read Maeterlinck's The Blue Bird at the home of
Mrs. Chatfleld-Taylor, of which the Chicago Herald-Examiner said:
Mrs. Chatfleld-Taylor was the hostess and Miss Anna Morgan the spellbinder
Monday morning at the Taylor home. In a draped gown of soft violet silk
and a delicate lace f r i l l at the throat, Mrs. Taylor helped people to be
seated In her great library. Miss Morgan came in with The Blue Bird in
her hand. Miss Morgan, who was strikingly handsome in black velvet with
an emerald green ceinture, and green feathers waving in her black hat,
read exquisitely and preambled a l i t t l e on a v i s i t she made once to
Maeterlinck, the recluse. "How delightful," said Mrs. Palmer, "to have
met a man who could write such a perfect play." "It was an enchanting
morning," said Mrs. Hugh Birch. Mrs. James M. Walker was so touched she
kissed the reader and thanked her.
The rest of the article reports the ladles' fashions. The Chicago Record-Herald.
although primarily concerned with the costumes of the audience, reported Miss
Morgan's opening remarks. "Maeterlinck, she said, was one of the modern writers,
who had revived the fairy as a medium of expression of l i f e . The bluebird
represented happiness, and the children and their quest of the bird, mankind and
the universal search for happiness." 11 She read William Vaughn Moody's The Faith
28
Healer at the residence of Mrs. Harold F. McCormick, February 1U, John Gals-
worthy's Joy_ on February 21 at the Mark Wlllings home, and What the Public
Wants by Arnold Bennett on February 28 at the home of Mrs. Robert G. McGann.
These were followed by another series in her studios, one devoted to Shakespeare,
another to Browning, and a third to Kipling.
A good example of her lecture-reading appearances Is a Kipling program
given for the Woman's Club Assembly at Galeaburg, I l l i n o i s , October 2, 1915*
First, she talked about Kipling's growing popularity, attributing it to his war
articles. She said that many consider him to be the best living writer next to
Joseph Conrad. She liked his "wonderful gift of being able to visualize charac-
ter," and his metaphors which she believed "to be superior to Rossetti's in
strength and vigor." She said he is not a fireside poet or novelist, because
his characters are often separated from their families. He is moved by a spirit
of broad democracy, and his experience Is so broad he levels all rank In his
writings. In religion he Is Hebraic, as shown in his poem, "The Recessional";
in politics, an imperialist, wanting a world-wide empire for the Anglo-Saxon race.
Women, she said, he pictures as either shallow or immoral, with the exception
of the heroine In "William the Conqueror." She admitted that there is much
unevenness in his writing, much that i s commonplace. However, he also rises to
great heights of lyricism and is very musical. She read "The Cat That Walked by
Himself," "The Recessional," "Chant-Pagan," "Gentlemen-Rankers," which they liked
the best, and upon request, "Sons of Martha."12
Anna Morgan was one of the better readers of her time. It is impossible
to determine how natural "natural" was at any period in the past. However, Anna
Morgan's reading was described as being more natural than that of most of her
colleagues. In her writings on public speaking and reading, she said the primary
aim of any public speaking performance should be to convey the meaning of the
words in a natural manner. The reviews indicate that she accomplished this aia.
29
As early as 1880, the Auburn Advertiser (New York) said:
She does not rant . . . . Grace and naturalness of manner, a voice
Into which can be put tenderness and tears, a quick appreciation of
varying shades of thought and feeling, and a Judgment that prevents
the extravagance of extremes, arc Miss Morgan's marked characteristics.1-'
In I883, John Greenleaf Whittier wrote:
I have had the pleasure of hearing Anna Morgan's recitation of Father
Prout's "Bells of Shandon" and other pieces, which seemed to me naturally
and admirably rendered. She has a clear perception of the thought and
fancy of the authors, and a remarkable adaptation of tone and gesture
to their grave or gay words.1'*
At the turn of the century, the Dally Globe-Gazette of Mason City, Iowa, said:
Miss Morgan combines with a wholesome) face and figure a magnetic personality
and naturalness of expression which is delicious. Her art . . . was never
flambuoyant yet sparkled and bubbled and exhilarated like the frappe which
followed. The subtleness of the humor and the keenness of the wit in the
clever selections read were portrayed by suggestion of facial expression
or intonation of voice in so ingenious a manner that the artfulness of her
renditions had all the elements of artlessness which in dramatic expression
is the highest type of art.
According to another review in this later period:
She took for her theme Illusions or Dreams, and impressed her own pleasant
discourse on the subject by reading from Shakespeare, Paul Laurence Dunbar,
and Tolstoi. Miss Anna Morgan has a personality peculiarly attractive
and reads in a manner so natural, so devoid of apparent effort, so abso-
lutely unaffected, that one forgets all about elocution and listens only
to the meaning in the lines. The art In her reading Is its perfect
naturalness. The closing lines of Tolstoi's conception of "All the Land
a Man Requires" Is exceedingly dramatic, but the full effect was clearly
represented without the wild gesticulation, fearful grimaces, or bodily
contortions which many speakers would have deemed necessary in order to
fully portray its horror. She is interesting, inspiring, restful, charming.
There is not complete agreement about the qualities of Miss Morgan's
voice. Miss Gerstenberg reports that although Miss Morgan's interpretation was
excellent, her voice was poor in quality, and cracked, "all the more remarkable
her rising above the handicap." Miss Gerstenberg suggests that Miss Morgan's
voice may have been better in her youth.1$ When Miss Gerstenberg entered the
studios, Anna Morgan was in her late fifties. In all probability, her voice was
better in her twenties when she was with Redpath and the Slayton Course. A review
30
of a recital given at St. Luke's Guild Hall, Racine, probably during her early
days, said, "Miss Morgan is possessed of a rich, strong voice which is full of
melody and sweetness."
The early part of Miss Morgan's career, I878-I88U, provides some specific
knowledge of the schedule and program of the traveling lyceum reader, a major
and' important entertainer during the nineteenth century. Her career as a whole
reflects a change in literary taste of both reader and audience from naivete to
comparative sophistication. Whereas earlier audiences had wept over "Poor Little
Joe" and insisted that "The Brakeman Goes to Church" be repeated, later audiences
requested selections by Kipling and Tolstoi. Anna Morgan did more than reflect
this change; she helped to establish i t . She did not wait until a poem or play
had been approved by the critics or established as a classic, before she
presented i t to an audience. If she thought a selection had literary merit, she
performed i t . For instance, in 1910 she read Maeterlinck's The Blue Bird and
Moody's The Faith Healer. The latter was given i t s first and only professional
performance that same year and f a i l e d . 1 6 Both plays are now considered excellent
drama, but they were not so considered in 1910. Even in her earliest programs,
when, according to Carl Bode, audiences were demanding more and more broad
humor, she included selections by Shakespeare and other writers of merit. Anna
Morgan's career as a public reader constituted her major training and preparation
for teaching. No doubt she gained a rudimentary knowledge of reading during
her one year of study under Samuel Kayzer. However, i t i s reasonable to assume
that she formulated her philosophy and principles of oral presentation, and
further developed an instinctively good literary taste, during the years that
she was a public reader. She stripped elocution of Its stock characterizations
and conventional mannerisms, and attempted to convey the meaning of the selection
in a quiet, unaffected manner. This approach to oral interpretation, not common
at the time, was also the basis for her teaching.
31
1. Anna Morgan, My Chicago (Chicago: Ralph Fletcher Seymour, 1918), pp. 22-2U.
2. Unless otherwise noted, the material in this chapter i s compiled from
programs, endorsements, unidentified clippings, and testimonials in The
Anna Morgan Scrapbooks, Chicago Historical Society.
3. Alson J. Smith, Chicago's Left Bank (Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1953), p. 9.
U. Morgan, My Chicago, p. 20.
5. The Chicago Inter-Ocean. January 2b, 1880, in The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks.
6. The Chicago Tribune. January 2U, i860, In The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks.
t
7. The Saturday Evening Herald. January 2U, 1880, In The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks.
13. The Auburn Advertiser (New York), April 21, 1881, quoted in Morgan,
My Chicago, p. 25.
1U« Testimonial dated February 22, 1883, in The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks.
32
CHAPTER IV
' TEACHING
Anna Morgan was a teacher in Chicago from 188U to 1925. In her studios,
many actors were prepared for the professional and amateur stage. Here, too,
Studios
Little is known about Anna Morgan's first studio, when the Chicago
Conservatory was in the Reaper Block, except that the rooms were not attractive.
When the Conservatory moved into the eighth floor of the Auditorium, she had a
pleasant studio, large, roomy, its polished floor covered with a handsome rug
and its walls adorned with engravings and drawings, some of the latter the work
of her pupils. There was a lecture hall, used for stage Instruction, dancing,
and fencing, with walls and celling painted In Imitation mosaic, the former in
sea green, the latter in old gold. Folding opera chairs lined the walls.
Most interesting of all, there is at one end of the hall a folding stage,
constructed of oak, so that when it is not in use it can be shut up
against the wall, where it becomes rather ornamental than otherwise.
This hall is designed to accomodate 150 persons. Inside of the vesti-
bule are retiring-rooms for the pupils, all supplied with lockers, desks,
and every convenience. The main reception-room has floor and wainscoting
of glazed tiles. Every room bears the mark of thoughtful and intelligent
consideration of the needs of the school and an apparent disregard of
expense.2
Miss Morgan space for a studio on the eighth floor of the Studebaker building,
shortly to be known as the Fine Arts Building. The Times-Herald described her
33
studip, number 825, in some detail:
Miss Anna Morgan who has Just opened her new School of Expression In
the Fine Arts Building, Michigan Avenue. . . has added to the extensive
suite of rooms a gymnasium which will give every opportunity for
physical culture that up-to-date standards can devise. . . . There
are no more attractive apartments in Chicago than Miss Morgan's new
quarters. The principal studio has been especially arranged from plans
by Irving K. Pond. The scheme of color and decoration is most
aesthetic, the woodwork in Flemish oak making strong outlines for the
walls, which are covered with purple-gray burlap, and for the yellow ceil-
ing. A l i t t l e stage at one end of the room i s provided with a beautiful
drop curtain, lighting facilities and all the trappings of a theatre
stage . . . . The gymnasium and fencing-room is a spacious, light apart-
ment, completely appointed, with a suite of dressing-rooms and lockers,
and a shower bath, and has a beautiful polished floor suitable for
dancing.3
The Chicago Evening Post gave much the same account of the studio, adding that
the students would wear loose-fitting suits of dark blue serge for the gymnasium
work. In addition, it mentioned that there were dining-rooms In the auditorium
where luncheon was to be served, especially for the students.b The seating
capacity in the main studio, where the dramatic productions and recitals were
given, was about one hundred and twenty-five.
Eleven years later, Anna Morgan remodeled these quarters, which caused
Sheppard Butler to remark:
There is mourning among the literary faithful in Chicago, for one of the
town's atmospheric landmarks is gone, never to return. . . . In those
eleven years the dark wainscoting and brown walls never varied. Their
aesthetic tones were an unfailing haven for folk afflicted with intellectual
ennui. Richard Mansfield basked in their shelter, Bernard Shaw summoned
their chatelaine to t e l l of them, and Maeterlinck told her of his interest
in the work that was being carried on there. Illustrious memories clung
about the somber t i n t s . And now they are to give way to pale French grays
and dull Ivories—and the literary faithful are sad.5
Today, 825, painted a light blue, belongs to tht Unity Chapel. Although
somewhat modified, the stage is essentially the same as it was in Miss Morgan's
day. As the picture shows (p. 3U), i t is an attractive stage, with a built-in
fireplace, bookcase, and window sest. The shape of the walls i s rather unusual
and extremely pleasing.
Figure 2. Anna Morgan's Studio, After Remodeling •p-
35
.9 -S/
I
n
C9
u
3
V)
V|
o
c
a
O)
fc.
36
The stage is small. The depth is 15£' and the height is 18£'. The
width is 21' near the front of the stage. However, the center sections of the
side walls slant and the back wall is only 13$' wide. The proscenium width is
16'. (Sec Ground Plan, p. 35) Today, a green back curtain has been hung about
five feet from the back wall to form a backdrop for the pulpit, but a traverse
i
rod on the ceiling indicates that its original position was only about two feet
from the back wall. Although the 1898 newspaper description speaks of a "drop"
curtain, pictures Indicate that the proscenium curtain was a traverse one, like
the one there today. There is no trap door and no fly space. There are no
stage lights or provisions for them. Miss Gerstenberg says that Miss Morgan
used room lamps and standing goose-necked student lamps which could be turned
in any direction. In the center of the stage ceiling is the base of a fixture,
The stage is in the corner of the building, and the window in the back
wall and the window in the stage left wall arc practical, opening outside.
Consequently, when the permanent setting was used, there was no back stage area
and no wing space off stage left. Entrances and exits could have been made only
through the doors off stage right, one at the extreme upper stage right, the
other Just inside the proscenium; from a door Just below the stage; or, possibly,
The auditorium is 21' wide. At some time the back of the auditorium was
however, the auditorium was about U5' long. Miss Gerstenberg says that there
was a mirror across the back wall of the auditorium which the dance students
used In practice.6 Along the audience left side of the auditorium are built-in
wardrobes.
It is not possible to determine exactly what changes were made when the
studio was remodeled. The picture of the Little Room cast taken In 190U, which
was before the remodeling, shows permanent, folding doors (p. 18) which are
not shown in the later picture, and which do not exist now. One interesting
detail of the auditorium is a piece of molding about ten feet in front of the
stage, running up both side walls and across the ceiling, resembling the stage
proscenium in appearance and dimension. My guess is that Miss Morgan used this
would have been easy to string a curtain across this adding, seat the audience
in front of it, and use the stage proper plus the first ten feet of the audi-
torium for the actors and chorus. Moreover, the later picture shows the stage
and the auditorium connected by the rug and some stage properties brought down
onto the auditorium floor. However, Miss Gerstenberg says that the productions
In general, the theatre was small, attractive, and simple. The audience
and actors were physically close, as in the "intimate" theatres of Europe, and
Aim
Anna Morgan's primary aim was not to train actors for the professional
stage, but, stated simply, to give students social poise, and wide knowledge
and appreciation of literature and the arts, so they could gain more pleasure
from life. Her instruction was not primarily dramatic instruction, but
This Institution holds a unique place Ir. the hurly-burly life of Chicago.
It is more of an eighteenth century salon than a school of professional
Instruction and Its leader, Miss Anna Morgan is a woman of ideas that,
in these days of intensely specialized instruction, are well worth noting.
When she established herself in the Fine Arts Building Miss Morgan had been
for several years an Instructor of the dramatic arts in another institution.
With the opening of her own studios, she started upon the working out of
an educational Ideal that she did not see other people following toi any
great extent. Spiritual content and enjoyment, she urged, were the things
to be gained rather than manual or mental dexterity, and education amounted
to very little if it did not make life more worth living at every moment
of existence. "This getting the best out of life," she says, "is really a
38
very groat matter. It Is the supreme business of every individual. It
is all there is to live for. Education, if it is to be effective in material
success, must develop the elements of effective personality and it must
give command of the forces so developed. It should consist not merely in
stocking up the student with facts, however great or important the facts.
Rather should it tend toward the interpretation of facts as they bear
on life. . . . Happiness or the lack of It in any situation is dependent
on one's own point of view. It is a matter of intelligence." Scores of
accomplished players—literally uncounted scores, for Miss Morgan has no
idea how many there have beeiv—have graduated . . . to the professional
stage. Little emphasis is laid on this side of the work, however, for
Miss Morgan believes that making life worth living is the first thing.
If financial success comes along with the rest, so much the better.8
In her school, Anna Morgan placed great emphasis upon the Delsarte
Method, that popular but often ridiculed system of training in vogue between
system, from October, 1869, to July, 1870. He returned to America in 1871 and
July of 1871, without having published his Ideas and theories. In the absence
considered the most substantial and authoritative: first, The Delsarte System of
translation of the notes of some of Delsarte's French pupils, and secondly, Steele
MacKaye. MacKaye delivered lectures on the Delsarte Method In New York and
Boston, and had among his students, S. S. Curry and Franklin H. Sargent. 11 Anna
Morgan was Impressed by reports of MacKaye 'a lectures, and by the fact that
students paid him $20 an hour for Instruction in the Delsarte Method. She
interviewed MacKaye, secured the translations of Delsarte's lessons written by
his pupils, and began to teach the Delsarte Method. Large numbers of students
attended her classes. In 1890, she published the system and ideas she had been
teaching in An Hour with Delsarte, which became, according to Claude L. Shaver,
one of the most widely used of the books on Delsarte. 1 2
Throughout this period, the Delsartians disagreed as to what the Method
"truly" was. MacKaye was thought to be the authority, and he was the only one
to give extended formulation of i t s principles. According to MacKaye, the
Delsarte Method was directly connected to the Holy Trinity; he conceived a triad
expressing l i f e by vocal sound (apart from words), mind by words, and soul by
movement. Movement was greatly stressed. It was divided into three types, and
the body divided Into three zones. There was movement about a center, called
normal, which was vital and expressed life; away from center, called eccentric,
which was mental and expressed mind; and movement toward a center, called
concentric, which was moral and expressed soul. The three influenced each other,
resulting in a total of nine forms. Shaver thinks it unlikely that Delsarte
placed any more emphasis on the physical aspects of the Method than on the vocal,
but In the United States, the Delsarte Method became, essentially, one of
physical culture. Shaver attributes this emphasis upon the physical to MacKaye.1-*
Wade Curry, in his study of Steele MacKaye, shows that Delsarte had
asked for naturalness and restraint in acting, using the "laws" of expression
only to verify and control the natural expression. However, MacKaye discarded
everything that was realistic about the system, and did not use restraint. Accord*
ing to Curry, "MacKaye . . . thought that an actor would communicate the desired
emotion if he adopted the correct position and made the correct movements. The
Delsarte system, by his interpretation, gave the actor only one method of express*
uo
lng each emotion, and i t did not encourage him to feel the emotion or to study
the character he portrayed. n1 ^ Both MacKaye and his students were severely
criticized for their mechanical, artificial acting, and lack of characterisation.
Anna Morgan's conception of the Delsarte Method was formulated in part
from MacKaye's lectures, but more, i t appears, from notes of Delsarte's lessons
* and her own thinking. Basically, she differed with MacKaye. In An Hour with
Delsarte. she defines the purpose of the Delsarte Method. It is a system, she
says, to give one muscular strength, but not at the expense of flexibility.
Flexibility is needed for control and for ease of movement, and i s , therefore,
the basis of grace. To gain this control and ease of movement, a system of
exercises for the general cultivation of the entire body is needed. These
exercises free the body from all restrictions and render It subservient to the
w i l l , thereby adding force and meaning to every movement. The Delsarte Method
seeks to determine the individual's natural and most becoming way of moving and
gesturing. One's bearing and gesture are taken as outward manifestations of
one's character. If one has acquired poor habits of bearing and gesture, he may
give a very false impression of whet he is really like. 1 ?
She describes Delsarte's philosophy as she interpreted i t :
It was Delsarte's great discovery that the human soul, in i t s
covering of flesh called the body, moves in obedience to universal law;
that its efforts to manifest i t s e l f to the outer world are restricted to
the conditions imposed by space, time, and motion,—the three great
elements by which i t s activities are inevitably environed; that the soul
must express i t s e l f "In space, through time, by motion,"—In other words,
every agent of expression must appear in space by aeans of motion, and
requires time in which to manifest itself; and finally, that the force by
which this motion i s produced is supplied by the soul, or psychic
principle, and is of three different kinds, each corresponding to the
three states of the being which i t translates in expression.
Thus, when this force causes motion outward, or from the body,
it is said to proceed from our physical nature, and i s called Vital; when
this force causes motion inward, or toward the body i t is said to proceed
from our Intellectual nature, and is called Mental; and when this force
Is poised—that I s , when it neither causes motion from nor toward the
body, but tends to hold the body in poise—-it is said to proceed from the
emotional nature, and Is called Emotive.
i
Ill
In every human being one of these three natures, or states of the
being . . . is predominant, while the other two are tributary or subordi-
nate • • • •
Thus ve find the seat of sensation in the physical nature, which is
also the source of v i t a l i t y , and reveals i t s e l f through outward or objective
motion. The seat of sentiment is In the emotive nature, which is the source
of the highest emotions of the soul; it reveals Itself through centered or
poised motion.
The seat of consciousness is in the mental nature, which Is the
source of thought, and is revealed through subjective or inward motion.
I t should be borne In mind here that this divUion of the soul into separate
states is purely an arbitrary distinction, and is made for the purpose of
facilitating analytical study. It is a matter of convenience merely, and
has no existence in fact.
Now, in the same way that the soul is divided, and for the same
purpose of study, the body Is arbitrarily separated Into three grand divisions,
each division corresponding to one of the three states of the being which
i t represents, and which it selects as i t s favorite ground for display.
Thus, the head represents the favorite ground for the expression
of the mental nature; the legs and arms the ground for the vital nature;
and the trunk, or torso, the ground for the emotive nature. Each of these
grounds, or divisions of the body, is subdivided, and again ve have the
three states of the being represented In these subdivisions. 16
Although she obviously emphasized the body, she considered the voice, too, an
agent of expression in the Delsarte Method. In Chapter XII "The Voice—Read-
ing," she says that Delsarte treats vocal expression in three categories: the
mere sound of the voice is v i t a l ; modulated sound, or tone, is emotive; and
articulate speech is mentBl. The pitch of the voice is also suggestive of these
three states. " . . . Delsarte defines the chest voice as the expression of the
vital or sensitive l i f e , the medium voice as the expression of sentiment and
the emotive nature, and the head voice as the correspondence of the mental side
of the being." After drawing a parallel between the three voices and the three
forms of gesture, she says:
The Importance of the voice as an agent of expression depends, as In the
case of the other agents, upon the degree of Its flexible strength and
the readiness with which It accomodates i t s e l f to the passing phases of
thought and feeling; hence the necessity for cultivating the voice to
i t s greatest pliancy of modulation.
Just as it is important to have the body under control, so is It important to
have the voice under control. I t , too, is an indicator of character. If a
person Is to appear spontaneous and natural in a speaking situation, "the most
U2
In the last chapter, "The Stage," she develops the idea that artists in
every field must have, in addition to natural ability, a systematic plan of
study. "It is the idea, feeling, or emotion speaking through cultivated mediums
that touches the subtlest chords of harmony."1" She then explains the importance
of the Delsarte Method to actors:
Delsarte's philosophy of physical expression enables the student to analyze
and classify his own motions and their corresponding emotions. It places
expression on a sure and certain footing; it makes the actor independent
of his moods and delivers him from the thralldom of an untoward tempera-
ment. I t enables him at w i l l to put on the semblance of a feeling which
he does not at the moment experience; for has he not already analyzed i t ,
and Is he not familiar with Its source and stop? The real feeling cannot
always be commanded at the moment when i t is required, hence the necessity
for a perfect simulation to preserve the illusion. Delsarte's methods are
Nature's methods systematized for the purposes of art. 19
She notes that most actors of eminence who work systematically pursue, often
unwittingly, the Delsarte Method. They follow a routine of daily physical
exercises for general flexibility; they try to cultivate and economize physical
resources. This Is fundamental to the Delsarte Method.20
U3
The Delsarte Method, In general, received much ridicule from the
Anna Morgan was not spared. However, Host of those who commented on her work
admitted that there was validity to her system. After examining the reviews,
the general attitude might be summarized as: "The Delsarte Method In general Is
absurd and hilariously funny. However, Anna Morgan's version seems to have some
practical merit." The New York World commented at length on An Hour with Delsarte:
It declares that most teachers of the Delsarte Method produce robots, but:
After the subtitle, "Chicago Girls Study It, No Lop-Sided or Pigeon-Toed Girls
No girl with a crooked back or a lop shoulder ever came out of Miss Morgan's
shop. The same blessing was conferred upon the young men who braved the
battery of feminine glances and sharp tongues for two or three months. . . .
Office tenants in the building in which Miss Morgan's studio was for half a
dozen years, got Into the habit of making bets with each other as to how
many weeks it would take to transform an ugly, misshapen new-comer into a
model of loveliness. . . . In the early stages of her metamorphosis the
seances were thus revealed to those who listened.
"Why do you hold your right shoulder higher than the left?"
"Oh, that is a characteristic of our family. My mother, my
grandmother and my great grandmother all held their right shoulders
higher than their left."
uu
"Your mother, your grandmother and your great grandmother were all
howling idiots. If you are proud of such an heirloom I can do
nothing for you."
"But I'm not proud of i t . What can I do?"
"What can you do? Why, bring your right shoulder down to your
left of course—not quite so much—there I Now they are level.
Keep them so." 2 *
This was a parody of Miss Morgan's answer to students who claimed their poor
posture was inherited. Perhaps the most acid comment appeared in the Chicago
Tribune, which condemned Miss Morgan's book and the Delsarte Method in general.
Next, the Tribune gives a list of Aphorisms and a Character Index, such as
"thoughtful people habitually lower the head and eyes,* end quotes some parodies
which had appeared in the New York World, including "a marriage proposal":
Her book was praised by a fellow Delsarte devotee, Franklin Sargent, in this
letter, dated June 22, 1890:
Dear Miss Morgan,
I have just finished reading your "Hour with Delsarte" which I am
ashamed to say I had not more than casually seen at the library. I shall
hasten to buy a copy at once.
Your book is fine in thought and deep in feeling. It Is the best
writing on the subject for public reading that I have seen.
Will you accept as a token of earnest appreciation of the large
and good work you are doing, the accompanying photo of Delsarte taken
from a medallion cast by his daughter In my possession. I have had but two
or three copies printed and am very chary of them. I know that you will
preserve i t carefully and keep it solely in your own possession. I
especially ask you not to have i t copied. The face of the master should
look only upon the real inmates of his art-temple and not upon intruders
or the uninterested.
Faithfully yours,
Franklin H. Sargent21*
Among the local skeptics was one convert whose story was told in an
All Right Here. Miss Anna Morgan's Class. Any One on Hearing Them Declaim Will
be Convinced of the Utility of the System." It relates the story of a man who
heard how absurd the Method was, paid a visit to Miss Morgan's studio, saw the
In place of the wildly rolling eyes, the agonized accents and mechanical
gestures which he had learned to expect of the disciples of Delsarte, there
was a well modulated voice, "gentle and l o w — a n excellent thing in
w o m a n " — a n accent of refinement and a quiet but Intense dramatic expression
that gained force from well disciplined intelligence.26
Anna Morgan was one of the major exponents and staunchest defenders of
the Delsarte Method in the United States. There were many faddists who taught
some form of the Method, as a novelty, and as a quick way to make money. But
her version of the Method was practically applied toward a sensible goal. She
used no rules or set method. She saw the Delsarte Method as the best system by
which to gain vocal and physical flexibility needed to express feelings and
ideas. Unlike MacKaye, she thought It was a realistic and natural method of
expression, and she used it with restraint. It appears that Anna Morgan
interpreted Francois Delsarte's ideas more truly than did Steele MacKaye.
Curriculum
and appreciation, Anna Morgan continually increased the scope of her curriculum,
through formal courses, through readings and lectures, and through performance.
Many of the basic ideas underlying her teaching, are expounded In her
book, The Art of Speech and Deportment, published In 1909 and revised in 1922,
U7
which was used as a general text in her school.27 The revised version differs
little from the original, except that it has eight more pages which include a
Given." Certain portions, such as the proper choice and use of perfume, seem
i
quaint and irrelevant until one remembers that Anna Morgan's concept of culture
included social behavior.
Part I covers manners, poise, walk, how to sit, bowing, breathing, breath
breath control. Part II is devoted to the voice. She gives exercises for ex-
cellent tone and proper placement, discusses phonetics, variety of vocal quality
and platform manners. Part III is concerned with "Poise" of the head, eye,
brow, eyelids, nose, mouth, profile, head and neck, torso, elbow, wrist, hand,
arms, legs and feet, the curtsey, and how to fall. In Part IV she discusses the
history of the English language, reliable dictionaries and their use, errors and
the most important foreign phrases and a key to the pronunciation of words
commonly mispronounced. Finally, she gives a short but good history of the
theatre and dramatic literature, starting with the Greeks, discussing the
"unities," then considering English, French, Spanish, Italian, and German drama,
and ending with a concise but good discussion of "The Drama To-Day." This is
tion." She disliked the term "elocution" because the word "has been so abused."21
She had little sympathy with some of the old stock practices which caused the
word to fall into disrepute. For instance, she cautions her readers against
imitating birds, bells, and the wind, "unless you wish to exhibit a peculiar
U8
talent which verges on the commonplace and which entertains only the rustic."2?
She disliked "stock" voices, particularly what she describes as the cracked voice
called this "mongrel baby-talk."3° she also had little patience with the
set of stock practices from the "old school," one should carefully analyze the
selection and then concentrate on its meaning. In any type of platform appear-
ance, the most important thing is "the message to be delivered, not the manner
finished manner, simply, without exaggeration.33 The reader should reveal his
own "individuality," which Miss Morgan calls "the ego." He should learn how to
keep groups of words related in idea. The idea is the most important thing.
She then analyzes "My Last Duchess" and "Hamlet's Instructions to the Players."
In my opinion, the analyses are sensible, placing little more emphasis upon
gesture than a reader might today. The Art of Speech and Deportment shows that
and theatre, and that her ideas and theories were not those of the typical
nineteenth century elocutionist, but were "modern" in the sense that they would
be acceptable today.
It is not possible to determine what part, if any, she played in the develop-
ment of the Chicago Conservatory curriculum. She was, however, a witness to,
German, Italian, French, and Spanish. Miss Morgan taught calisthenics and
i
elocution.36 Later, John Staplcton was added for "the department of instruction
in practical stage business" and Hart Conway was appointed director of plays.
Subsequent additions to the faculty and curriculum were largely in the field of
When Miss Morgan established her studio in the Fine Arts Building,
were courses in Dance and Physical Training. Miss Mary Gildersleeve Warner of
Cincinnati was the physical director. The gymnasium was open to men and women
who were not otherwise connected with the school. The instruction in gymnastics
combined the German, Swedish, and Delsarte systems, with Miss Morgan's "own
method of natural expression for health and deportment."37 There were exercises
for obtaining "a normal and becoming deportment for habitual use; special breath-
ing instruction for singers; exercises for reducing or gaining flesh; exercises
O'Brien, a pupil of Colonel Thomas H. Monstery (and also a pupil of Anna Morgan
the new society dances and in every form of dancing for the stage."3"
A catalogue Issued about 1909 says that part of the training in the
Shakespeare course was the enactment of famous scenes. Writers desiring pro-
50
advanced English course under Miss Madge Jenison. Miss Jenison also had a class
In this same year, Mrs. Louise Zerr Jenklson directed a class in "Gymnastic
A catalogue dated 1910-11 mentions that special work was provided for
those who were Interested In Chautauqua work. Miss Morgan added Vocal Interpre-
tation of the Bible under Miss Hill and herself, and Spanish under Marques de
assisted Miss Morgan in Dramatic Art and in the rehearsal and production of
plays, and }irtia Mansfield Swett taught Dancing. Announcements of Classic and
Artistic Dancing recitals included such numbers as: Grecian Temple Dance,
Delilah's Dance Before Sampson, Hungarian Mazurka, Diana's Hunting Party, Bubble
Dance, Egyptian Dance, Bacchanal, and Interpretation of Chopin Waltz Op. 6I4, no.2.
modern plays and playwrights. There were special courses for professional
teachers, dramatic artists, and operatic career singers. Students showing talent
were now encouraged to write dialogues, sketches, and plays, which, when worthy,
1892 with a monologue by Bartley Gushing, and later the monologues and plays of
established part of the curriculum. Mrs. Marie Lydla Standish now headed the
51
French department. She taught Pure French Diction In Conversation and Read-
ing, and French Literature, Drama and History. Herr Peter Hagboldt conducted
the writing of plays "from the angle of the producer," "scenic side-lighting,"
costuming, and properties. A scholarship was to be awarded for the best play
written in the class. About this time, Miss Frances Oliver was added to the
faculty, teaching Social Deportment, and a former student, Dolores Mertz, was
The last catalogue, for 192U or later, mentions these changes of faculty:
M. Marius Jean of Paris, France, was to teach French Diction, Grammar, and
Conversation; Andreas Pavley and Serge Ankrainsky of the Russian Ballet were
The students also studied history in its connection with the arts, as
shown by this undated listing of topics for the Wednesday morning study class.
Shakespeare Fashions
The Middle Ages Causes of the French Revolution
The Renaissance American Literature
The Elizabethan Period Living American Authors
Oliver Cromwell Chicago Authors
Louis the Fourteenth
ordinarily a two year course, but could be extended to three or four years, at
the end of which the student received a diploma, presented by such men as Lorado
Taft and Thomas Wood Stevens. It met from October to May, four mornings of each
week, with special rehearsals, and one term of private lessons. Tuition for the
course rose steadily, and in 192U it was $UOO a year. If one did not want to
devote this much time to study, a schedule of selected courses and one private
$2
lesson a week could be arranged. Students could also enroll for "terms" of two
and one half months each, summer sessions of one month, or a Saturday class
met on Saturdays and other days after school. A Business Women's Class, a
class in General Culture, Expression, and Public Speaking, was held on Saturday
including Rehearsal and Production of Plays, for advanced players and "artist"
pupils. The members of this class formed "an artist players group," The Players,
which, under Miss Fitch, gave performances in Chicago at clubs and theatres.
Miss Morgan also conducted a special course for teachers. A notice late in Miss
Morgan's career announced that Miss Fitch not only undertook the production of
plays for clubs, societies, and drawing-rooms, but large productions for charity,
as well. One of her specialties was the production of plays with child actors.
Miss Morgan and her assistants also staged entire pageants, inside or outside,
taking advantage of the natural scenery for both the stage and background, in
historical costuming.
Along with her regular classes, Miss Morgan offered a lecture and read-
ing series, Tuesday mornings, usually at 11:00. In her 1910-11 catalogue, she
mentioned that these were considered part of the students' training, and that
here she taught the history of art from the Greeks to the present, trying to
correlate the theatre with music, painting, architecture, and the other forms of
art. The talks also included some on history and current events. They were open
to the public and could be attended singly or as a course. The dates are seldom
53
available for these, but the prices ranged from $8 to $25 per series for those
not regularly enrolled. The various series throughout the years (listed in
Appendix C ) , covered such poets and their work as Rupert Brooke, Stephen
Gogol, and Claudel; and other writers such as Edith Wharton, Henri Bergson,
Cowper Powys, and Winston Churchill. There were lectures, too, on such divers!-*
fied topics as The Man Jesus, and Feminism. In one series, in 1916-17, called
Plays and Playhouses in America, Miss Morgan traced the history of the American
theatre from its infancy before the American Revolution, through the Little
Theatre movement.
Whenever possible, Miss Morgan tried to correlate her talks and readings
and anyone else who wished to attend. These series are listed in Appendix C.
lectures, was The Great Literary Movements of the Last Three Centuries. For
three or four years during the opening decade of the twentieth century, Harriet
Monroe was a teacher or lecturer in the school. Her topics included, among
5U
others, New Ideals in American Architecture and Sculpture, American Painting,
the New Era in Germany, the French Republic, Modern Music, Modern Actors and
Actresses from Slddons to Duse, American Poets such as Santayana and Markham,
Novelists and Story Tellers, Playwrights such as D'Annunzio, and Stage Mechanism,
Costume, Wigs, and Scenery. Professor Oscar L. Triggs from the University of
Chicago lectured on leading modern writers, and Professor P. G. Mode, also from
the University of Chicago, presented a series, The Dark Ages and the Feudal
Society. A Mr. George Riddle made several appearances in the Anna Morgan Studios,
choosing for one of his topics, The Decadence of English Speech. Students of
French could have heard Miss Emily Charlotte Cetard deliver "four lectures in
French," covering Balzac, Modern French Novels, and Contemporary French Drama.
In addition to these literary, cultural, and historical lectures, there were
talks by Edmund Russell on House Decoration, Dress, and the Wearing of Jewels.
Anna Morgan's studio was not a professional theatre school, not a private
t
theatre school, not a school to train professional elocutionists, not strictly
academic like the speech departments of our colleges and universities, and not
a finishing school for young ladies. It possessed elements of them a l l , in a
unique combination.
In order to assess the merits of her school, i t i s necessary to compare
her curriculum and aims with those of other speech and theatre institutions.
Giles Wilkcson Gray, in his chapter "Some Teachers and the Transition to
TWentieth-Century Speech Education" in The History of Speech Education In America.
says:
The field of speech up to 1690 had been for the most part disorganized,
and in the hands of the professional elocutionists, who apparently had
no concept of the educational values in the subject. . . . By the end
of the three decades [1920] the professional organizations were taken
over by academic teachers, not of elocution, nor entirely of public
speaking, but of speech. The teaching of speech had moved from the
$5
itinerant elocutionist and the private schools interested in public
performance as a form of entertainment, to the high schools, the
colleges, and the universities, and had become a respected academic
discipline with a status equal to that of any other subject in the
curriculum. 39
Anna Morgan was one of the pioneers in this transition. Although she had been
an "itinerant elocutionist," and she had a private school, she viewed speech
MacKaye and Franklin Sargent are important figures in theatre history, partly
because they saw the theatre as having a higher mission. Anna Morgan shared
this view. Perhaps she was Influenced by them. She felt that plays had educa-
tional value. She felt that dramatic literature, play production, and the wide
variety of subjects she offered, provided her students with the means to live a
Anna Morgan's studio may be compared with the best private speech schools
of her time. Edyth Renshaw chooses the National School of Elocution and Oratory,
t
the Emerson College of Oratory, the Columbia School of Oratory, the School of
Expression which later became Curry College, and the Leland Powers School of the
Spoken Word as five of the best private schools during the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries. She says that their aim was the development of
character and the enrichment of personality and that they shared these basic
concepts: they thought the cause of expression was mental; the faults of voice
and delivery were chiefly mental; voice and body should be free to respond to the
mind; drill routines for posture, relaxation, breathing, and articulation were
necessary; and they used Delsarte's charts as a basis of action study.k° Anna
Of the private and professional theatre schools, the best was probably
the Lyceum School of Acting, established in 188U which became the American
During the first year, the curriculum was: Action; Physical Training, Pantomime,
56
Dancing, Fencing, and Life Studies; Diction: Vocal Training, Phonetics, Vocal
Rehearsals, and Performances. The second year was composed of: Advanced Class-
room Studies, Rehearsal of Practice Plays, and the Production of Plays by Class
Members. In 1910, it added Dramatic Reading and Dramatic Analysis. There were
few changes between 1910 and 1920. The curriculum offered by Anna Morgan compares
studios, rather than full-scale schools of acting.^2 Anna Morgan's school, how-
ever, was long-lived, extending into the era when speech and theatre became
Clifford Eugene Hamar surveyed the catalogues of 180 colleges and universities
to find the number of institutions which offered seven selected theatre courses.
In aim and In Instruction, Miss Morgan's school ranked among the best of
and productions, she gave her students the breadth and depth of speech and
theatre knowledge which was later the goal of colleges and universities. Perhaps
the importance of her educational work has been heretofore obscured by the
appears in the words of those who visited her studios and those whose children
studied In her school. From the latter came many letters thanking Miss Morgan
for making their daughters graceful and poised, and many thanking her for bring-
ing out the "individuality" of their children. She received the endorsements of
George Arliss, Sir Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, Helena Modjeska, Joseph Jefferson,
Hobart Chatfield Chatfleld-Taylor, and William Archer, to name only a few. George
Ade praised her work: "I have come to believe In your school. Instead of adopt-
ing the stilted methods of the conventional dramatic school, you are teaching
people to take up the good home accomplishments and wear them gracefully."
Lorado Taft said: "I have an idea that you not only teach expression but give
your pupils something to express. Would that all art students had such instruc-
tion." In a personal letter written July 9, 1896, and later quoted in the Times-
What Impresses me most In the work of your pupils is the almost complete
absence of the indications that so commonly mark the process; you show us
the fabric without calling too much attention to the seams. Yet how
frequently do we find the seams Insisted upon, as if the tapestry existed
merely to bring them out. I have always thought that the chief blight
resting upon most courses of elocutionary and dramatic training came from
that pride of system which sacrifices so much fresh young cleverness and
promise In the none too wholesome atmosphere of mere formula and method.
So successfully do you avoid this difficulty that one Is easily led to
believe your own method to consist largely upon a friendly caution at
the right moment than upon the rigorous and impersonal enforcement of a
code of conventional rules. **5
In summarizing Miss Morgan's work, The Musical Leader and Concert praised her
dramatic productions "for their decided literary merit and for the manner in
which they were presented," said "conversation need not be a 'lost art'" If
taught In Miss Morgan's manner, and that "As a school for dramatic art, for
i
59
1. Letter to me from Mrs. Ellen Van Volkenburg Browne, September 3, I960.
2. Unidentified clipping, The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks, Chicago Historical
Society.
3. "Anna Morgan's New School, Now Located in the Fine Arts Building—Woman's
Gymnasium Has Just Been Added," The Sunday Times-Herald. October 2, 1898,
in The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks.
U. The Chicago Evening Post. October 1, 1898.
5. Sheppard Butler, "Morgan Studios Made Notable by Shaw, Maeterlinck and
Mansfield, Undergoing Transformation," unidentified clipping, The Anna
Morgan Scrapbooks.
6. Letter to me from Miss Alice Gerstenberg, August 25, I960.
7. Ibid.
8. Butler, "Morgan Studios Made Notable. ..."
9. The Sunday Times-Herald. October 2, I898.
10. Unidentified clipping, 1905 or later, The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks.
11. Claude L. Shaver, "Steele MacKaye and the Delsartian Tradition," The
History of Speech Education In America, ed. Karl R. Wallace (New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts, IncJ, pp. 207-215.
12. Ibid., p. 216.
13. Shaver, pp. 203-205.
1U. Wade Curry, "Steele MacKaye: Producer and Director" (unpublished Ph. D.
dissertation, Department of Speech, University of Illinois, 1958), pp. 1U-15.
15. Anna Morgan, An Hour with Delsarte (Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1890), pp. 8-17.
25. The Sunday Herald. September 28, 1890, in The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks.
35. Unless otherwise noted, the material in this section is compiled from course
catalogues for the Anna Morgan Studios, announcements, and typed lists, all
in The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks.
39. Giles Wllkeson Gray, "Some Teachers and the Transition to Twentieth-Century
Speech Education," The History of Speech Education In America, p. U2U.
UO. Edyth Renshaw, "Five Private Schools of Speech," The History of Speech
Education In America, pp. 302-321.
U2. Francis Hodge, "The Private Theatre Schools in the Late Nineteenth Century,"
The History of Speech Education In America, p. 562.
U3. Note that between these periods, some may have inaugurated the course In
question, others may have dropped It. The 1920-21 figure shows the number
existing at that time.
1
61
UU. Clifford Eugene Hamar, "College and University Theatre Instruction in the
Early Twentieth Century," The History of Speech Education in America.
Pp. 575-590.
i
62
CHAPTER V
DIRECTING
The nondramatic recitals and the dramatic productions which Anna Morgan
directed provided a showcase through which the students' training obtained in
the classes was displayed. A program often included a play plus several read-
ings or monologues. However, plays and readings will be treated separately
in this study.
Usually, no admission was charged. For major productions, particularly
the ones held in commercial theatres, admission was charged, not exceeding one
dollar. Because the Anna Morgan Studios were small, many recitals and plays
given after 1898 were seen "by invitation," only.
Nondramatic Recitals
During the course of her long career, Anna Morgan presented her students
in numerous recitals of readings, monologues, and duologues. 1 A selected l i s t
of these recitals is given in Appendix D. Many of the selections used are in
her volume, Selected Readings. 2 which contains prose ranging from O.Henry,
J. M. Barrie, and Tolstoi to the Bible and a lesser known speech of Abraham
Lincoln; a wide variety of poetry; and scenes and dialogues from books and plays
which an advertisement says are "different from the selections which one usually
expects and finds in compilations for readers," many of them being "published for
the first time apart from their authors' works. . . ." Although readings from
Shakespeare were frequently given, the recitals included a variety of literature,
simple and difficult, to accomodate her students who were at different levels of
63
training. These recitals also reflect Miss Morgan's changing literary tastes
through the period from 188U-1925.
In the first years that she taught, Miss Morgan's students read many of
the selections which had been in her own repertoire, such as "Poor Little Joe,"
"Money Musk," and Whittler's "Marguerite." Very popular were dialect readings
such as "Leedle Yawcob Strauss," which begins;
I haf von funny leedle poy
Vot gomes schust to my knee—
Der queerest schap, der createst rogue
As efer you dit see.
He runs, and schumps, und schmashes dings
' In a l l barts off tier house.
But vot off dot? He vas mine son,
Mine leedle Yawcob Strauss.3
The students also read the fresh, vivid, juvenile stories of Mary Mapes Dodge,
such as "The Minuette," a relief from the more didactic juvenile selections of
the nineteenth century; HJalmer H. Boycnson's romantic and well-written narrative
poem, "Brier Rose;" the Western folk stories of Bret Harte; scenes from Sheri-
dan's School for Scandal. Schiller's Mary Stuart, and many Shakespearean plays.
There were pantomimes or "Mechanical Exercises," illustrating, no doubt, the
Delsarte Method.
In the eighteen-nineties, "How Jimmy Tended the Baby," and similar
selections, appeared less frequently. In their stead were Leigh Hunt's "Abou
Ben Adhem," poems by the Rossettis, Kipling, and Browning; Kate Douglas Wiggin's
popular and sentimental "A Bird's Christmas Carol;" excerpts from the novels of
Lew Wallace; selections by the English humorist Jerome K. Jerome; the romantic
writings of George Eliot; the pious and sentimental work of Elizabeth Stuart
Phelps; the vivid, cosmopolitan but artificial fiction of Richard Harding Davis;
selections by new American writers Clyde Fitch and William Allen White; and the
works of Chicago writers Eugene Field, Hamlin Garland, and I.,K. Friedman. Miss
Morgan arranged pantomimes, such as "The Five Senses," in which "a sentient
being, never having seen this world, finds herself in a garden, and through her
and hearing, through the material means of grass, toads, a fountain, rose bush,
" . . . book recitals In which ten or more students took part. The idea was to
present the entire book, parts of it being related to connect the most striking
scenes that were read."k The first of these was The Sky Pilot by Ralph Connor
(Charles William Gordon), a "study In tone coloring," presented on February 12,
1901. The writings of this Canadian minister, which combined exciting adventure
with simple morality, were very popular in the early twentieth century, and The
Sky Pilot was well received by Miss Morgan's audience Irving Addison
sentimental story, introducing Horace Greeley and Abraham Lincoln, but centering
on the faithful servant, Eben Holden, was read March 21, 1901. The Virginian
i
by Oven Wister, a story of the West dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt, was read
November 20, 1902, the same yeBr in which it was written. The Virginian is
significant in American literary history because i t struck a new and bold note
diversified love l i f e ; that in a lawless community, men must make laws suitable
unconventional manner. Some of the episodes are strong and even brutal. Some,
such as the episode of Em'ly, the excessively maternal hen, show a keen sense of
humor. Book recitals also Included Mrs. Tree by Laura E. Richards, February 12,
1903; and on May 8, 1903, the year in which it was written, Six Trees by the
prolific New England writer of plain and simple works, Mary E. Wilkins. Elinor
65
MacCartney's Nancy Stair and Clara E. Laughlin's Felicity were also presented.
Other programs Included the writing of William Blake, Paul Laurence Dunbar,
Stephen Crane, the prose and poetry of George Meredith, the stories of Guy de
Maupassant and Alphonse Daudet, the writing of Tolstoi and Henry Van Dyke,
excerpts from the plays of Ibsen, and evenings of Kipling and Browning. The work
Recitals after 1910 were even more diverse; they included programs of
Dickens, a book recital of Robin Hood (probably the novel by George Payne
James), Madame Butterfly by John Luther Long, excerpts from Bayard Veiliter's
Within the Law, selections by Robert Herrick, Booth Tarkington, Oscar Wilde,
Alfred Noyes, Eugene O'Neill, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Sara Teasdale, Edna St.
Vincent Mlllay, Amy Lowell, Robert Frost, Eunice Tletjens, St. John Ervine,
Ferenc Molnar, Bernard Shaw, and the sea poems of John Masefield.
Cushing read his own "His Mother" in a recital. Marjorie Benton Cooke expressed
her literary ambitions to Miss Morgan, and asked what she should write. At
Miss Morgan's suggestion, Miss Cooke began her career by writing monologues,
later published in several volumes. The first of these, "Cupid Play Coach" and
"When Mother's at the Club," were presented December lit, 1900. They were follow-
Miss Cooke's later monologues were often presented in subsequent programs. Among
the more popular were "At Madame Newberry's" and "On a Suburban TrBin." On
December 9 and 16, 1905, student Geraldine Faro read her own monologue, "In the
Latin Quarter." On May 9, 192U, with five monologues by Miss Cooke, the program
included a monologue written and read by Miss Erstyne King, one written by Marian
66
Bowlan (probably the author of earlier sketches, too, whose author is simply
listed as Bowlan), and one arranged and read by Estclla Bowman. December 17,
191U, Mrs. Janet Casse read her "original verses," and April 30, 1925, Judith
Dramatic Productions
a showcase for her students, and they provided a "fine arts" theatre for the
audiences.
Because the productions were to exhibit the talents and learning of the
they ranged from very simple, naive one-act plays for the beginners to the
subtle und complex full-length drama of Ibsen and Shaw for the advanced.
From about 1895, Anna Morgan aspired to furnish the public with a "fine
arts" theatre:
For two or three years before I came into the Fine Arts Building I used
frequently to walk past the old Armory building (later replaced by the
Illinois Theatre) which for some time stood vacant, and longed to take
possession and convert it into a theatre for the production of the plays
of Shakespeare in a modern and artistic manner. My idea must have been
similar to Reinhardt's, the difference being that he not only dreamed
about it, but made his dream an actuality. At that time my presentations
of the plays of Ibsen, Maeterlinck, Yeats and other dramatists had made a
distinct impression and 1 imagined that some of my admirers would come
forward and offer the money with which to provide an artistic playhouse.
Time went on and the money did not c o m e — a n d I did not ask for It.5
Despite the lack of funds and of a complete theatre plant, In Miss Morgan's
little studio theatre were performed new European plays yet untried In the
United States. Here, Shakespeare's plays and other classics, or scenes from
them, were often acted. Here, too, the untried plays of Chicago playwrights were .
Miss Morgan was an early champion of the drapery setting. "When the scenery you
67
have Is Irrelevant to the play, It Is a distinct gain to use a simple dull
green drapery, as it always forms an artistic background for stage pictures and
leaves the imagination of the audience free."6
outs." Her students studied the given play, then read and acted the various
rbles on the stage. She felt that everyone who read a role contributed something
stage business." After the director is satisfied with the individuals in each
part, "regarding their emotional, pictorial, and mental equipment, and their
the first rehearsal, the director and cast should discuss the background of the
play, the time, place, and condition in which the action takes place. Next, they
. . . In order that every one taking part may have a thorough knowledge
of every character concerned in the play; his birth, nationality, age,
education or lack of it, social standing, degree of experience, health,
strength, disposition, atmosphere, and peculiarities, even of the
slightest. The smallest details of character must be comprehended and
must become an intrinsic part of the actor's consciousness. This is what
is called, in modern parlance, psychologizing a part, the outer expression
of which is characterization."
The cast should then read the play aloud. Next, the cBst and director should
discuss the necessary action, "the general picture," the climaxes and the stage
business. However, the stage business should not be decided on "hard and fast
should be rehearsed from one to three months, depending on the length of the
play and the previous experience, training, and "harmony" of the actors. Each
rehearsal should, as a general rule, not exceed two hours. The play should be
Delsarte Productions
Immediately after she began teaching the Delsarte Method. She drilled a class
of men In a pantomime depicting the death of Julius Caesar, and another which
a
she called "The Fate of Virginia," based on Macaulay's poem, and announced "An
Hour with Delsarte" which was given in the Opera House. "I designed the costumes,
and in order to get an artistic arrangement of colors went over to Marshall
Field's and got samples of cheesecloth which I proceeded to pin on a large sheet
of brown paper and experimented with them until I secured a satisfactory
combination."11 Another Delsarte recital given about this time at McVlcker's
Theatre consisted of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, the senate scene
from Julius Caesar, the forum scene from Vlrglnlus. and a scene from As You Like
I t . One review called the production delightful and said:
It consisted chiefly in an illustration of the intelligent and graceful use
of gesture, posture and movement in the expression of ideas and the poetic
government of action under the Delsarte system. . . . The spell of fabled
Arcady was cast over the light clad young women, who were as airy, rhythmic 12
and graceful in their movements as ever were Greek nymphs or shepherdesses.
Another critic expressed some disapproval of Miss Potter's costume:
69
. . . a most astonishing one for a young lady not regularly engaged in
burlesque. We do not remember ever to have seen a professional actress
costume the part with such scantiness of trunks. In any one not an
amateur this free exposure would have been thought to be indelicate.
the "Rock of Ages;" while a chorus sang the hymn, "a white-robed girl clung to
Delsarte Method entitled "Exercises at Gusher Institute," which the press thought
was fun and "showed about as much merit as there really is in the Delsarte
qualities of voice, form, end gesture, after which the "technical knowledge"
was applied In three serious selections: The Last Days of Pompeii by Bulwer-
European plays, new to American audiences, and new dramas by American playwrights.
On April lU, 1892, the Chicago Conservatory gave the first American
Although a newspaper article a few years later credited this production to Anna
Morgan, it was, in all probability, mainly, if not entirely, the work of Hart
Conway. The cast was composed of students who appeared in productions of both
Mr. Conway and Miss Morgan, so she probably helped coach individual actors.1'4
The critics lauded the Conservatory for attempting the play, but said that Ibsen
would hardly become a permanent fixture in theatre circles because "he has dipped
his pen too deeply in gall and wormwood, in phantoms and morbid imaginings to
1
70
After Miss Morgan became the head director at the Conservatory, she began
work on another Ibsen play, and on March 21, 1895, presented the first American
production of The Master Builder. Before the play began, Hamlin Garland address-
ed the audience, pleading for the establishment of a good theatre which would
Miss Morgan's zeal in producing The Master Builder. Not Ibsen, but the people
of Chicago, were on trial, he said. The critics followed Mr. Garland's lead in
praising Miss Morgan's efforts, were very generous in their praise of the act-
ing, but most of them did not like the play or did not understand it, or both.
The Tribune, which had hailed its approach, was the most severe. Miss Morgan says
that Edward J. McPhelim, the regular critic for the Tribune, who was familiar
with Ibsen, was ill and that Mr. Barrett Eastman was sent to cover it. Mr.
Eastman admitted he knew nothing about Ibsen, Miss Morgan says, and had never
read or even heard of the play. The result was that he "roasted" the play, the
author, and Mr. Garland for his remarks before the curtain.16 Eastman called
the play "that grim, vague, and mysterious product of the Scandinavian dramatist's
genius or fancy. . . ." After describing Mr. Garland's talk, his review
continues:
Like many of Robert Browning's poems the value of The Master Builder will
depend upon the imagination of the observer. It is indefinite, vague,
mysterious, but at the same time full of suggestiveness. Its purpose is
symbolism, but its morbid exposition of the human soul, Its ambitions and
weaknesses, may be applied to any one of a broad range of subjects, depend-
ing upon the Inventive genius of the listener. It takes the dark,
Ibsenish, pessimistic view of life and lays It bare in all its grim details.
To attempt to discover exactly what its direful plot is meant to argue would
be as fruitless as a discussion of Hamlet's sanity. The argument would
move in a circle. That it is dull, gloomy, and oppressive is certain, that
Its dark views of life can never become acceptable to optimistic minds is
beyond argument. Its freedom from all the conventions of the stage, Its
exquisite technical finish, Its finely written dialogue are to be admired
Independently, but as a medium of dramatic instruction and enjoyment It is
to be placed beside Ghosts and other of Ibsen's disordered plays. It has
none of the directness or clearness of purpose which Is apparent in The
Doll's House, The Pillars of Society, or An Enemy of the People. . . . When
the curtain descended it is doubtful if one-third of the audience had a
clear apprehension of what it was all about.
71
He outlines the plot and continues:
Such is the substance of The Master Builder. Its meaning may be left for
the Imagination. Its interest Is its morbidness—the interest which
prompts one to witness the ghastly sights of the morgue that one may
better appreciate the humble joys of life. It is forceful in its rapid
transitions, its sudden changes from one set of sentiments to another,
from murky darkness to gloomy light. It contains no vestige of true
happiness. The solitary glimpses of humor in an ascetic old doctor were
eagerly grasped by the audience as a means of relief, but they were
momentary. The play was exceptionally well rendered by the amateur company,
particularly by Mr. Edward Dvorak, Miss Katharine Knowles, and Miss
Sophie Levea.1'
Two days later the Tribune printed another article which repeated the sentiments
What does it all mean? Perhaps Ibsen knows; at any rate it gives the
audience who observe the trend of the piece large license for guessing the
problem if it presents one. Presumably there is more In the play than
meets the eye, otherwise it may be construed as B curious composite of the
brilliant or the obscure, in which the unknown quantity of ego is the
predominant factor. The characters of the play are Solness and Hilda, but
they are curiously illusive and lacking in reality. Edward Dvorak carried
the honors of the day by his excellent work as Solness. It was a carefully
studied characterization, well poised, and forceful as the limitations of the
strange role allowed, reflecting credit upon the young man both as a student
' and an actor. Miss Katharine Knowles, who has attracted some attention as
a comedienne, enacted the somber role of Mrs. Solness with becoming gravity,
resembling a pathetic picture-come-to-life of Marie Bashkirtseff. Miss
Sophie Levea was excellent in the role of Hilda Wangel, the only magnetic
spark in the play marked for its morbid people. Albert Augustus gave grim
humor to the part of Dr. Herdal, while John Dvorak, Herbert Skinner,
and Margaret Wagner were acceptable in their respective characters.19
The most laudatory review came from the Chicago Evening Post:
"Aubrey Beards ley ism applied to spirituality" was the definition a clever
woman gave to the play of The Master Builder as presented yesterday. . . .
For the signal success of her Ibsen venture Miss Morgan should be most
proud and glad. It was a daring and difficult thing to attempt, since
Henrik Ibsen is pretty sure to go over the heads of the average audience,
but it was done thoroughly and well, and i t was not the average audience,
either. No, instead of the straggling few who are supposed to follow the
weak magnet of amateur theatricals, there was such a gathering as would
delight the heart of any manager, and should I mention those in boxes and
parquet It would sound like the society reporter's finale to the write-up
of a Prairie Avenue or Lake Shore Drive "function." Words can no further
go! I t was an audience representative of the brains, culture and wealth
of the community—and it kept i t s seat throughout the entire performance.
As for the actors, individual mention were, to my mind, unnecessary. Each
had obeyed the injunction, "Act well thy part; therein the honor lies,"
and the result was a smooth and graceful presentation of a great and
lend id piece. . . . This matinee of yesterday is absolutely the first
£ erican production of The Master Builder with i t s terrible theme of
"retribution." It is not a play of action, but one which in i t s very
simplicity affords the highest form of dramatic expression. To be sure,
many watched the final curtain fall and turned about with a query, "What
does i t all mean?" but then, even those had been made to think—a great
thing in itself. The verdict of a l l was, "I am glad I have seen i t . "
Chicago does appreciate good plays, whether presented by old and well-tried
companies or by amateurs. Only, to again quote my clever woman, "This was
not an amateur performance, but one given by undergraduate professionals." 22
and listened to it by the hour until I got the tone work and the rhythm which
the play demanded, in several instances trying as many as twenty voices before
finding the quality which the lines required."2-> One of the greatest diffi-
Three days before the date announced for the production, the man who had
rehearsed the blind grandfather for three months was taken critically ill,
and a new man had to be rehearsed. Fortunately he had been present at
most of the rehearsals and was thoroughly familiar with the lines and
"business" and was able to give a creditable performance. The play was
given . . . before the most critical audience which Chicago could offer,
most of whom thoroughly appreciated my enterprise and courage in giving
Chicago the opportunity of hearing this remarkable play. The newspaper
men for the most part sat on the back seats and grinned, regarding both it
and me as being "queer."27
While the play was in rehearsal, Henry B. Fuller gave a talk on Maeterlinck and
his plays at one of Miss Morgan's teas, which the Inter-Ocean deemed "extremely
fascinating, and at the same time unusually instructive."2& However, after the
production, the critics found little in The Intruder Itself which was either
thought the play "queer." Under the title "Thirty Minutes with Maeterlinck,"
he said:
Last night, at the witching hour of 9:30, when country graveyards y*»vn,
Maurice Maeterlinck's creepy little ghost story, The Intruder was recited
at Steinway Hall. . . . Prior to the beginning of the recitation (there
is no action) Miss Morgan read an explanatory paper, informing the audience
how the work was to be accepted and something of its meaning, a process that
reminded one of the occasional plan of assisting the potency of a joke by
means of a diagram. The dramatic sketch that does not tell its own story
must be feeble stuff. But it is quite useless to moralize upon such a
7U
subject as this. Those who discover inspiration and recreation in a dismal
ghost story, unrelieved by a single gleam of light, should be permitted
their own sweet will. There need be no dispute In regard to taste in such
matters, and when Maeterlinck turns Bogie man and introduces the spirit of
Death with a redundancy of dialogue which traverses the same grounds two or
three times, those who enjoy that sort of thing should be permitted to
worship at that gloomy shrine without the interruption of criticism.
Therefore accepting this brief Incursion into symbolism as a sincere attempt
to accomplish something out of the ordinary, it will not be worth while to
indicate whether the result Justified the labor. Those who think that it
did are entitled to the opinion. Suffice it to say, then, that those who
took part did so in a discreet and intelligent manner. The stage was
nicely set, and the good taste in all of Miss Morgan's undertakings was
manifest. Prior to the struggle with Maeterlinck, Miss Morgan read "The
Soul of the Violin" in a pleasing manner, and Miss Katherine Welles gave
several dainty examples of pantomime.29
The Tribune seemed to confuse the play and Katherine Welles's pantomimes,
linck's Intruder." After saying that the occasion for these pantomimes was
"the production of The Intruder? the review describes the pantomimes—a woman
i _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
December 17, 1896, was notable for the first American production of
The Land of Heart's Desire by William Butler Yeats, presented at the Great
Northern Theatre along with two other plays. The Tribune was unimpressed:
As for Yeats' poetical fancy entitled The Land of Heart's Desire, its chief
recommendation seemed to lie in the fact it was new to this country. Most
of the poetry is concealed in the title itself, which is certainly pretty,
but the lines themselves seemed to be of the most commonplace description,
and the theme, which is of a symbolic character, is anything but strikingly
original. The staging of the little poem was excellent. . . . There is
dramatic force in the Masterbullder and a fine symbolic strength In The
Intruder. In both of which plays Miss Anna Morgan showed her good Judgment,
but this poem of Yeats, while pretty enough in itself, is little suited for
performance by young dramatic students. . . . For the performance as a
whole a special word should be said In praise of the stage management.
The grouping was always effective, and the harmony of color was such that
nothing offended the eye and that is more than can be said for most
productions.31
Anna Morgan was the first to dramatize Robert Browning's In a Balcony.
She presented it on April 28, 1897, with Jessie Harding as the Queen, Amy
said:
I took infinite pains in its preparation, building a special setting in
Recital Hall, the Auditorium. When the evening came the first person to
arrive was Jcnkin Lloyd Jones, the dean of the Browning cult in Chicago,
who greeted me with these words: "Miss Morgan, I am afraid to go in.
You know this is a great poem and I am afraid to see it acted." As Miss
Harding in the role of the Queen slowly descended the steps of the
balcony, draped in some gorgeous brocaded window hangings which we had
resurrected from somewhere on the north side, looking the very embodiment
of that particular woman, and said, "This hair was early grey," the
expression of Mr. Jones' eye prepared me for the eulogies which he
recorded of her work and of the entire performance.32
When, five years later, Mrs. Sarah C. LeMoyne as the Queen, Eleanor Robson as
Constance, and Otis Skinner as Norbert, presented the play in the Grand Opera
House, Mrs. Peattie noted that neither Miss Harding's performance nor Miss
Miss Morgan produced In a Balcony again on May 1, 1906, and the program note for
Miss Morgan gave the first American production of Goldoni's The Fan.
April 1U, I898, at the Grand Opera House. Henry B. Fuller, praised "as an
authority upon Goldoni," had especially translated the play for her.35
Although Mr. Fuller's translation was skillfully done, the critic thought he
dramatic value of the play is absolutely nil, the characters are plainly
stuffed with sawdust, the story is of the thinnest description, and the dialogue
Is childishly pointless. Why Mr. Fuller should have gone to the trouble of
Of the acting, the critic said It "showed careful training and a considerable
amount of intelligence." He praised Miss Franks and Miss Pughsley, and said
of the men:
There was far more ability displayed . . . than is often the case. Mr.
Carew, Mr. Heaton, Mr. O'Brien, Mr. McKean, and Mr. Pond all appeared to
be more or less at home upon the stage, even when the last mentioned lost
his wig in the scramble. None of them can be said to have shown any marked
talent for the stage for the very simple reason that there was no possible
opportunity for such display. The stage management was all that could be
desired, and the prompter was never in evidence.37
One reviewer said the play was acted with cleverness, that it proved entertain-
ing, and that he hoped more of this noted Italian dramatist's work would be
brought within the public's reach. Still another critic failed to connect the
plot and the title, referring to It throughout his review ^* The Fran.3°
Late in 1898, Miss Morgan opened her studios in the Fine Arts Building.
The following spring, April, 1899, she presented the first American production
of Bernard Shaw's Candida. This was more than a year before it was played in
London. Archibald Henderson reports that Miss Morgan once told him she recogniz-
ed the dramatic merits of the play as soon as she had read it, and immediately put
It in rehearsal. Beginning April It, she gave five performances each week for
the rest of the month. There are no reviews of this production, probably because
of his plays in America.39 Miss Morgan said that the play was admirably suited
to her small theatre because the three acts of the play are in one setting.
Devotees of Shaw came to see the production three, and in some instances, four
78
times. William Archer happened to be in Chicago during that month and witness-
ed the play.UO Miss Morgan says that Archer pronounced the entire cast of the
play excellent, and wrote Mr. Shaw that it was the best performance of a play
that he didn't believe any one could play Marchbanks as well as Taylor Holmes
did, and that when he wrote to Shaw he especially praised Miss Morgan's "marked
Halbert, writing of the Daly production in the Evening Post. November, 190U,
said: " . . . if Miss Morgan could assemble the cast she had four years since
It would be a great privilege to show Mr. Daly how much better amateurs did by
Mr. Shaw inviting her to visit Mrs. Shaw and him at their country home at
Hazelmere if she came to England. She visited them the following summer, and
Shaw told her that although he would not go to hear Candida given by profession -
a Is, he would Journey a long way to hear her performance, for he felt sure that
It had the simplicity which would meet with his approval. He then gave her
Chicago of Edith Wharton's play, The TWUlght of the God. In reviewing It, the
Times-Herald said: "Miss Anna Morgan's studio recitals have come to be among the
79
most interesting of the many informal functions that occur in the Fine Arts
Building." 'After speaking at length about the values of Miss Morgan's educa-
tional system, the review said: "The old elocutionary forms have no place in
her scheme of Instruction, and instead of any attempt to teach her pupils how
to act she encourages them in the difficult art of being gracefully natural."
The critic thought the acting was excellent and the production artistic. The
play "possibly . . . was In the nature of a problem, at least the conclusion
seemed rather problematical."U6 According to Miss Morgan, Mr. Chatfleld-
Taylor declared i t the best amateur performance he had ever attended, and asked
that she repeat i t so others might have the pleasure of seeing it.^7 A second
performance was given on March 16.
A one-act play by Brander Matthews, The Silent System, was presented
December lit, 1900.
Early in 1902, Miss Morgan began work simultaneously on Stephen Phillips'
new poetic drama, Paolo and Francesca. Edmond Rostand's The Romancers, and
Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra. Richard Mansfield visited the studios on
March 19 and saw parts of the three plays. He praised Miss Morgan's work, and
• established the Annual Mildred Glover Scholarship In honor of Miss Morgan's
former pupil, Mrs. Mildred Glover Price, the daughter of Mansfield's friend,
Lyman B. Glover, drama critic for the Record-Herald.^
Paolo and Francesca was performed in the Anna Morgan Studios March 20,
1902. It was produced In England the same year by Sir George Alexander, and at
the time i t was believed to have Inaugurated a new era of poetry in the English
theatre.k° Of Miss Morgan's production, Harried Monroe wrote in the Chicago
American:
80
In these days of theatrical syndicates and commercialized drama, the most
interesting dramatic experiments are rarely tried on the regular pro-
fessional stage. . . . In Chicago while the regular playhouses are giving
The Little Duchess and Jim Bludso. we have learned to go for the more
interesting experiments to the dramatic studio of Miss Anna Morgan. . . .
After describing the occasion which took her to Miss Morgan's studio, she said:
Here was a beautiful, restful l i t t l e hall with no theatrical glare about
i t , and a small stage raised at one end of i t was hung with a few softly
toned curtains. I paid nothing for my seat. The costumes were of the
simplest; there was not a star on the programme, and indeed, all the
parts—even the terrible Giovanni himself—were acted by girls. And yet,
in spite of these unprofessional conditions, I was absorbed by the beauty
of the play and never once succumbed to that tired feeling which usually
overtakes me at the theatre.
In reference to the cast:
They rarely overacted, rarely encumbered the lines with stilted elocution;
If they had not the finish and poise of artists, they had—many of them—
a charming freshness and simplicity vhlch put one in tune with the play's
poetry. This is notably true of the Francesca, acted by Miss Sebree.
I am not sure whether i t Is art or nature in this lady which gives us a
Francesca so exquisitely responsive to the poet's need, so much like a
perfume or a tragic song, or like the naivete of an early Italian paint-
ing—by Giotto, perhaps, or Fra Angelico. It is by nature that she Is
young and very delicately fair, and that her voice makes music of blank
verse, and has In It a sound like far-away winds, as though a breath of
Dante's own Inferno were sweeping over her; but there Is art In the modula-
tions of that voice, and in her exquisitely stately movement through the
piece and gradual acceptance of the tragedy of I t . The Paolo was a dear.
Of course, no girl student could really act the man but Miss Moore made such
a brave and pretty dash at i t , she said her lines so well and was so serious
and dignified that she quite disarmed me. Miss Jones as Giovanni, the
husband and avenger, shoved a strong and well trained dramatic gift and look-
ed the part much better than one would have expected of a young woman.
Miss Harding's Lucrezia was another strong characterization, and Miss
Bradley's Nita was a fascinating l i t t l e witch. . . . I t is well that we
have one manager who seems eager to present the new drama, the plays which
are too beautiful or too clever for the average actor and the average
audience. After seeing the latest of Miss Morgan's productions I do not
wonder that Richard Mansfield has enthusiastically indorsed the work and
founded a scholarship in the school.50
in Miss Morgan's debt for the opportunity to hear this interesting manu-
script. 5>1
The Romancers, was performed April 10 before "a large gathering," and was
telling him that she was presenting Caesar and Cleopatra with a cast of girls,
The only man in the cast, William Llnneen, who had played the part of
Morell In Miss Morgan's productions of Candida, gave a genuinely
humorous interpretation of the character of Fiatateeta. Richard Mans-
field, who witnessed one of the performances, was particularly amused
by the delicious fun in the throne scene between Cleopatra and Ptolemy.
While extremely interesting and amusing, Miss Morgan's productions of
Caesar and Cleopatra, owing to the limiting conditions of her stage, the
large number of parts, and the various changes of scene, were not so
complete and so successful as her production of Candida. The performances,
in spite of all difficulties, were nevertheless both artistic and striking,
all the costumes having been especially designed and made under Miss
Morgan's supervision, and the requisite scenery painted by some of the
leading artists of Chicago.!"*
Lyman B. Glover, writing for the Record-Herald, was less impressed:
If G. Bernard Shaw knew what he was trying to get at in his Caesar and
Cleopatra the fact is carefully concealed under a varied assortment of words
from which the average hearer can glean no meaning at all. Possibly he is
of the opinion that words are Intended to conceal thoughts, and if this be
/
82
the point of view he has succeeded famously, although this Is by no means
the first time. He is always having fun with himself or his readers, and
so long as he does not furnish any diagram or key, no one will know who is
getting the worst of i t . Yet, as the young ladies of Miss Morgan's studio
demonstrated last evening, this quasi play is rather good fun as a sort of
puzzle which everybody gives up in the end, and i f there were any prizes a l l
must needs be booby prizes, since nobody could win. But in this particular
instance, if the play seemed hazy and on a l l dramatic accounts f u t i l e ,
there was a strong element of interest in the efforts of the young ladies,
all of whom were arrayed in the most approved Egyptian costumes. Those
representing men exhibited a great deal of cleverness in makeup, and
presented "a swashing and martial outside" quite in keeping with the one-
time promise of fair Rosalind. Miss Edith Moss, who appeared as Caesar,
was very like some of the portraits and carried the part with apt dignity
and well-expressed speech, while as Cleopatra Miss Florence Bradley ex-
hibited taste, temperament and a stage aptitude which at the end of proper
training would fit her for excellent professional work. But I do not
Intend to be betrayed Into criticising school work or enumerating all of
the young ladies who exhibit evidence of careful training. With such
difficult material which affords but slight opportunity for making "points"
these pupils did surprisingly well. In speech and action they indicated
intelligence and good teaching, and while Miss Morgan set them a hard task
In a singular Shaw composition, this may have been for the specific purpose
of testing their mettle. With the miniature stage suitably decorated, the
costumes appropriate to the days of Caesar and Cleopatra and a darkened
auditorium, there was a sense of some artistic function out of the common,
that undoubtedly impressed the audience.55
;
»
83
his fantastic utterances in the domain of mysticism and symbolism, had
spoken profoundly practical truths in the words quoted at the head of
this article.
The occasion was a performance of Mr. Yeats' morality play, The
Hour Glass, by six young women who are preparing for the stage. The place
was the studio of their Instructor, Miss Anna Morgan, and it was quite
barren of most of the mechanical contrivances which are considered essential,
even in a modestly equipped theater, for a dramatic performance. A little
stage filled one end of the room, and It was softly lighted by concealed
lamps. There was a restful abundance of shadow, even of gloom, but it was
easy to distinguish the shades of expression in the faces of the players.
The shadows met and blended with dark green draperies which though they were
hung not more than a dozen feet from the front of the stage, somehow pro-
duced an Impression of ample space on the stage proper and of something
behind and beyond it.
The entire play requires but one setting, and occupies only three-
quarters of an hour In performance. The author's direction for mounting It
Indicates "a large room with a door at the back and another at the side
opening to an inner room. A desk and a chair In the middle. An hourglass
on a bracket near the door, a creepy stool near it. Some benches."
These simple directions were followed in the main by Miss Morgan,
any variation from them being in the direction of increased meagerness.
And yet the result was not suggestive of a lack of resources or of make-
shifts, but of added dignity and of voluntary reticence in display. It
would have been possible to prettify the picture to the point of tavdriness
and still to have kept it a perfectly conventional excuse for the scene
the author of The Hour Glass wishes his spectators to behold. For the room
In which the dialogue is spoken is to represent the study of an Irish scholar
of, say, any period from the middle ages to a time when hourglasses passed
out of common use. Windows, growing plants, shelves of books, a skull or
two, pens, parchments, an indefinite amount of architectural suggestions and
stage properties could have been introduced to accentuate the locale. A
kind of realism would thus have been achieved, but it likewise would have
served to distract the mind from the words of the play and the utterance
and pantomime of the actors.
As it was, the draperies and the shadows, the desk of the scholar,
which was so simple as to be quite unnoticed, and the hourglass In a dim
recess, served all the purposes of a perfect investiture. Nothing seemed
lacking, and yet nothing obtruded. What was equally profitable and pleasant
there was opportunity for the free play of the spectator's fancy. He could
create pictures for himself, projecting them against that gracious background,
or, penetrating it, imagine glimpses of the busy village beyond the walls
of the scholar's study.
Most important, however, was the fact that play and players were
glpVen the chance that comes of commanding undivided attention. The
characters in the little drama stood like silhouettes against the simple
scene, every one of them distinct and significant, yet every one blending
softly Into the subdued tone of the picture. There was no suggestion of
clutter or fussiness, no distraction, no garishness, none of the Inevitable
disillusion that becomes the more explicit the more elaborate and painstaking
is the make-believe. The experiment was an unqualified success, not only
from a pictorial point of view, but from the histrionic as well. For the
amateurs participating in the representation, far from seeming handicapped
by the lack of the conventional paraphernalia of the property-room and the
»
8U
scene loft, were helped by the lack. Just as the spectators saw no
distracting Incidentals so the players felt none. They bent their undivided
attention upon the unfolding of the little allegory, and their business
was with words and gestures, not with a feverish scurrying about as the
animated manikins in a painting that made a pathetic pretense of being
something real.
Hence they were able to give a remarkably fine account of them-
selves. Their reading was temperate, melodious and sympathetic, the words
being uttered with a delicacy of shading and a kind of caressing inflection
which showed that the text had been studied lovingly, sentence by sentence.
The gesticulation was, like the mounting of the play, subdued, and the
points were made suggestively rather than with a stressful evidence of a
determination to drive them home. In a word, to quote Mr. Yeats' phrase,
the play and the players had every chance to "preoccupy our attention,"
because there was nothing else to distract our attention. There was no
"meretricious painting," and hence there was no danger that anybody would
range against it and prove it a sham, thereby exciting the titters of the
frivolous and the dispelling of the illusions of the sober-minded.56
April 21, 22, and 23, 1910, Miss Morgan presented an abridged version of
Maurice Maeterlinck's The Blue Bird. This may have been its first American
of the,play, wrote in 1910 that the stage history of the play was simple, and
November 26, 1910, Miss Morgan presented The Shadow of the Glen by J. M.
Synge. The veteran teacher of costuming, Professor Lucy Barton, a member of the
cast, recalls that it was given without costumes, against a simple setting, with
few properties.^9 Writing in 1922, Miss Morgan claims that she produced The
85
Shadow of the Glen. The Playboy of the Western World. Riders to the Sea, and
Delrdre of the Sorrows, all in one season. I have evidence only for the first
of these. Whether she gave one or four of them, i t is interesting to note that
this was a year before the Irish Players visited the United States and made
Synge popular. The first American production of The Shadow of the Glen was given
by Mrs. Fiske, October 31, 1910, at the Grand Opera House in Chicago, Just
twenty-six days before Miss Morgan's production. 60 Writing In My Chicago
in 1918, Miss Morgan discusses the Irish plays:
All these Irish plays have mystic lure. A strange charm, as strange as
those elusive qualities in the complex of Irish character which gave to
that people a power to sense the elemental; the unseen; the witchery of
desolate moors coursed by silent shadowy hounds, of moonlight on flowing
waters, of the l i t t l e people, of the ancient ghosts that hover in the h i l l s ,
and the ancient blood that stirs in the heart at a dance in the moonlit
road, or the song of a wandering poet. They have a spiritual tinge.
They touch the lighter Joys of l i f e , i t s deepest shadows, i t s pleasures,
its moaning, Its shuddering tragedy. No one of these plays sounds the whole
gamut, but when you group them all you see beyond the outer form the heart
and soul of a race essentially poetic, quick to feel, quick to act, a race
In which feeling dominates logic. A lovable race, the Irish—with a
perfect genius for the irrational. . . . The short play commends itself
by being short and compact, but makes poor material for an evening's
entertainment, particularly upon repetition. I think this is one reason
why the Irish vogue died away. The first impression nearly always was a
deep one; the second and subsequent performances served rather to flatten
out that effect. To stand repetition, a play must give more than one
side of human nature. There is such a thing as happy tears, but I doubt
very much whether anyone would care to be crying all the time. 6 1
Miss Morgan says that in February of 191U she presented Rada by Alfred
Noyes. Whenever Rada was performed, i t was accompanied by Oliphant Downs's
The Maker of Dreams.
John Masefleld's new poem-play, Good Friday, was produced at the Anna
Morgan Studios April 17 and 18, 1916. (Apparently, she had permission to
produce i t a year before i t was published.) Of special interest on the program
is an announcement that Miss Morgan's students will present Bernard Shaw's
The Dark' Lady of the Sonnets on Friday, April 28. I find no further record of the
production.
Miss Morgan says that on December 2, 1918, she presented the first
claims. May 13, 1919, her students enacted the fourth act of Maeterlinck's
Mary.was given January 29, 1920, at the Anna Morgan Studios.63 There was no
review following the performance, but the Evening Post said:
Miss Anna Morgan is the first American to produce a drama by Paul Claudel,
who la undoubtedly the greatest living writer of poetic plays in France,
and perhaps in the world. Last night, Miss Morgan presented in her
studio . . . an English version of The Tidings Brought to Mary, a miracle
play, and perhaps Claudel's greatest work for dramatic and lyrical
intensity. The English translation Is published by the Yale University
Press, and it has been obtainable in America for about two years. Miss
Morgan's attention was first called to the play by a review in The Post.
Besides being a very distinguished French diplomat, Claudel is the
leading representative of Roman Catholicism in French Art, and has led
a revival of the Catholic point of view in literature. To many Frenchmen,
therefore, as to many American readers, the play will have a more than
artistic significance.6k
February 23, 1920, the Anna Morgan Studios presented Modeste by Paul
Hervleu, the French dramatist whose plays resemble those of Brieux in their
the Horizon, was performed on Broadway, and in December of that year, Anna
sometime prior to 1922, and in the early twenties, her students performed
»
87
Standard and Classical Drama
Anna Morgan dramatized novels, and produced the standard and classical
drama. These included many scenes from plays, especially Shakespeare's, as
well as complete productions.
On May 21, 1891, she presented her adaptation of Bulwer-Lytton's The
Last Days of Pompeii, at the Columbia Theatre. 66 The Tribune thought the
production was "without dramatic significance," and that there was "no attempt
to t e l l coherently the story of the novel." However, i t approved the acting and
thought the costumes were tasteful in design and color, and the dancing at the
end most enJoyable.67 The Globe said that many liberties were taken with the
text, the dialogue was to a large extent original, "and but for the identity of
nomenclature, Miss Morgan might almost have laid claim to an original dramatic
production without fear of incurring a charge of plagiarism." Of the acting,
the Globe said:
The cast was far above the level of non-professional companies, the lead-
ing parts being strong, and none falling below the high level which is
preserved in the entertainments given by the Conservatory. As Arabaces,
Mr. Percy Sharp showed more than ordinary ability. . . . Mr. George Baker,
as Glaucus, showed considerable ability, exhibiting some skill in contrast-
ing the Greek refinement of the character with the blunter manners of the
Roman aristocracy.
The Globe thought the production was well costumed "in classic manner."6** The
Inter-Ocean lauded Miss Morgan's adaptation:
Seven salient incidents of the graphic story were chosen as the base of as
many acts, the purpose being to show the love interest and reflect the
luxury, splendor, and sensuous charm of the romance with no attempt made
to construct a drama. Miss Morgan did her work well and with judgment,
and though her arrangement of scenes hardly merits the name of play i t is
capitally suited to a matinee in which the public is to be entertained by
bright young people artistically directed. . . . The stage pictures
revealed were admirable, the classic costumes accurately designed and
charmingly varied In colors, the beautiful groupings and the well disciplined
pretty g i r l s and hearty young men being a delight to the eye, 6 reflecting
large credit upon Miss Morgan and upon Mr. Hart Conway. . . . 9
i
88
She had made the selection so as to give one a fair outline of the
general current of the story and show the characters that occupy the chief
places in the movement, and has had the rare good Judgment to preserve
as far as practicable the phrasing of the author. For all that the
production is rather "over the heads" of the average theatre audience. 70
The scenery for this production was evidently elaborate. According to an advance
notice, the grand climax, the approaching earthquake shown in "The House Has
Following the production, the Globe said the play was well mounted, and that:
In other details, such as furniture, picturesque Graeco-Roman designs
were most artistic. . . . The red firelight falling on the rocky walls
and casting long shadows from the figures of Arbaccs and the Witch in
their weird dialogue, gave an awesome air to the scene which was enhanced
by the admirable manner in which it was played. . . . In the next act the
chief stage effects of the drama are seen in the banquet at Diomed's house.
The triclinium with the garlands, fair handmaids, and all the accessories
to a Roman Banquet, were faithfully reproduced. . . . The drama concluded
with two well-arranged tableaux, "The House is Come," and "The Destruction
of Pompeii."71
Another review said that the destruction of the city with thunder and the crash
of toppling buildings, and two very effective tableaux which concluded the
formance" which "were all that even Miss Morgan could have hoped for them."72
However, the Tribune sarcastically remarked that "at times, as in the hallway of
On March 17, 1892, Anna Morgan gave a recital which is typical of those
programs composed of scenes from plays and novels. It included scenes from
i
David Copperfield, The Fool's Revenge. The School for Scandal. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
and Mary Stuart.7k
Hall, using nine Hamlets and three Ophelias. She says she realized what a variety
of tone work the play represented, calling for a wide scope in the use of the
speaking voice. Consequently, she cast the play by:
. . . selecting the voices with special reference to their adaptability
to the various scenes, each Hamlet leaving the stage as his scene was
completed, and another Hamlet taking up the next scene—and so on to
the end of the play. The first Ophelia give the farewell scene with
Laertes as Laertes is leaving for France; the second gave the scene
between Ophelia and Hamlet, ending with Ophelia's speeeh, "Oh what a noble
mind is here o'ertbrown!" To the third was given the mad scene where
Ophelia pathetically chants fragmentary and wandering thoughts regarding
her father's death, and takes leave of the Queen and her brother as she
goes out to drown herself.75
commented on the fact that the production was given without scenery and without
Speaking of Sarah Truax as Ophelia in the mad scene, the Herald said:
It is seldom that the varying phases of this character in the mad scene
are more deftly expressed. The rapid transitions of thought and manner
were brought out with much more than the skill of clever amateur, and rather
suggested professional ability. In its entire conception as well as in
its execution this entertainment was highly creditable to Miss Morgan and
to the Chicago Conservatory. It again demonstrated that the arts of the
typical elocutionist are not tolerated in this institution, and that by
Miss Morgan and Mr. Kayzer dramatic expression is held to be the art of
getting at the meaning of things In a rational manner.76
The Tribune called it "a unique and interesting recital" and after explaining
A large audience filled the hall, and the arrangement of the characters,
incongruous as It would seem, proved entirely satisfactory, out of which
grew an intelligent, and in many respects artistic and thoughtful exposi-
tion of the tragedy. The principal scenes of the play were presented
without scenery or accessories but with a dramatic effect which held the
attention of the audience. Miss Morgan recited with fine effect Hamlet's
famous soliloquy, "To be or not to be."77
90
The major scenes of Bulwer-Lytton's popular Richelieu were performed
on May 23, 1895. The Times-Herald, in reviewing the recital, said that Miss
Mprgan's name "Is always an assurance that something will be done worth hear-
ing." Although It praised the performance, It criticized the lighting.
Apparently, Miss Morgan attempted to help set the mood of the play through
lighting. The Times-Herald critic said:
That which seems to be a mistaken desire to maintain a dim religious light
contributed rather an atmosphere of gloom to the hall, which ought to be
bright and cheerful, particularly in the focus of the stage. There Is no
virtue in transforming dramatic characters into shadowy ghosts, groping
around after one another, and followed with difficulty by the audience.
"Let there be light" is an excellent motto for the Auditorium Recital
Hall.78
December U, 10, and 11, 1902, and January 9 and 10, 1903, Miss Morgan
presented The Merry Wives of Windsor, without costumes and scenery, the emphasis
being on "tone."82
In the spring of 1903, Miss Morgan presented what she considered the
which, for the first time in history, was performed by a cast composed entirely
of women.83 Because of the play's length, the production concluded with the
twelve performances, the evenings of March 2U, 27, 31, April 1, 7, 111, and 17,
and the afternoons of March 26, April 2, U, 9, and 16. However, it was such a
success that additional performances were scheduled for April 21, 23, 28, and
at the request of Miss Jane Addams, one in Hull House Auditorium on April 30.
At least one more performance was given, for another playbill announces that
"through the courtesy of Miss Julia Marlowe and the Management of the theatre,
Miss Morgan has the honor to announce a special matinee of Hamlet at Powers'
Theatre on Monday, May the eleventh, at two o'clock." The play was performed in
1
92
Not, we believe, since the days of the Ill-fated Anna Dickinson has the
part of Hamlet been played under anything approaching professional
auspices by an American woman. . . . Miss Anna Morgan, a teacher of
acting of long experience and remarkably sane ideas, felt such confi-
dence in Miss Bradley's ability to achieve a dignified, reasonable and
poetic impersonation of Hamlet that she is presenting her in a series
of recitals at the Morgan studios. . . .
After describing Miss Bradley's beauty at great length, the review continues:
Her shoulders are bent, her whole attitude bespeaks that dejection which
comes of invalidism. Whether this attitude is assumed for the purposes of
this Hamlet portrayal, or whether it is natural we do not know, never
having seen the young woman off the stage. If it is wholly an assumption
it is a marvelously sustained one, and indicates that Miss Bradley has a
faculty for keeping within the picture that many a veteran player might
envy her. . . . She is as graceful as a fawn. In her gestures she shows
mastery of that knack of allowing gesticulation to ripple into nothingness,
which is one of the first bits of craftsmanship an actor should learn, but
which usually is one of the last he does learn. . . . Miss Bradley suggests
Miss Maude Adams in her serious moments. It can be said for her, however,
that she Is never so stressful in her serious moments as Miss Adams usually
is. Miss Bradley's voice is among the most exasperatingly uncertain voices
ve have heard. Its deeper tones are rich with sincere feeling, and they
carry nobly. The middle register is bad—mushy, to use a dreadful w o r d -
end when it is used in hurried utterance it becomes nearly unintelligible.
The high notes are sometimes the mere squeaks of an unmatured girl, and then
again they search out of the furthest depths of the heart with tones of
silvery poignancy and appeal. Her Intelligence we Judge to be of a high
order. . . . This sketch is marred by no easy tricks of acting such as a
young player might be tempted to perpetrate. It is keyed to a note of
rapt musing, interrupted by the flashes of peevishly voiced but noble
rebellion against evil which convulsed Hamlet's fevered and unsettled mind.
In the sorrow-laden passages of the play Miss Bradley was convincing. She
breathed into them a feminine delicacy without overcasting them with the
sickliness of femininity. In the philosophic speeches she adopted a measured
deliberate and intensely meditative style that could not have been more
firmly indicated by a veteran player. . . . The moments of passion led
Miss Bradley into deep water and she floundered, but here physical limita-
tions as well as lack of experience in working out big effects were the
causes of her failure. They were inevitable and did her no discredit. And
if there was failure here it was nobly atoned for by the manner in which
she sustained the atmosphere of the character. . . . The soliloquy was read
quietly and with restrained gesticulation, with reverence and deep medita-
tion, but still with a suggestion of casual tones that kept It from sound-
ing like what it so often sounds even from the lips of professional players—-
a piece of mere declamation. The king of Miss Locb, the Laertes of Miss
Ready, and the First Actor of Miss Kerby were admirably read and acted with
grace. Miss Kerby'a delivery of the Hecuba speech was the best we have
heard on any stage, professional or otherwise, so much fire, tweep, and
authority did It show. And there was not a hint of rant in it.8^
i
An unidentified critic said Miss Bradley was Hamlet in every word and gesture,
and added:
The Chronicle reported that people were skeptical of this production, thought
it night be "a stupid bore and not worth the time," but that they were
pleasantly surprised. "People acquired the habit and went again and again and
many were turned away for lack of space." Will J. Davis attended three perform-
ances and offered his Illinois Theatre for additional performances, but Mrs.
Leslie Carter, who was playing there, withheld her permission because of the
necessary scene-shifting. Commenting upon the rest of the cast, the Chronicle
said:
Ophelia . . .an exquisitely picturesque girl, whose plain little rose velvet
frock, with its floating gauze sleeves, brought out the chestnut of her
long, falling hair and the pink and white of her fair skin, was excellent.
Claudius, otherwise Miss Louise Loeb, is thought to be the best reader in
the company, and Miss Pollack's Polonius was fine. Clara Kretzlnger. . .
has been playing Queen Gertrude, but Miss Jessie Harding took it up when she
left town. To Miss Morgan the artistic side of Chicago life owes a debt of
gratitude for the delightful features she has put into it.87
9U
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wea-SMr*'"
Figure U
*&' MAML.E.T r*
TTISS ri w OTee 4 NCE. & S ? A T 3 _ E . Y .
Figure 5
A Midsummer Night's Dream was given two performances on January 27,
1906. Maxine Elliott attended one of them and was particularly Impressed by
was later offered a professional engagement, but the young comedienne was
duction of Much Ado About Nothing was presented In the season of 1968-09.
According to a 1910-11 catalogue, she had revived George Mlddleton's The Man
Masterful before that season. Another catalogue, issued around 1912, lists
The Merchant of Venice and Mlddleton's In His House among past productions.
The indefatigable and enthusiastic Miss Morgan will give a matinee and an
evening performance of the Electra of Euripides In her own theater in the
Fine Arts Building on Friday. The late Richard Mansfield once said of
Miss Morgan: "I believe she'd tackle anything and get away with it, too."
This Electra is the Gilbert Murray translation, the play in its original
version having been performed about 1*12 B.C. and it seems astonishing
that it could have been adapted and given the beautiful presentation in
which Miss Morgan's people were seen at a dress rehearsal yesterday.
The Greek dances done by slender young girls are particularly lovely.89
A year later, May 7 and 8, 19lU, Miss Morgan's students gave three
January 23, 1917, the Tribune said: "It must have been fun at the Morgan
Little Theatre last night, in the Fine Arts. Anna Morgan was producing The
of January 22, 23, and 2U, and the afternoon of the 2Uth, Miss Morgan claimed
that hers was the first revival of this play. Actually, Mrs. Otis Skinner
assume, however, that the two women thought of its revival independently.
i
* 97
A distinguishing feature . . . is the Introduction of the Yankee character
who has served ever since as the model of stage Jonathans. In the second
scene there are some Ibsenesque reflections about the relations between
men and women which almost persuade us that Maria, tho she has perhaps
been reading overmuch about Sir Charles Grand is on, is really a type of
the awakening woman soul.
Miss Morgan says that in November of 1922, she gave two performances of
Oscar Wilde's The Birthday of the Infanta, but I find no notices or reviews for
the production. Her last production of which I have a record, was, appropriately,
a recital of scenes from what was perhaps her favorite play, Hamlet, in honor
On February 21, 1895, she produced Old Wine, "a dramatic pastel" written
by Herbert Stuart Stone and Harrison Garfield Rhodes of the Chap-Book. The
May 18, 1897, at the Grand Opera House, Miss Morgan presented Afterglow
and The Stranger Within the Gates by Chicago author, Henry B. Fuller. Mr. Fuller
was the author of many books and translations. The Tribune looked forward to
the event as uniting the talents of "two clever Chicago people." Miss Morgan was
quoted as having said she believed Mr. Fuller was a cleverer satirist than either
Maeterlinck or Ibsen, and that in The Stranger Within the Gates, the author was
"hurling Javelins at the social iconoclasts." The Tribune further reported
that Miss Morgan was adding an opening scene to the play, a tableau and panto-
mime introducing the characters. When the play begins, the Stranger begins
sarcasms are resented, he draws his sword, and slashes indiscriminately with it
the result of his own obstinacy, and that such things as affection and kind-
ness exist and are meant for him as much as anybody else. Miss Morgan, however,
describes the play In different terms:
In
Afterglow. Mr. Fuller has struck the very keynote of the modern attitude
toward great men and fame. Like George Bernard Shaw, Mr. Fuller's hero In
Afterglow desires to get at the opinions of the press and of his friends
and enjoy the fruits of his labor during his lifetime. The comedy centres
in his reading of his own obituary notices after he had had himself reported
as dead, and In the remarks of his friends who come to attend his funeral.
We all know that for ages the afterglow of fame has come to men after they
have died. In this clever treatment of an unfortunate fact I feel that
Mr. Fuller has voiced a universal complaint and has made a distinct and
permanent contribution to the acting drama.9h
Miss Morgan reports that Just before the performance began on May 18, the coach,
in which the heroine of The Stranger enters, arrived but was too large to be
brought through the stage door. She tells how she solved this problem:
I flew to the door and called to the driver of a cab who chanced to be
in the alley, to take his horse from the cab and bring it upon the stage
at once, which he did. When the moment came for the arrival, I had the
man whip up the horse so that his head could be seen from the wings, and
amidst much excitement the heroine, who supposedly had alighted from a
coach, appeared on the scene; and the audience applauded, little dreaming
of what had transpired off stage.95
The audience may have applauded, but the reviews were not favorable. The
Chronicle said:
Particularly as The Stranger Within the Gates, his [Fuller's] chief charm
was his unlntelllglbillty. Everyone vent away feeling, as Bunthorne put
it . . . "If that young men expresses himself in terms too deep for me,
Why what a remarkably deep young man that deep young man must be." In
Bunthorne's day aestheticlsm—or, rather pre-Raphaelitism—was the ruling
intellectual fad of the day. Now it's symbolism.
99
After ridiculing the costumes and noting the interminable scene waits, the
Chronicle said that Mr. Fuller had recently gone abroad because he once knew
what his plays meant, but had now forgotten. The final gibe was that the
audience was composed of the friends and family of Miss Morgan, Mr. Fuller, and
the performers.96 Lyman B. Glover, writing for the Record-Herald, gave the most
sweeping condemnation:
The Times-Herald critic thought that Afterglow was performed well, although he
The Stranger. He decided It must be "symbolism," but could not decipher it.
"The stranger, a dashing blonde, arrived in town, kissed all the pretty girls,
killed four men apparently for fun and then ran away with the count's niece
just as the curtain fell." What the symbolism was in this, the critic could
The play was exceedingly well acted and staged. The costumes were picturesque,
the groupings admirable, and Mr. Caven and Miss Wagner made a very pretty
runaway couple. On the whole, despite any adverse suggestions, the enter-
tainment as a whole was distinctly original and interesting in tone. It
bore the mark of intelligent and enthusiastic preparation and fully con-
firmed Miss Morgan's reputation as an adept in efforts of this class. In
the detail of environment at least, she surpassed all her former efforts,
and it is seldom that a better trained company is seen upon the non-
professional stage.98
One critic called Afterglow an "unqualified success," but thought The Stranger
was "the product of original, queer, conceit," and that its philosophy suggested
Miss Morgan's first program of the new century Included the first
production of A Divine Right, a "dramatic pastel" by Chicago writer Elia W.
Pcattie, performed on February 2, 1900. The Times-Herald described the theme
as "a sober matrimonial Jangle which was happily ended by the l i t t l e daughter,"
and called the acting "earnest and discriminating." 101
Miss Morgan was the first to produce the plays of her student, MarJorie
Benton Cooke. On December 1U, 1900, she presented a recital entitled "Woman
on Woman by Women" which Included The Child in the House and The Passing Show.
both by Miss Cooke. Two more of her plays, At Madame Newberry's and The Merry
Mad Comedian, were performed on December 18, 1903. 10 ^
March 17, 1906, brought the production of Miss Pembroke's Supper, written
by student, Helen Bagg.
On February 8, 1908, Miss Morgan presented two pleiys by a young Chicago
g i r l , Miss Dorothy Martyn. The Tribune announced the event with the line "Society
Bud a Playwright," and carried a long article on Miss Martyn, her family, the
prominent guests who attended, synopses and casts of the plays. The first play,
Daughter in a Social Whirl. Is a satire on a Chicago matron steering her daughter
through the many social duties of luncheons, bridge parties, teas, dinners,
theatre parties, and after-theatre parties. "One knows It is a Chicago matron,"
101
the Tribune said, "because she insists on getting 'Uorth 17' on the phone, and
later finds she simply must accept an invitation to a dinner for George Ade."
The second play, American Family In Paris, i s also a social satire. 1 0 ^
Alice Gerstenberg had been writing novels until Miss Morgan asked her
to write some one-act plays. The first of these were four plays about college
l i f e , which she called A Little World. Two of them, The Class President and
Captain Joe, were performed on March 12, 1908. On the program, The Class Presi-
dent is called A Little World, and Captain Joe i s called A Little World (from
another point of view). The Tribune gave a full account of the production of
of these two plays and of the tea In honor of Miss Gerstenberg, held In the Anna
Morgan Studios. "Miss Gerstenberg, who was a leader among the girls at Bryn
Mawr . . . took two bits of college l i f e and brought out the stories of the Joys
and tragedies of the ' l i t t l e world' bounded by the campus of a girls' school,
and in doing so handled simply and directly two problems which become greater
in the larger world."10U The first play Is concerned with the politics Involved
in the election of the class president, and the Jealousy over love affairs,
resulting in broken friendships. The second, written especially for Josephine
Lydston, concerns a young kleptomaniac who steals a necklace. Captain Joe is
the only one who knows of the g i r l ' s weakness, returns the necklace, Is caught
and blamed for the theft, and, consequently, loses her captainship. By the middle
of an Important basketball game the team is losing, so a freshman girl claims
she stole the necklace, in order that Captain Joe may return to the game. Captain
Joe leads the team to victory, and the true thief is made to confess.
On April 23, 1909, the Chicago Woman's Club celebrated Shakespeare's
birthday with a presentation of The Great Experiment by Anna Morgan and Alice
Ward Bailey. It was dedicated to Franklin H. Head, who appeared in the pageant
as a butler. According to the Inter-Ocean:
102
The stage setting for the pageant was arranged as a living room, with a
dull green background divided by lattice work of boxwood and foliage.
Anna Morgan as the hostess appears alone, and after questioning the reality
of Shakespeare's heroines she sends out missives Into the Great Beyond
addressed to each, and all respond. Then In the costumes so graphically
described by the "Bard of Avon" his famous characters appeared, and after
disclosing their identity In brief verse all unite In paying tribute to
their creator by decorating with their favorite blossoms, his bust.105
The Tribune noted more accurately that the bust was placed on a clock, which
suspended running, as a symbol that Shakespeare was of all times, and that not
only the bust, but the entire room was decorated with "Shakespeare's f l o w e r s —
which are all of the flowers that are." After recounting the plot in some
detail, the Tribune said that some of the heroines were not able to attend:
Katherine, the Shrew, was slumming, so her letter of regret was read}
Beatrice was writing a problem play with Bernard Shaw on the marriage
problem) Hcrmione and Imogen were taken up with suffrage work, and
Portia was busy trying a case. Desdemona was kept at home by domestic
trouble.106
on May 1, 191U, and her Modes and Manners. April 20 and 21, 1917. Included on
this latter program were Hearts by Alice Gerstenberg, and The Price of Love by
another student writer, Mattle Tyler Parks. 10 ? On December 7, 1920, the first
performance of Miss Gerstenberg's Ever Young was presented, along with a repeat
of Miss Cooke's A Court Comedy. 108 Ever Young was again performed on February 21,
1921, with Miss Gerstenberg's He Said and She Sald. 1Q 9 December 9, of that year,
Miss Geratenberg's Fourteen was presented, 110 and December 21, 1922, Miss
On April 3, 1923, three plays, Sunrise. The Wander Weed, and Family
Professor Lucy Barton says that they were "astonishingly good. "•*•"• Moreover,
they included new forms of drama and some experimental staging not to be seen in
103
the commercial theatre. Appraising the Chicago theatre in 1897, Henry B. Fuller
wrote in the Atlantic Monthly: "Not much can be found for approval beyond the
efforts of Miss Anna Morgan of the Chicago Conservatory, who gives infrequent
performances of Ibsen, Maeterlinck, and the like—a work which she carries on
with great enthusiasm and optimism, despite the indifference of the middle
public and the resentment of the newspaper press."H3 Archibald Henderson, who
witnessed some of Miss Morgan's productions, says: "Miss Morgan's school was a
sort of miniature American Theatre Libre. The performances, given under the
direction of Miss Morgan, a genuine lover of the new forms of dramatic art, were
looked forward to each year as a unique feature of the Chicago season. "Hk Anna
Morgan, herself, claims to have initiated the Little Theatre movement in the
United States. 1 1 ^ Her claim i s supported by Bernard Duffey, who, in his book
The Chicago Renaissance in American Letters, says that Miss Morgan's activities
"were among the earliest in America to suggest the nature of the later l i t t l e
theatre movement."116 In addition to the value of her own productions, her
efforts probably helped to create a favorable atmosphere for the work of sub-
sequent Little Theatre groups. Among those who conceived of Chicago's New
Theatre in 1906, directed by Victor Rapes, were Anna Morgan's friends Arthur
Aldls, Arthur Bissell, Robert Herrlck, and Hobart Chatfield Chatfleld-Taylor.117
Furthermore, some members of the New Theatre, Robertson Players, and Maurice
Browne's Little Theatre, were former pupils of Anna Morgan. Ralph Fletcher
Seymour says: "Mrs. Arthur Aldis who . . . wrote and acted in plays and gave them
sometimes on her suburban estate, was one of her [Anna Morgan] rather close
associates, and It was partly because of their zealous zeal for amateur dramatics
that Maurice Browne and his Little Theatre was able to do rather well, for years
here in Chicago." 118 Bernard Duffey describes the similarity and connection
between the work of Anna Morgan and Maurice Browne:
10U
More than any other part of the Chicago renaissance, the theatre was to
move in direct continuity from the earlier generation to the later. Not
only was the Fine Arts Building a center of dramatic effort in both groups,
but among the actual plays produced, Shaw, Maeterlinck, and Greek tragedy
made up a common staple for the Little Room productions of the turn of the
century. [ These productions were mainly enacted by Anna Morgan's students,
rather than the members of the Little Room.] As Anna Morgan had created
a personal center for the earlier productions, so did Maurice Browne and the
Chicago Little Theatre for the later. . . . Both found their labors made
possible by the patronage of the Chicago gentry, and there was some carry-
over of personnel from the earlier group to the later. . . . For neither one
did the concept of the amateur theatre as an expressive community hold a
chief place. . . . They were up lifters, raising the taste of their audience
to a preconceived level of perfection rather than spokesmen expressing
something to be presumed to be common and indigenous to the Intellectual
life of their time and place.119
In the creation of Chicago's aestheticism she IAnna Morgan] has been truly
a pioneer. . . . She has been a tireless champion of dramatic art, and ever
true to its ideals. Upon the little stage of her studio, or in some theatre
of the city at a special matinee given by her pupils, we, who are of her
following, have made first acquaintance with the plays of such modern
masters as Ibsen, Maeterlinck, and Bernard Shaw. Indeed, she had a knack
of scenting the greatness of such men as these, when even their names were
unknown in America} and I am constrained to confess that it was she who
introduced me to Carlo Goldont, the Venetian, whose biographer many years
later I became.
While the plays she has given have been chosen with rare discrimina-
tion, the sincerity with which they have been acted has been quite as
notable. Indeed, I confess that I have never seen a performance by her
pupils,—even that of Hamlet with only girls in the c a s t — i n which the
note of earnestness was lacking. Although the histrionism of some of the
players has been crude at times, I never left her theatre without feeling
that the play had been honestly given, and that she had succeeded in inspir-
ing her pupils with true reverence for her art.
' Although others have given notable plays in Chicago from time to
time with an equal defiance of the box-office, it is well to recall to
our civic mind the fact that the trail which our dramatic ideals have
followed, albeit with faltering steps, was blazed by Anna Morgan. 120
1. Unless otherwise noted, the material in this chapter is compiled from
programs, announcements, invitations, and unidentified clippings in The
Anna Morgan Scrapbooks.
2. Anna Morgan, Selected Readings (Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Co., 1909).
5. Ibid., p. 67.
6. Anna Morgan, The Art of Speech and Deportment (Chicago: A. C. McClurg and
8. Ibid., p. 356.
16. Morgan, My Chicago, p. UU. See, also, The Chicago Tribune. March 10, 1895,
p. 37, and The Chicago Tribune. March 17, 1895, p. 36.
17. The Chicago Tribune. March 22, 1895, p. 8.
22. The Chicago Evening Post. March 22, 1895, in The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks.
39. Archibald Henderson, George Bernard Shaw: Man of the Century (New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts, inc., 195^), p. U69.
UO. Accounts of his visit are indefinite as to the day. However, newspapers
report that he visited the city from April 16 to April 20, and the Times-
Herald of April 21 says that "William Archer attended a rehearsal yesterday
in Miss Morgan's studio, Fine Arts Building, and expressed great satisfac-
tion with the work of the pupils." It would be safe to assume, then, that
he witnessed her production of Candida on April 20. The Chicago Times-
Herald . April 19, 1899, p. 5, and April 21, 1899, p. 6: The Chicago Tribune.
April 18, 1899, p. 3} and The Chicago Dally News. April 11, 1899, p. 3.
1*3- The Chicago Evening Post. November, 190U, in The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks.
57* Letter to Anna Morgan from Brentano's, April 10, 1909, In The Anna Morgan
Letters.
58. Maurice Maeterlinck, The Blue Bird, trans. Alexander de Mattos (London:
Methucn and Co., 1910), Preface. See, also, The Chicago Evening Post.
April 22, 1910, p. 5.
60. Maurice Bourgeois, John Millington Synge and The Irish Theatre (London:
Constable and Co., Ltd.. 1913)7 P. 306. and The Chicago Tribune.
November 1, 1910, p. 8.
63. See, also, The Chicago Evening Post. January 23, 1920, p. 9.
68. The Chicago Globe. May 22, 1891, in The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks.
69. The Chicago Inter-Ocean. May 22, 1891, in The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks.
;
99. Unidentified clipping, May 19, 1897, in The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks.
OU. The Chicago Tribune. March 13, 1908, p. 3. See, also, Herma Clark, "When
Chicago was Young," The Chicago Tribune. March 18, 1956, part 7i p. 2.
1
\^
110
CHAPTER VI
STUDENTS' CAREERS
Among Miss Morgan's students at the Chicago Conservatory and the Anna
Morgan Studios, were a number who continued their work in speech and theatre,
either on a professional or an amateur level. These included actors and
actresses, readers, teachers, and writers.1
Of the professional actors, one of the most successful was Fred Murphy,
who under the name of Fred Eric, enjoyed a long career. In 1893, he Joined
Julia Marlowe's company, remaining a member for five years. Organizing his
own company, he toured the West. Later, he Joined the Sothern and Marlowe
company, playing such roles as Laertes In Hamlet. He first appeared in London
in The Sunken Bell in 1907, «nd that year Joined Maude Adams under the manage-
ment of Charles Frohman. In an undated letter to Anna Morgan, Henry B. Fuller
t e l l s of seeing Eric as Archer In The Beaux' Stratagem, a part which he played
"with just enough bravura and exaggeration and clear-cut style" to make his
scenes "crisp and engaging."
Another well-known actor was Taylor Holmes. Holmes appeared in vaude-
v i l l e after leaving the Anna Morgan Studios, subsequently joined Olga Nethersole's
company, playing a round of u t i l i t y parts, was a character comedian with David
Warfield, and finally became a leading actor in London and New York in such
plays as The Million. His Majesty Bunker Bean, and with fellow student Irene
Purcell, The Great Necker. On the road he played In The Man Who Came to Dinner
t
and Jeeter Lester In Tobacco Road. In addition to starring In many plays, -Holmes
appeared in numerous films.3
Ill
Sarah Truax was a professional actress for nearly forty years. She
Joined Otis Skinner's company In I89I1, and remained with i t for three seasons.
Most of her work was with stock and touring companies. During 1903-OU, she
toured in The Eternal Cltv. and in 190U took part In the "all star" revival of
The Two Orphans. In 1906, she appeared as Irene in The Prince of India, and
toured in Man and Superman. Her other roles included Trilby, La Tosca, Camilla,
and Paula in The Second Mrs. Tanoueray.*4
Walker Whiteside's career was varied. He had created most of the major
Shakespearean roles while a student at the Chicago Conservatory. After his
graduation, he formed his own company and made his first appearance in New York
as Hamlet, in I893. For many years he tcured the United States with a Shakespear-
ean and classical repertoire. In 1907, he was engaged by Llcbler and Company for
performances in The Melting Pot. Subsequent performances were mostly In
contemporary plays, including The Typhoon. Mr. WU. The Little Brother. The Hindu.
and The Arabian.5
Like Sarah Truax, Irene Purcell began her professional work with Otis
Skinner's company. She made her debut in Mister Antonio. Other plays in which
she appeared included The Ladder. The Great Necker (opposite Taylor Holmes),
and Accent on Youth. In 1937, she toured Australia in The Women. From 1930,
theatre was Lottie Alter, who began her career in 1888. From 1895-96 she was
Joseph Jefferson's leading lady, and later was the leading ingenue in Roland
Reed's company} leading lady with Ezra Kendall from 1903-OU, and again from
1909 until his death in 1910. Her career included work in stock companies,
New York as William Wetherill in Mother. Aaron Burr in The First Lady In the
Land. Duncan Coverly In The Model. Winfield Barnes in Mrs. Flake's production of
as Paris In Romeo and Juliet, then the New Theatre Company In New York. With the
113
latter group he played, among other roles, Simple in The Merry Wives of Windsor
and Mrs. Japhet In Noah's Flood. He appeared as Harry In the first New York
production of Romance. After these New York appearances, he was seen on tour. 12
John E. Dvorak formed his own company, with Eugenia Du Bois as his
leading lady. Apparently, they played the small towns, such as Beardstown,
I l l i n o i s , where on November 26t 1897, they presented The Merchant of Venice with
Dvorak as Shylock and Miss Du Bois as Portia, followed on the 27th by Dr. Jekyl
and Mr. Hyde. According to the Beardstown Enterprise, during his Beardatown
engagement, Dvorak delivered a lecture on the writings of Shakespeare.1^
Other professional actors and actresses, of whom less is known, Included
Grace Robinson, who created the role of Kitty In the first New York production of
The Woman Haterst1** Augusta Scott, who portrayed the Third Society Woman In
The Poor Little Rich Girl. In New York, In 1913| ' and Roy Fairchlld who appear-
ed In the New York production of Seven Keys to Baldpate. in 1913. Alma
Truax, was also "a useful professional actress and was for some time with Julia
Marlowe." 28
became a public reader, and joined the Heywood Concert Company.29 Burton
Holmes, world traveler and lecturer, was well known for his travelogues. His
first lecture was in Chicago in 1890.30 Emily Waterman began her professional
career as a public reader, but later organized her own acting company, and with
Some of the professional actors and actresses also worked in the later
groups. Members of Mapes's New Theatre included Frederick Hill, Charles Lalt,
and James McKean. Florence Bradley was a member of the Robertson Players.
Genevieve Griffith, Shelley Neltnor, Edward H. Pasmore, and George Francis Wolff.
A 192U catalogue for the Anna Morgan Studios lists the graduates who
several of those discussed in the foregoing pages, were listed Lois Elaine
Aldrich, Anne Davis, Marian Kirby, Martha McAllister, Clara Moorcs, and Kathryn
Myers.
Still other of her students pursued the dramatic goals set for them by
Miss Morgan in local amateur theatre groups. For instance, The Chicago Tribune
Sister Bsatrlce. to be presented under the auspices of the Chicago Woman's Club
dramatic committee. The director was Miss Lacy (presumably Sara), and the cast
Katherine Knowles Robbins, and Harriet Tooker Felix.^2 The Tribune for Feb-
R
115
rnary 8, 191U, announced that the Playgoers Club was to meet, and under the
direction of Pauline Kelly, would discuss John Galsworthy and his plays.33
The cast Hats in Appendix E reveal a number of former students who, after they
had graduated and perhaps married, appeared in the productions given for the
various wemen'e groups to which they belonged.
Of those who entered the educational theatre, the best known i s the
coatumer, Lucy Barton, Professor in the Department of Drama at the University
of "taxes. After graduating from the Anna Morgan Studios, she joined Thomas Wood
Stevens at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. For him, she costumed many
productions, at the Institute and at the Old Globe Theatre at the Chicago
World's Fair, and many pageants in the West. After Stevens' death, she succeed-
ed him as head of the Theatre Department at the University of Arlsona. For the -
last fourteen years she has been on the faculty of the University of Texas.
Professor Barton i s also known for her book, Historic Costume for tha Stage,
and ita supplement, Period Patterns.3U
Spearman waa the author of Western and railroad stories, such as The Mountain
Divide and Nan of Music Mountain.
Alice Gerstenberg'a writings include novels, The Conscience of Sarah
Piatt and Unquenched Fire, a dramatisation of Alice in Wonderland, and numerous
plays, many of them short ones for woman. Of particular importance is her
Overt one a, first produced by the Washington Square Players, beginning November 8,
1915, with the setting designed by Lee Simonson.36 i t i s one of the first
American playa to personify the subconscious, and has been performed by countless
professional and amateur companies throughout the country.
Aaron Hoffman, at the age of seventeen, began writing sketches and
monologues for Lew Dockstader, James Harrigan, and others.37 He continued as a
playwright, usually in collaboration with others. Hia plays include Nothing but
Lies, The King of Dummies, Twixt Midnight and Morn, Friendly Enemies (with
Samuel Shipman), The Deacon's Sweetheart (with Frank Kennedy), and with Harry L.
Newton, The Dutchman and the Tramp, For Rent Tomorrow, la It Raining, and
0 'dese Women.
Ottilie Llljencrantz was one of the most promising Chicago writers, but
her career was cut short by an early death. She was a poetess, novelist, play-
wright, and short story writer. Her works include The Thrall of Leif the Lucky.
The Ward of King Canute The Vlnland Champions, and Randvar, the Songsmlth.
In the 192U catalogue, Mlas Morgan includes among playwrights who began
their careers in her studios Marian Bowlan, Kate KecLeren, and Harrison Rhodes.
The last two may not have been full-time students. Miss Bowlan wrote plays and
monologues, some of which were published. Harrison Rhodes waa the author of
several books and a number of plays. The latter include Captain Dieppe (with
Anthony Hope), A Gentleman from Mississippi, An Old New Yorker, and Modern
Marriage. 3 8
The success of these students attests the high quality of Anna Morgan's
teaching. Through the actors, readers, and writers, she indirectly influenced
audiences and readers in this country and abroad. The teachers carried on her
ideils and methods of instruction.
i
118
1« The l i s t i s , I am sure, only a partial one. It i s impossible to trace the
majority of her students. The names of many were changed by marriage. In
addition to those students considered here, others undoubtedly continued
their work in speech and theatre but were not prominent enough to be l i s t -
ed in biographical encyclopedias or mentioned in theatre histories.
2. Undated letter to Anna Morgan from Henry B. Fuller, Henry B. Fuller collec-
tion, Newberry Library; John Parker (ed.), Who's Who in the Theatre
(London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd., 7th ed. rev., 1933), pp. 523-
2Uj The Dally News (Danville, I l l i n o i s ) , August 19, 1893? Anna Morgan,
My Chicago (Chicago: Ralph Fletcher Seymour, 1918), p. UO.
3. Parker, 11th ed. rev., 1952, p. 795} Daniel Blum, A Pictorial History of the
American Theatre 1900-1950 (New York: Greenberg, 1950), pp. 76, 100, 105,
110, 111, 151, 1921 Sheppard Butler, "Morgan Studios Made Notable by Shaw,
Maeterlinck, and Mansfield, Undergoing Transformation," unidentified clipping,
The Anna Morgan Scrapbooks.
U. Parker, 6th ed. rev., 1930, p. 1029| Blum, p. U8.
5. Parker, 7th ed., p. 1U16; Blum, pp. 62, 86, 88, 101, 12U, 1U6, 18U.
6. Blum, p. 53} Parker, 7th ed., p. 3U1.
7. Parker (Boston: Small, Maynard and Co., 191U), p. 292.
8. Parker (London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons, Ltd., 11th ed.), pp. 181-2.
9. Parker, 10th ed. rev., 19U7, p. 1167} Blum, pp. 177, 192, 215.
10. Dixie Hines and Harry Hanaford (ed.), Who's Who in Music and Drama (New York:
H. P. Hanaford, 191U), pp. 22-23.
11. Blum, pp. 89, 97, 120, 122, 18U{ Hines and Hanaford, pp. 376, U03, U23-U,
UU2-3, U56.
12. Hines and Hanaford, pp. 256-7, 383, U02, U69.
13. Joyce Sozen, "Annals of the Opera House in Beardstown, I l l i n o i s , from
1872-1900," (unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Speech, University
of Illinois, 1957), pp. U9-50.
1U. Hines and Hanaford, p. UU9.
15. Ibid., p. U66.
16. Blum, p. 91.
17. Butler, "Morgan Studios Made Notable. . . ."
18. Morgan, My Chicago, pp. 37-38.
19. Butler, "Morgan Studios Made Notable. . . ."j Hines and Hanaford, p. UU6.
20. James Lee Highlander, "An Historical Study of the New Theatre and The
Robertson Players of Chicago (1906-08)" (unpublished Master's thesis,
Department of Speech, University of I l l i n o i s , 1957), p. 60.
36. Washington Square Plays (New York: Doubleday, Page and Co., 1917), p. 57.
/
CHAPTER VII
CONCLUSION
Theatre and New Stagecraft movements. The significance of her l i f e and work
can only be determined when viewed in a l l three of these aspects, and against
In the Auditorium Building and later in the Fine Arts Building, Anna
Symbolist writers of Europe before these writers were well known in America.
As a charter member of the Cordon Club and the L i t t l e Room, as an active member
endeavors thrived.
her fellows achieved, although among readers, she was one of the best. At a
time when most public readers were using stock characterizations and affected
to greater sophistication. More important, it shows that she helped bring about
* this change. She acquainted her audiences with the classics and with new
literary works before they had been generally read, or even' before they had
The majority of Anna Morgan's many students would probably say that her
greatest contribution was as a teacher. Her personality, her aim, and the
curriculum she used to accomplish that aim, made her an outstanding teacher of
her time. She gave her students physical training so that they might handle
themselves with poise and beauty of voice in any situation. She attempted to
awaken their interest in and give them a wide knowledge of literature and the
arts. Mentally stimulated and phys'ically graceful, they could move confidently
and thus never find life empty and boring. To accomplish this broad aim, she
offered a comprehensive curriculum. Like other speech schools of her day, she
used the Delsarte Method as the basis for physical training. However, she
refined the Method with her own common sense, and became one of its principal
be a natural end realistic system for enabling the body and voice to express
ideas and feelings, and because she did not constrain the Method by a rigid set
of rules, she interpreted Francois Delsarte's ideas more accurately than did
Steele MacKaye and his many followers. Her curriculum Included courses in criti-
public speaking, and dance. There were courses and lectures on stage history,
major literary works, literary movements and periods, and related political
the curricula of the present day college and university speech and theatre
departments. However, she offered this curriculum long before it was well
122
established in these schools. Certainly, she was one of the pioneers during
that transitional period between 1890-1920, who helped speech and theatre
These many facets of Miss Morgan's instruction were merged to form a curriculum
schools of speech, and "finishing schools," but broader than any one of them. Her
school was unique when compared with its contemporaries, and might be so today.
However, the testimony of her students, the reviews of her productions, and the
The showcase for Anna Morgan's instruction was the student recital. Her
nondramatic recitals demonstrate the variety of literary works with which her
students were acquainted. There were, necessarily, very simple selections for
the beginners. But the programs also included the work of leading poets, of
playwrights ranging from Shakespeare to Molnar, and of local and student writers
such as Marjorie Benton Cooke and Ottilie Llljencrantz. And over the years the
recitals presented more examples of the best literature and fewer "popular"
selections.
taste. Although she presented many simple farces, from the beginning of her
directing career until her retirement she included classical and contemporary
plays of high literary value. She was one of the first, if not the first, to
establish the New Theatre movement In the United States. Soon after this
movement began in Europe, Anna Morgan accepted its ideals as her own. She
appeal. She revived the classics; she presented the new dramas of Ibsen, Shaw,
123
and poems; new plays by young and unknown local playwrights. She began pro-
ducing these plays in 1895, before other attempts were made to establish the
New Theatre in the United States. The next efforts to form New Theatre
» friends of Anna Morgan. It is probable that the founders of these later groups
To a lesser degree, she was also a pioneer in the New Stagecraft move-
ment in America. The United States did not acknowledge the values of simplified
staging until the second decade of the twentieth century. However, Anna Morgan
was aware of the advantages of simplified settings as early as I89I1 when she
ductions mounted with simplified settings occurred long before any other known
Anna Morgan was a strong cultural force in Chicago Through the events
which she sponsored in her studios, the cultural groups of which she was a
member, and the selections she presented as a reader, she contributed to Chicago's
artistic growth. Her early work in the New Theatre and New Stagecraft movements,
in particular, helped create a climate which was conducive to the work of later
theatre groups which, in turn, had an impact upon the American stage in general.
comparable to that obtainable In the best schools of the time. Through the
later work of these students, and through her writings on Delsarte and other
speech topics, she indirectly exerted an influence throughout the United States
and abroad.
1
BIBLIOGRAPHY
i
Morgan, Anna. An Hour With Delsarte. Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1890.
. The Art of Speech and Deportment. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1909.
. "Maeterlinck and Symbolism," The Chicego Times-Herald. September 15,
1895.
Newspapers
. May 2, 1913.
. May 7, 191U.
. December 6, 1920.
. December 9, 1921.
. April 3, 1923.
. May 1, 1892.
. December 6, I89I1.
. May 8, 1892.
. May 2, 1902.
. December 7, 1902.
. January U, 1903.
. April 1, 1903.
. April 2, 1905.
. February 8, 1910.
. March 1, 1896.
. May 5, 1899.
.1 February U, 1900.
. February 8, 1900.
. August 8, 1880.
_. August 15, 1880.
_. October 7, 1881 /
_. April 2, 1893.
_. April 7, 1893.
. November h, 189U.
. November 11, 189U.
. December 2, I89I1.
. December 6, I89I1.
. February 7, 1897-
. May 9, 1897.
. December 3, 1897.
. April 3, 1898.
. November 6, I898.
. May 6, 1903.
. February 9, 1908.
. November 1, 1910.
. February 8, 191U.
. November 5, 1922.
Books
t — — -
Blum, Daniel. A Pictorial History of the American Theatre 1900-1950. New York:
Greenberg: Publisher, 1950.
Bode, Carl. The American Lyceum. Town Meeting of the Mind. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1956.
Bourgeois, Maurice. John Millington Synge and the Irish Theatre. London:
Constable and Co., Ltd., 1913.
Chatfleld-Taylor, Hobart C. Goldonl. a Biography. New York: Duffle Id & Co.,
1913.
Duffey, Bernard. The Chicago Renaissance in American Letters. Michigan College
Press, 195U.
Freedley, George, and Reeves. John A. A History of the Theatre. New York*
Crown Publishers, 19U1.
Hartnoll, Phyllis (ed.). The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. London: Oxford
University Press, 1957.
Hayes, Cecil B. The American Lyceum. I t ' s History and Contribution to Education.
Bulletin no. 12, Department of the Interior. Washington: Government
Printing Office, 1932.
Henderson, Archibald. George Bernard Shaw: Man of the Century. New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1956.
Hewitt, Barnard. Theatre U. S. A.: 1668 to 1957. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co.,
Hines, Dixie, and Hanaford, Harry (ed.). Who's Who in Music and Drama. New York:
H. P. Hanaford, 19lU.
Hone, J. M. William Butler Yeats. Dublin: Maunsel and Co., Ltd., 1916.
Kunltz, Stanley, and Haycraft, Howard (ed.). British Authors of the Nineteenth
Century. New York: The H. W. Wilson Co., 1936.
. Twentieth Century Authors. New York; H. W. Wilson Co., 19U2.
Maeterlinck, Maurice. The Blue Bird, trans, by Alexander de Mattos. 10th ed.
London; Methuen & Co., 1910.
131
Mander, Raymond, and Mitchenson, Joe. Theatrical Companion to Shaw. London:
Salisbury Square, 195U.
Meeker, Arthur Chicago With Love. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1955-
Natlonal Encyclopedia of American Biography. Vol. XVII. New York: James T.
White and Co., 1920.
Odell, George C. D. Annals of the New York Stage. Vol. XI. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1939.
. AnnBls of the New York Stage. Vol. XIII. New York: Columbia University
Press, 19U2.
Parker, John (ed.). Who's Who in the Theatre. Boston: Small, Maynard and Co.,
191U.
. Who's Who in the Theatre. 5th ed. revised. London: Sir Isaac Pitman
and Sons, Ltd., 192!;.
. Who's Who in the Theatre. 6th ed. revised. London: Sir Isaac Pitman
and Sons, Ltd., 1930.
. Who's Who in the Theatre. 7th ed. revised. London: Sir Isaac Pitman
and Sons, Ltd., 1933.
. Who's Who In the Theatre. 10th ed. revised. New York: Pitman Publlsh-
ing Co., 19U7.
. Who's Who in the Theatre. 11th ed. revised. London: Sir Isaac Pitman
and Sons, Ltd., 1952.
Smith, Alson J. Chicago's Left Bank. Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1953.
Spiller, Robert E., et al (ed.). Literary History of the United States. New York:
The MacMillan Co., 19U8.
Truax, Sarah. A Woman of Parts. New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 19U9.
Other Sources
Magazines
Clark, Herma. "The Little Room, A Famous Artist Group In the Chicago of
Yesterday," Townsfolk (Hay, 19UU).
Fuller, Henry B. "The Upward Movement in Chicago," The Atlantic Monthly.
LXXX (1897).
Unpublished Materials
Curry, Wade. "Steele MacKaye: Producer and Director." Unpublished Ph. D.
dissertation, Department of Speech, University of Illinois, 1958.
Henry B. Fuller collection, Newberry Library.
Highlander, James Lee. "An Historical Study of the New Theatre and The Robertson
Players of Chicago (1906-08).* Unpublished Master's thesis, Department
of Speech, University of Illinois, 1957.
Sozen, Joyce. "Annals of the Opera House In Beardstown, Illinois, 1872-1900."
Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Speech, University of
Illinois, 1957.
The Little Room collection, Newberry Library.
Report
Duffey, Bernard. Chicago Literary Movements. 1890-1925. Newberry Library
Conference on American Studies, Chicago, Illinois, April 5, 1952.
Public Document
Illinois, Cook County. Bureau of Vital Statistics. Certificate of Death,
no. 25k99.
13li
APPENDIX A
PATRONS
Patrons for the two illustrated talks given by Miss Morgan for the benefit of
the French Red Cross and the families of the French reservists:
Tht Committee for the surprise party celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary
1883
January 12, Evansville, Indiana, Lecture Committee Rooms
January 15, Greencaatle, Indiana, Opera House Lecture Course
January or February, day unknown, Utica, Ohio
March 8, Lancaster, Ohio
March 12, Germantown, Ohio
April 10, Jackson, Tennessee
April 26, St. Joseph, Missouri, Toote's Optra House
May 30, Evansville, Indiana, Memorial Day Exercises
Repertoire
The Creeds of the Bells Bungay
A Royal Princess Rossettl
Bells of Shandon Mahony
138
Rock of Ages Anon.
Scene from Richard III . Shakespeare
Charlie Machrec Hoppln
Our Folks Lynn
The Spanish Duel Waller
Asleep at the Switch Hoey
Poor Little Joe Arkwright
Too Late for the Train Burdettc
A New Cure for Rheumatism — — —
The Ship of Faith — — —
How Ruby Played — — —
How Tom Sawyer Got His Fence Whitewashed Twain
How the Old Horse Won the Bet Holmes
The Polish Boy Stephens
Out of the Fire Carlton
Love in the Kitchen Arkwright
The Maiden Martyr — — —
Brother Watkins — — —
A Brakeman Goes to Church — — —
King Robert of Sicily Longfellow
Gabriel Grub Dickens
The Presentation of the Trumpet — - — —
Mother and Poet Browning
Jamie Butler and the Owl ———
Money Musk Taylor
The Jiners ——
Scene from The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare
Shadows — — —
Awfully Lovely Philosophy Brooklyn Eagle
An Order for a Picture Cary
Papa's Letter —
The Pride of Battery B Gassanay
Cover Them Over Carlton
Aux Italiens Meredith
188U-1925
June 15, 188U, Evans Hall, program with her pupils:
Money Musk Taylor
, July 29, Evans Hall, program with her pupils:
Rock of Ages Anon.
Scene from Mary Stuart Schiller
February 22, 1887, New York, New York Avenue Methodist Church:
The Broken Seal Legouve'
The Wind and the Moon Montgomery
The Deacon's Confession Carlton
When the Cows Come Home Rossetti
The Debating Society Hall
Aux Italians Meredith
139
October 23, I889, Sallna (probably Kansas), Salina Literary Society:
"An Evening Among the Poets"
August 3, 1893, graduating exercises, elocution class, College Chapel, Valparaiso:
Little Christ el Bradbury
My Ships Wilcox
A Boy's Mother Riley
One, Two, Three Banner
Marguerite Whlttier
Bill Smith Adeler
, My Angel and I Fearing
Penelope's English Experience Wiggin
An Object Lesson Anon.
Little Boy Blue Field
The Tiger Lily Miller
Mammy's Li'l Boy Edwards
The Conversazzbyony Field
August, 1693, Danville, I l l i n o i s , benefit for Fred Murphy (Fred Eric):
Little Chrlstel Bradbury
My Angel and I Fearing
Mammy's Little Boy Edwards
Mental Arithmetic —
January 5, 189U, residence of General and Mrs. Charles Fits-Simons:
My Angel and I Fearing
Two Gentlemen of Verona Curtis
April 10, I89I1, residence of Mrs. Ralph S. Greenlee, benefit for Talcott Creche:
Up in a Villa . . . Down in the City Browning
The Grape Vine Swing Peck
May 23, 189U, Student Recital:
Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy Shakespeare
1900, date unknown, Mason City, Iowa, home of Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Brlcet
Mrs. Lawton's Dinner Wells
Nature and Philosophy Hope
The Meeting of the Clabberhusea . . . Fosa
How Much Land Does a Man Require Tolstoi
Smokln' Corn Silks Anon.
Summun Bonum Browning
Up in a Villa . . . Down in the City Browning
Mammy's Li'l Boy Edwards
Whan Malindy Sings Dunbar
The Party Dunbar
Long Ago ' Field
December 18, 1903, student recital:
Revelation Cooke
February 7, 1910, home of Mrs. Chat field-Taylor:
The Blue Bird Maeterlinck
February 1U, 1910, home of Mrs. Harold F. McCormick:
The Faith Healer Moody
Guest Lecturers
Year unknown, Dr. Camillo Von Klenze, "The Great Literary Movements of the Last
Three Centuries":
October 10, 17, and 2bi The Renaissance in Italy
October 31; November 7« Art of Italy During the Renaissance
November id, 21, and 28: The 17th Century, Especially in France During
the Age of Louis XJV
December 5 and 12: The Literature of France During the Age of
Louis XIV
December 19} January 9 and
16: The Reaction Against the Ideals of the 17th
Century
January 13 and 30: Rousseau, Voltaire
February 6: The Forerunners of Goethe
February 13, 20, and 271 Goethe
March 6, 13, and 20: Wordsworth, Byron, Hugo, Heine
March 20 and 27: The Realistic Movement
January 5 to April 6, 1903, Miss Harriet Monroe:($5*00 for course; 50c' a lecture)
Life and Art
D'Annunzio's Plays
New Ideals in American Architecture and Sculpture
English Novelists: Jane Austen and the Brontes
East and West
Russian Novelists: Gogol, Turgenlef, Tolstoi, Gorky, Great Democrats In an
Autocracy; Their Influence on Foreign Literature and Our Own
American Painting
English Novelists: Scott and the Romancers
Zola and French Realism
Recant American Posts: Santayana, Field, Sill, Whitman, Poe, Emerson,
Whitman, Moody, Markhan, Cheney, and Others
Ibsen and BJornsen
English Novelists: Dickens and Thackeray
Reading: by request, Miss Monroe will read from her dramatic and lyric verse,
and explain her ideas of poetic art
Review and Outlook
i
Suggested Class Schedule for the Graduate Course. Around 1912
Tuesday
9.30-11:00 Voice and Physical Training
11:00-12:00 Miss Morgan's Readings and Talks
Wednesday
900-11:00 Story Telling, Conversation, and
Training in Analysis, Criticism,
and Intelligent and Discriminating
Comment
11:00-12:00 Vocal Interpretation of Shakespeare
Thursday
9:30-11:00 Rehearsal of plays; Other ReheareaIs
as Nttded
Friday
9)30-11:00 Volet, Extemporaneous Speaking,
Advanced Pantomimic Studies
11:00-12:00 Practice Recital
I
1U6
APPENDIX D
150
'Twixt Cup and Lip Chicago Tribune . . . .Maud Caruthers
A Sisterly Scheme Bunner . . . . . . . . Agnts Thomson
A Legend of St. Valentine . .Baker Maud Miner
A Set of Turquoise Aldrich Katherine Welles
1826
March 16, Recital:
An American Girl In Paris .——— Katharine Knowles
Danny .——— Ida Robinson
The Romance of a Door Mat . Eleanor Abdill
The New Woman .Rich Margaret Wagner
Mrs. Ripley's Trip . . . . Garland Eugenia DuBois
Hiram Cawkins .Horton Cherie Nicholas
Scene, The Taming of the
Shrew Shakespeare Katharine Knowles
May 25, Recital:
A Second Trial Kellogg Alice Reddy
The Cost of a Reprieve . . . Morgan Amy Swartchild
Sally Smith Interviews a
Missionary Riley Katherine Welles
An Italian's Views on the
Labor Question ........ Katherine Welles
The Village Dressmaker . . . Wiggin Alice Reddy
Pantomime:
(a) At the Toilet
(b) Lovt v s . Drudgtry . .Morgan Katherine Welles
1897
May, day unknown, Recital:
Two Letters and Two Tele-
grams .Fitch Kathryn Morgan
Statue Scent, The Winter's
Tale Shakespeare Elizabeth Aldrich
The Signal Richards Jamie Woody (Miss)
Scent, Tht Mighty Dollar . . Woolf Florence Smith
The Triumph of Conscience . .Eliot Eugenia DuBois
Silent Art:
The Bootblack Jamie Woody
The Toilet Florence Smith
The Barber Elizabeth Aldrich
The Burglar Margaret Wagner
The Music Lesson Kathryn Morgan
Two Letters . Eugenia DuBois
1§28
May 13, Recital:
Aunt Betsy's Photograph .Fuller .' Pansy Inke
Rouge t t Noir .Friedman Bertha Hancock
An Afternoon in a City
Hotel .Bangs Josephine Peterson
The King of Boyvllle . . White Edith Moulton
Abbit's Account . . . . .Jenks Evalyn Light
An Absent Visitor Harrison Hazel Pughsley
151
The Road to Mandalay . . . . Kipling Mrs. Nettle Jackson
Dialogue from Richard
Harding Davis James McKean as
Mr. Caruthers, James Carew as Mr. Van Bibber, and Marie
Salisbury as Miss Caruthers
1899
April 19, Readings by Katharine Knowles:
A French Girl in Paris . . . from the French
An American Girl In Paris . .from the French
Much Ado About Nothing . . . Shakespeare
(Act I, Scene 1; Act II, Scene 2; Act III, Scene 1; Act IV, Scene 1)
December 21, Practice Recital:
The Angel and the Shepherds .Wallace Gertrude King
The Old Man Field Ottilie Llljencrantz
Tomorrow at Ten Perry Mrs. M. H. Walnwright
The Boat Race Yale Yarns LIda Burnham
Christmas in Indiana Riley . Claudine Hamburger
The Two Mysteries Whitman .Florence Bloom
Christmas Morning Thompson Mildred Glover
A Backward Child Pemberton Mrs. C. C. Martin as
Miss Milllkin and Gertrude White as Florence
Cross Questions and Crooked
Answers Bell Emily Waterman as
Miss Tipper and Reeves Mettler as Mrs. Edgerton Sylvester
1900
January, day unknown, Reception:
In a Balcony Browning Jessie Harding
My Last Duchess Browning Bertha Remington
May 2, Recital for Juniors:
Bertha's Debut Peattle Noemle Euziere
Nevers Anon Marie Alexander
Waitin' When the Folks is
Gone Riley .Vera Heinley
•Twixt Cup and Lip Blake Katherine Gould
Up in a V i l l a — D o w n in the
City Browning Beeves Mettler
The Party Dunbar Francis Peddycord
The Traveler and the Tree
of Knowledge Harraden Laura Rockwell
Babbete's Choice Llljencrantz Ottilie Llljencrantz
Wives in a Social Game . . . Anon Emily Waterman
The Boat Race Yale Yarns Lida Burnham
Dialogue from Sunset Jerome . Gertrude White as
Joan, Florence Be con as Louise
The First Quarrel Tennyson Mrs. D. R. Martin
At the Photographer's . . . .Ford Gertrude King
Dialogue, The Merchant of
Venice Shakespeare Frank Wallace as
Launcelot, Peter Moore as Gobbo
The Sin of the Bishop of
Modenstein Hope Bertha Remington
«"-M -•r,1*v*w'" :'•',^Nr^r~^'VJMl|I
152
December lli, Recital:
Cupid Play Coach Cooke Leora Moore
When Mother's at the Club . .Cooke Pearl Le Beau
The Meeting of the Clabber-
huses Foss Lida Burnham
122k
February 12, Book Recital:
The Sky Pilot by Connor
Owen Reeves Mettler
Gwen's Challenge . , Emily Waterman
Gwen's Canyon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lilian Gamble
The Canyon Flowers Gertrude King
Bill's Bluff Edith Moss
Bill's Partner Bertha Gray
Bill's Financing Marie Alexander
How the Pinto Sold Lida Burnham
Opening of the Swan Creek Church Gertrude Whltt
The Pilot's Last Port Mrs. D. R. Martin
March 21, Book Recital:
Eben Holden by Bacheller
, Eben Holden Peryle Harris
The Hemlock Forest Grace Gullck
Tht Log House Elizabeth Pierce
Tht Panther Story Francis Peddycord
The Bear Story Gertrude Whltt
The Deserted Cabin Gladys Phelps
The Night Man Eaalyne Tomlinson
The Poet Mrs. Drain
The End of the Beginning Pearl Lc Beau
Hope Brover Laura Rockwell
The Secret Annie Foster
The Horse Trade . . . . . Lida Burnham
Two Ideals Leora Moore
Love and Spondoollx Theo Kane
Horace Greeley . . . . . . . . . . *. . - . .Mrs. D. R. Martin
Rumors of War Reeves Mettler
The Battle Field Emily Waterman
Home and Happiness Bertha Gray
Nehemiah Braver Edith Moss
Tht Epitaph Gertrude King
May 3, Recital:
Miking an Orator . . . . . . Crane Mrs. D. R. Martin
Smokin' Corn Silks Anon Emily Waterman
Belled, a la Mode Dobson Emily Waterman
Scent, Tht Mighty Dollar. . .Woolf Lida Burnham
Ferdinand and Miranda . . . .Meredith . . . . . . . Gertrude King
The Author's Reading . . . . Wlggin Emily Waterman
Jim Bowker Foss Lida Burnham
The Day is Done Longfellow Lida Burnham
The War Dance Monroe Mrs. D. R. Martin
The Rivals Dunbar . . . . . . . . Gertrude King
153
A Tale of Labrador Parker Emily Waterman
The Merchant of Venice . . . Shakespeare
Act IV, Scent 1 Mrs. D. R. Martin
Act I I , Sctne 2 Lida Burnham as Gobbo,
Gertrude King as Launcclot Gobbo
December 13, Stories by Alphonst Daudet:
The Clock of Bouglval Emalyne Tomlinson
The Clock's Arrival at Munich Reeves Mettler
The Schwanthaler Salon Mrs. Marion Wood
The Clock's Influence on a Munich Family Gertrude White
The Clock's Final Abode Miss Cady
A First Might's Performance Francis Peddycord
Cheese Soup Marie Alexander
The Mirror Bertha Gray
A Game of Billiards Leora Moore
The Last Lesson Edith Moss
The Pope is Dead Cara Potter
The Fairies of France Mrs. D. R. Martin
1902
May 8, Graduation Program:
A String of Browning Pearls . . . . Members of the Class
A Lover of Music Van Dyke Reeves Mettler
Recreation for Remuneration. Century Magazine . . . Bertha Gray
An Irish Mother Foster . . . . . . . . Cara Potter
De Planner Juttt Tie low Francis Peddycord
Cupid Plays Coach Cooke Marie Alexander
November 20, Book Recital:
The Virginian by Wister
Tht Babies Elizabeth Pierce
Tht Snake Story Mary Buehrmann
The Fravg Story Gertrude White
Em'ly Emalyne Tomlinson
In a State of Sin Gladys Phelps
The Cottonwoods Marian Kirby
With Malice Aforethought Leora Moore
1903
February 12, Book Recital:
Mrs. Tree by Richards
Mrs. Tree Nelle Anthony
Mrs. Dane Edith Moss
Miry Jaquith Clara Kretzingtr
Willie Jaquith Louise Loeb
Vesta Blyth Elizabeth Chap in
Mrs. Weight Mrs. J. F. Crosby
Isaac Weight Alice Pollack
Dtrtxlt Havkes Katherine Gould
Maria Gertrude White
Tommy Candy Louise Bearse
15U
May 8, Book Recital:
Six Trees by Wilkins
The Elm Tree Grace Gullck
White Birch Elizabeth Pierce
Great Pine Leora Moort
Balsam Fir Gertrude White
Lombard/ Poplar Gladys Phelps
Applt Emalyne Tomlinson
December 18, Program of Marjorie Benton Cooke:
In an Automobile Nell Anthony
The Diplomat (colored sketch) Florence Kerby
Revelation Anna Morgan
190U
April 26, A Browning Recital:
A Tale Louise Bearsc
My Last Duchess Grace Stein
Porphyria's Lover Fanny Gould
One Way of Love Elizabeth Chapin
Time's Revenges Elizabeth Chapin
Excerpt from "Saul" Ntll Anthony
Dialogue from "In a Balcony" . . . . .Louise Loeb
1905
May 5', Book Recital:
Nancy Stair by Lane
Read by: Louise Bearse, Irene Schooley, Paula Kroeschell,
Elolse MacMlnn, Gertrude Rothschild, Geraldlne Faro, Grace
Noe, Edith Thomas, and Virginia Brooks
December 9 and 16, included on a Dramatic Program:
In the Latin Quarter . . . . Faro Geraldlne Faro
1907
May h, Book Recital:
Felicity by Laughlin
Read by: Ruth Lytic, Dora Mitchell, Natalie Cushlng, Clara
Williams, Dorothy Sargent, Dorothy Glovtr, Hittit Borgvardt,
Carol Pollard, Josephine Lydston, Elizabeth Jenkins, and
Gladys Chaptck
May 7, Graduation Exercises:
Dialogue, "The Education of
Otis Yeere" Kipling Carolyn Carr as
Mrs. Ma Howe, Bessie Collingwood as Mrs. Hauksbee
Reading, The Doll's House . .Ibsen Bessie Collingwood
Reading, A Midsummer Might's
Dream Shakespeare .Carolyn Carr
1222
Mareh 3, Monologues, included on a Dramatic Program:
At the Box Office Livtrmore Imogens Rlner,
On the Beach Cooke Louise Swabacher
The Black Diplomat Cooke Harriet Williams
K
April 30, Graduation Program:
Paolo and Francesca Phillips Hafford Porter
A Red-Haired Cupid Phillips Prudence Jackson
Aux Italians Meredith Hazel Yondorf
Pasqualt's Picture Fuller Rat Rosenstein
The Last Lesson .de Maupassant . . . . Irma Kroeschell
1910
November 26, Recital:
Hon Much Land Dots a Man
Require Tolstoi Mary Hill
The Merry Wives of Windsor. .Shakespeare Ctcile Murphy as
Mrs. Page, Mildred Murphy as Mrs. Ford
Elevating the Drama Bowlan Louise Swabacher
Teens on Tag Day Bowlan Helen McCurdy
1911
May 13, Recital:
The Seven Ages Shakespeare Helen McCurdy
The Fishing Party . . . . . .Riley Margaret MacClennan
The Catechist King Margaret MacClennan
Jack and Me Baker .Hortense Grossman
Easter Morning Baker Mildred Westfall
When Morning Breaks Cooke .Dorothy Sargent
At Madame Newberry's . . . . Cooke Marjorie McCurdy
On a Suburban Train Cooke Laura Wilder
Modern Love Meredith Dorothy Wilson
Confessions Browning Miss Harpold
Youth and Art Browning Miss Felt
Scene, The Merchant of
Venice . . . . . . . . . Shakesptart Isabella Doud
November 7, Dickens' Readings, for Chicago Woman's Outdoor Art League:
Plnche's Housekeeping and What Came of I t , Martin Chuzzlewlt. read by
Jeanntttt Kraut
David's Susceptibility Makts Him Critical, David Copptrfltld. rtad by
May Hill
' David Proposes, David Copperfleld. read by Evelyn DeWltt
Mrs. Nickleby»a Interview with the Mad Neighbor, Nicholas Nickleby. read
by Mrs. Clyde Pack, May Hill, and Lucy Barton
The Execution of Sidney Carton, A Tale of Two C i t i e s / read by
Charlotte Samson
1912
April 15, An Evening with Dickens:
A Child's Dream of a Star Elizabeth Eldrtdgt
Miss Larktn and Dora, David Copperfleld Mrs. Bertha Baur
Mr, Pickwick's Romantic Adventure,
Pickwick Papers Margaret Goffe
The Death of Bill Sykes, Oliver Twist . Jtannette Kraut
The Execution of Sidney Carton. Tale of Two Cities. Lucy Barton
April 26, Recital:
The Great Experiment . . . . Morgan and Bailey
May 3, Recital:
Robin Hood (probably the novel by Gtorgt Payne James)
156
May 7, Recital: >
The Story of Persia
191U
May h, Recital:
Within the Law Veillier Mattie Tyler
The Story of Prunella . . . .Housman-Barker . . . . Dorothy Wilson
Romance .Sheldon Harriet Btugh
The Master of the Inn . . . .Herrlck Margartt Rathjt
1915,
December 16, Pupils' Matinee:
An Original Christmas Story Opal Euard
Mrs. Moneymede's Fitting . . ——-— Lalla Scott
When Hannah War Eight Yar
Old Girling Irene Purcell
Selections from Penrod . . . Tarkington Irma Hoffman
Secrets of tht Heart . . . . Dobson Irene Purcell as
Ninette, Hazel Ubtle as Ninon
The Groove Middleton Alice Stooksberry as
Ellen, Katherine Hurt as May
On the Threshold Gibson Grace Landrum as
Alice, Bertha France as Ellen, Lewis Sponsler as Phillip
Dialogue, Gars Ida's Career . Brighouse Elizabeth Marland as
Mrs. Garside, Maybtllt Smith as Margaret, Marion McGuire
as Phillip
157
1916
May 5, Graduation Program:
Selections from Shakesptart
Much Ado About Nothing. Act I, Scent 1 Bertha France
Tht Wooing of Henry tht Fifth Leila Scott
The Taming of the Shrew Irma Hoffman
Julius Caesar (quarrel scene) Lewis Sponsler,
———— Laurtnct Chlsenhall
Ballads Recited to Music Helen T. Cutter
1917
April 30, Recital:
Council Retained Mackaye Winifred Stockwell
The Regeneration Sothern Elizabeth Mttcalf
The Habitant Drumaond Alice Stooksberry
Dust Returning Branch Ruth Taussig
The Return of Jeanne D'Arc. .Anon Mary Louise Smith
The Star Spangled Banner . . Andrews Elizabeth Mar land
Scenes, Pygmalion Shaw Alice Haugan
Making an Orator Crane Ethel Wait
The Music Master. Act I . . .Klein .Marion McGuire
Tht Birthday of the Infanta .Wilde Opal Euard
1919
May 2, Graduation Tea, Diplomas Prtscnted by Mrs. Jacob Baur:
The River of Stars Noyes Grace Wright
A Voluntary Retreat Anon Grace Wright
French-Canadian Drumaond . . . . . . . Gertrude Adams
Sketches Amsbury Gertrude Adams
The Beau of Bsth Mackaye . . . . . . . .Gertrude Adams
Mrs. Ripley's Trip Garland Clara Htadrick
Postponement Fuller Clara Headrick
1921
May 2, Graduation Tea, Diplomas Presented by Lorado Taft:
Scene, Beyond the Horizon . .O'Neill .Naomi Dukes
/ Mon Pierre Amsbury Lyla Waterbury
Prunella Housman-Barker . . . . Miriam Smock
The Gibson Upright. Act I. . Tar king ton-Wilson . . .Mary Let Trammtll
The School for Scandal . . . Sheridan Donna Pas de Loup
1922
May, day unknown, Graduation Tea, Diplomas Presented by Horace J. Bridges:
Lois Aldrich, Marjorie Eldridgt, Virginia Fitz-Hugh, Dorothy Hodgman,
and Betty Scroggin reading from the following poets:
Edwin Arlington Robinson Jeanne Robert Foster
Sara Teasdale Arthur Ketchum
Edna St. Vincent Mi H a y Louise Driscoll
Alfred Noyes Marion Leeper
Rudyard Kipling Frances Shaw
Amy Lowell Amelia Josephine Burr
Robert Frost David Morton
Eunice TietJens Katherine HcCluskey
Hilda Conkling
192U
May 9, Recital of Monologues (under the direction of Jessie Harding):
The Parish Call Anon Mary Herbert
Up in the Air Bowlan Elizabeth Looais
At the Depot Lunch Counttr . Cookt Margartt Soptr
An Idle Woman's Busy Day . . Anon Rtbtkah Ktnnttt
At the Fresh Air Camp . . . .Cookt Lucetta Gadsden
Authorized Authority . . . . King Erstyne King
Nicoletta Cooke Bernlct Thornbtrry
A Studtnt of Expression . . .Harte Dolores Herts
A Bernard Shaw Heroine . . . Cooke Consuelo Coombs
Cupid Play Coach Cooke Winifred Boles
An Imitation Bowman Estel la Bowman
1925
April 30, Graduation Tea, Diplomas Presented by Thomas Wood Stevens:
Mary. Marv. Quite Contrary . Ervine Consuelo Coombs
I Sing My Country .Henning Mary E. Hazsard
Appeased Geraldy Louis Gadsden
The West Wind Maseficld Eat el la Bowman
Sea Fever Masefleld Estclia Bowman
Love Poems (original) Judith Strohm
The Crock of Gold Stephens Erstyne King
The Guardsman . Molnar Rebekah Kermett
Saint Joan Shaw Mary Herbert
String of Literary Pearls Bernlce Thornbtrry
i
159
APPENDIX E
(When possible to ascertain, the full names of cast members are included)
1880s
Year Unknown:
Declined with Thanks by John Madison Morton
Childhood Dreams by"sir Charles Young
Year Unknown:
An Hour with Delsarte (Pantomime)
The Death of Julius Caesar
The Fate of Virginia (based on Macaulay's poem)
Year Unknown:
Delsarte Matinee
Hostess . Helen Gilbert
Romeo and Juliet (balcony scene)
Romeo Jennie Shoemaker
Juliet Dora Drosdowitch
Julius Caesar (senate scene) . . . "eleven young men" and
Lottie Peck
Vlrglnlus (forum scene)
As You Like It
Rosalind Gertrude Potter
' Orlando Charles Watrous
1887,
December 2:
At Sixes and Sevens by John Madison Morton
Cast: Fred Herzog, C. S. Robinson, Fannie Snyder, Agnes
McNulty, Bella Tomllns, Fred Perry, Sarah Truax
Change Partners by John Madison Morton
Cast: Edward Dvorak, C. F. Reynolds, Lucia Gale,
Lottie Alter, Katherine Mac Bean
160
1889
December 7J
Scenes from Shakespeare
King John. Act IV. Scene 1
Hubert Jennie Shoemaker
Attendant Sophie Levea
Prince Arthur Dora Drosdowltch
December lli:
Fast Friends by Henry
Laura Latimer Helen Gilbert
Mabel Hamilton . . . . . . . .Gertrude Potter
1890
December 11:
Barbara by Jerome K. Jerome
Barbara Jennie Shoemaker
Lilie Donna Murphy
Cecil Fred Murphy
1891
May 21:
The Last Days of Pompeii by Bulwer-Lytton
Glaucus . . George Baker
Clodlus Frederick Judson
Dlomed Bert ley Cushlng
Arbaces Percy Sharpe
Burbo Edward Dvorak
Roman Senator Edward Dvorak
Sallust Fred Murphy
Calenus W. L. Rankin
Cugrio W. L. Rankin
Vespicus W. L. Rankin
Pansa W. T. Nelson
lone Sarah Truax
Nydia Jennie Shoemaker
Julia Mabel Eaton
Witch Sophia Levea
Stratonice Engel Sumner
Hairdresser Emily Thompson
Widow of Fulvia Emily Thompson
Wife of Pansa Evangeline Copeland
Chlorls Amabel Heath
Aalta Ida Serven
Slaves and Dancing Girlst Misses Greynold, Kerr, Murphy,
Shaw, Wilhelm, "Dora," Middleton, Babcock, Keeler,
Scott, Copeland, Harding
November 5'
The Marble Arch by Edward Rttat and J. J. Garraway
Jack Mtrtwtther Frtd Tourtellotte
Captain Trtntham Robert Gtmpp
Constance Cameron Emily Thompson
Marlon Mertwether Lucille Middleton
December 10:
King John (scenes) by Shakespeare
Hubert Sophie Levea
Attendant Jessie Harding
Prince Arthur Dora Drosdowltch
Christmas Presents (especially arranged by Miss Morgan)
Mr. Jackley Bartley Cushlng
Mr. Holly Robert Gempp
Mrs. Holly Augusta Nelson
Mary Olga Krohmer
January 30:
Change Partners by John Madison Morton
Mrs. Somtrtin Mrs. Callit Springtr
Flora Marguerite Shaw
Sir Fitful Gust W. L. Rankin
Charles Gust Fred Mayer
Parker Ethel Hughes
March 17:
Yellow Roses by Sir Charles Young
Cast: Anna Watson and J. E. Ferguson
David Copptrfltld (scent) by CharIts Dicktns
Cast: Agnes Middleton and Sophie Levea
The Fool'sRevenge (scene) by Ton Taylor
Cast; Augusta Nelson and Percy Sharpe
The School for Scandal (scene) by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Cast: Olga Krohmer and Fred Lee
Uncle Tom's Cabin (scene) by Harriet B. Steve
Cast; Anna Keeler and Ethel Street
Mary Stuart (scene) by Friedrich Schiller
Cast; Clara Bryant and Mary Leddy
162
April lbs
The Pillars of Society by Henrlk Ibsen (directed by Hart Conway)
Consul Karsten Bernlck . . . .Edward Dvorak
Olaf Marie Murphy
John Tonnesen Fred Murphy
Hilmar Tonnesen . . . . . . . Horace Brooks
Froktn Hesse1 Laura Raltz
Fru Rummcl Helens Mitchell
Dine Dorf Agnes Middleton
Fru Holt Anna Keeler
Rector Rorlund Robert Gempp '
Rummel Percy Sharpe
Vlgeland W. T. Nelson
Krap . . . . . . . . . . . . . J . E. Ferguson
Aune Fred Lee
Fru Bernlck Sarah Truax
Frokcn Bernlck Mrs. Callie Springer
, Fru Lynge Lena Myers
Froken Hilda Marguerite Shaw
Froken Netta May Farwcll
Katrine . . Genevieve Heywood
June 9:
Delsarte Production
"Exercises at Gusher Institute" (Burlesque)
Miss Arabella Gusher Mrs. Jessie Simmons
Professor T. David Gusher . . Horace Brooks
Sylvester Dazzle Bartley Cushlng
Aminadab Sleek Percy Sharpe
163
Casca Fred Murphy
Cinna Bartley Cushlng
Trebonius Horace Brooks
Pompilius Lena Fred Judson
Soothsayer F. W. Mayer
The Fate of Virginia (based on Macauley's poem)
Vlrginius . . Edward Dvorak
Icilius Fred Judson
Appius Claudius Emmet De Voy
Calus Claudius Percy Sharpe
Marcus J. E. Ferguson
Servlus Bartley Cushlng
Muraena Fred Lee
Numitorius W. T. Nelson
Dentatus Horace Brooks
Lucius Fred Murphy
Titus F. W. Mayer
Virginia Clara Bryant
Slaves: Jessie Simmons, Anna Watson, Marion Albright,
Agnes Middleton, Sara Lacy, Amy Swartchild
The Secrets of the Heart by Austin Dobson
Ninette Katharine Knowles
Ninon Nellie Noyes
1893
April 6:
Hearts by W. E. Golden
Cast: Helen P. Singer, Lottie Sincere, Laura Myers,
Eugene Edwards, Fred Murphy
April lbi
The Other Woman by Richard Harding Davis
Latimer Edward Dvorak
Bishop Percy Sharpe
Ellen Sarah Truax
182k
February 27i
The Merchant of Vtnict (scene) by Shakespeare
Cast: Hazel Pughsley, Beatrice Bowman, Edward Dvorak
16U
A Matrimonial Advertisement by Egbert Fowler
Cast: Theo Kane, Roy Fairchild
March 7*
Fast Friends by Henry
Cast: Hazel Pughsley, Miss Wickes
Secrets of the Heart by Austin Dobson
Cast: Maud Miner, Beatrice Bowman
A Matrimonial Advertisement by Egbert Fowler
Cast: Theo Kant, Roy Fairchild
May 23:
Hamltt by William Shakespeare (cast by scenes)
Hamlet: Beatrice Bowman, Nellie O'Conner, J t s s i t
Harding, Alice Reddy, Sara Lacy, Anna Morgan,
Marshall Sttdman, Susie Hobart, Roy Fairchild
Horatio: Katherine Wcllts, Marshall Sttdman
Marcellus: Elizabeth Loomis
Bernardo: Helen Inez Dale
Polonius: Katharine Knowles
Laertes: Hazel Pughsley
Ophelia: Zelma Requier, Elinor Perry, Sarah Truax
Ghost: Walter Kilbourne
Rosencrants: Jeanntttt Block!, Gtrtrudt Fulton
Guildenstern: Maud Miner, Theo Kane
1st Actor: Maud Caruthers
2nd Actor t Agnes Thomson
Player Queen: Carr i t Hevins
Musicians: Anna Hardlmen, Miss Nott
Queen: Jessie Harding
1st Gravediggtr: William Wadsworth
2nd Gravedigger; Walter Kilbourne
May 25»
Scenes from Shakespeare
Juliet and Her Nurse
Cast: Hazel Pughsley, Mrs. Edward Meysenburg
The Closet Scene from Hamlet
Cast: Jessie Harding, Marshall Sttdman
An Unexpected Legacy by Egbert Fowler
Cast; Hazel Pughsley, Katharine Wtllts, Roy Fairchild
Yes and No by Arlo Betas
Cast: Maud Caruthers, William Wadsworth
Naturt and Philosophy from Anthony Hope
Cast: Beatrice Bowman, Walter Kilbourne
165
December 5: ,
Lea Femmta Ruatts by Sir Charles Young
Mrs. Mount rev or Maud Miner
Mrs. Norwood Jones Agnts Thomson
Juliette Katharine Knowles
Date Unknown:
Secrets of the Heart by Austin Dobson
Ninette Ella Ellison
Ninon Helen Pratt
Fast Friends by Henry
Laura Eleanor Abdlll
Mabel Winifred Wells
1895
February 13*
Borrowing Trouble by T. S. Denlson
Mr. Borrow V. L. Bean
Mrs. Borrow Eleanor Abdlll
Miss Sophy Borrow Jamie Woody
Mrs. Mehltable March Bertha Davidson
Mrs. Wiggins Mrs. Etta L. Case
Lina Estelle Bain
Mrs. Spotem Charie Nicholas
A. M. Drtnch, M. D Grace Merrill
A Daughter-ln-Law by Mary Seymour
Lady DeMontreville Anna line Carr
Sybil Florence Smith
Gwendoline Lottie Boyd
Alice Rata Wagner
A Happy Pair by S. Theyre Smith
Mr. Honeyton . Herbert Skinner
Mrs. Honeyton Hazel Pughsley
February 21:
Lea Femmea Rusees by Sir Charles Young
Cast: same as December 5, 189U production
Old Wine "a dramatic pastel" by Herbert Stuart Stone and Harrison
Garfield Rhodes
Mrs. Carlton Mrs. Jessie Simmons
Virginia Hazel Pughsley
Dolly Edna Stephens
Hannah Mrs. Edward Meysenburg
The Champion of Her Sex by Gtorgt H. Baker
Mrs. Duplex Anna Hard 1 man
Deborah Hartshorn Pcarltttt DuBois
Flortnce Duplex Katharine Wtllts
166
Madge Duplex Maud Caruthers
Rhode Margartt Wagntr
Polly Edna Stephens
Eupheait Appleget Bertha Davidson
Aramethta Hokum Elizabeth Aldrich
Cherubim Antoinette Walker
Serephlna Jamie Woody
Kate O'Neil Esttllt Bain
Maggie Donavan Nellie O'Conner
Marianne Pearl Hughes
March 21:
The Master Builder by Henrik Ibsen
Halyard Solness Edward Dvorak
Aline Solness Katharine Knowles
Doctor Herdal Albert Augustus
Knute Brovlk John Dvorak
Ragner Brovlk Herbert Skinner
Kaia Fosll Margaret Wagner
Hilda Wangel Sophie Levea
Ladies Maud Caruthers,
Jtssit Harding
April 25:
Scene from Shakespeare
Juliet and Her Nurse
Cast: Hazel Pughsley and Katharine Knowles
May 231
Uncle Tom's Cabin (scene) by Harriet B. Stowe
Miss Ophelia Annaline Carr
Topsy Estcllc Bain
167
May 31t
Fast Friends by Henry
Laura Hazel Pughsley
t Mabel Maud Caruthers
1896
February 271
The Intruder by Maurice Maeterlinck
The Grandfather Frederick O'Brien
Paul Herbert Skinner
Oliver Edward Dvorak
Ursula Margaret Wagner
Gertrude Eleanor Abdlll
Genevieve Edna Stephens
The Sister of Charity . . . . Hazel Pughsley
The Maid Servant Cherle Nicholas
March 16:
The Cape Mall by Clement Scott
Mrs. Preston Amy Swartchild
Mrs. Frank Preston Alice Reddy
Miss Mary Preston Edna Stephens
Ann Quicke Florence Smith
Parker Elizabeth Aldrich
Mason Jamie Woody
Dr. Hugh Marsden Edward Dvorak
April 13:
The Broken Hearted Club by J. Stirling Coyne
Cast: Fred O'Brien, George Welles, Bruce Levy, A. H.
Arnold, Agnes Thomson, Anna Fitzgerald, Kathryn
Morgan, Edith Hancock, Ida Lloyd, Katherine Hunt-
ington, Bessie Smith, Josephine Peterson, Elsie Sturkov
May 25:
Hamlet (scenes) by Shakespeare
' Les Femmes Rusees by Sir Charles Young
Cast: Alice Reddy, Katherine Welles, Amy Swartchild
168
December 17>
The Land of Heart's Desire by William Butler Yeats
Maureen Bruin James Eastman
Bridget Bruin Eugenia DuBois
Shawn Bruin A. H. Arnold
Me ire Bruin Elizabeth Aldrich
Father Hart James Carew
Christmas by Martha Morton
Llllas Florence Smith
Gloria de l'Orme Stella Hunt Gallup
Kate Margaret Wagner
Reginald Bunscomb, "Bunny" . .Jamie Woody
Perkins Kathryn Morgan
Geoffrey Van Rensselaer . . . Fred Merrltt
Michael Angelo Smith A. H. Arnold
My Uncle's Will by S. Theyre Smith
Charles Cashmore James Carew
Mr. Barker James Eastman
Florence Marigold Kathryn Morgan
December 19t
A Doctor in Spite of Herself. Adapted from Moliere by
Katharine Knowles
Martin Jean de Shane
Sganarella Sara D. Adler
Mae. Leandre Ida Robinson
Valcre Grace Robinson
1897
February 13:
A Case for Eviction by John Madison Morton
Maggie's Situation by John Madison Morton
March 2:
Maggie's Situation by John Madison Morton (for Oak Park Club)
Mr. Perkins Peckover James McKean
Frank Gtogagan James Carew
Mrs. Midwinter Eugenia DuBois
Anastasia Elizabeth Aldrich
Maggie Gray Josephine Peterson
Mary Jamie Woody
March 20:
A Slight Mistake by Emile Souvestre
, Cast: Helen Potter, Catherine Chamberlln, Miss Griffith,
Virginia Clinger, Evelyn' Light
169
March 27:
A Narrow Escape by Henry
Miss Steel Eugenia DuBois
Amy . . . . . Margaret Wagner
April 3:
A Matrimonial Advertisement by Egbert Fowler
April 15:
The Postscript by F. Hamilton Knight
Col. Sir Clive Cutler . . . . James McKean
Harold Treherne James Carew
Mrs. Treherne Elizabeth Aldrich
Marjorie Fleming . Josephine Peterson
170
April 28;
In a Balcony by Robert Browning
The Queen Jessie Harding
Constance Amy Swartehild
Norbert James Carew
May 18:
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Prospero James McKean
Ferdinand James Carew
Caliban Frederick O'Brien
Ariel Elizabeth Aldrich
Miranda Jamie Woody
Iris Kathryn Morgan
Juno Helen Potter
Ceres Edith Moulton
Nymphs Virginia Clinger, Evelyn
Light, Bessie Denslow
171
Dcceaber 2:
Lethe by A. E. Lancaster
Edgar At he ling James Carew
Margaret Vauvray Eleanor McKee
Lethe Catherine Chamberlln
Jane Evalyn Light
Mr. Bob by Rachel E. Baker
Phillip Roys on James Carew
Robert Brown James McKean
Rebecca Luke "a maiden with
cats on the brain" . . . .Nettie Jackson
Patty Vonderspiel Edith Moulton
Jenkins Frederick O'Brien
Katherine Hazel Pughsley
Marion, "Mr. Bob" Josephine Peterson
Date Unknown:
Nature and Philosophy by Anthony Hope
Cast: James McKean, Kathryn Morgan
Off the Stage by Sydney Rosenfeld
MrT Samuel Jordan Frederick O'Brien
George Jordan James Carew
Marcus Brass James McKean
Helen Jordan Evalyn Light
Clarinda Hastings Helen Potter
Lucy Virginia Clinger
i82i
February 26:
A Matrimonial Advertisement by Egbert Fowler
Harry Andrews . James McKtan
Kittle Grey Katherine Franks
March 18:
Sunset (scene) by Jerome K. Jerome
Lois Evalyn Light
Joan Josephine Peterson
Secrets of the Heart by Austin Dobson
Ninette Helen Schumacher
Ninon Mabel Lewis
172
David Copperfleld (scene) by Charles Dickens
Rose Dartle Jessie Harding
Little Em'ly Catherine Chamberlln
"Dialogue from Rudyard Kipling"
Mrs. Hawksbee Bertha Hancock
Mrs. Ma 11 owe Eleanor McKee
Ciceley's Cavalier by Beulah Marie Dlx
Major Stephen Wlddrlngton . . James McKean
Cicely Widdrington Katharine Franks
Nehemiah Saxby Frederick O'Brien
Dame Mehetable Hazel Pughsley
Captain Richard Carewe . . . .James Carew
April 1U:
The Fan by Carlo Goldoni (translated by Henry B. Fuller)
Slgnor Evarlsto James Carew
Baron del Cedro Harold Heaton
Coronato Irving K. Pond
Crespino Frederick O'Brien
Count of Rocco Marina . . . . James McKean
Timoteo John Robbins
Moracchio James Shourds
Scavezzo George Stevens
Llmoncino Nettie Jackson
Slgnora Geltrude Catherine Chamberlln
Slgnora Candida Hazel Pughsley
Tony Josephine Peterson
Glannlna Katherine Franks
Susanna Edith Moulton
Hunting Dog ?
December 1U:
The Stranger Within the Gates by Henry B. Fuller
Read by Anna Morgan
Afterglow by Henry B. Fuller
Leopold Helberg John Robbins
Kaspar Westtrgaard William Linnten
Andreas Grundtvig Taylor Holmes
Waldemar Kronborg . . . . . . Raymond Perry
Gertrude Kronborg Jessie Harding
Elsa Mildred Glover
Llsbeth Mrs. C. W. Schick
Gringolre by De Banville (translated by Arthur Shirley)
Gringolre Taylor Holmes
Oliver Le Balm Harold Heaton
Louis IX, King of France . . .Frederick O'Brien
Simon William Linnecn
Nichole Olive Warner
Loyse Anna S. Johnson
173
Date Unknown:
The Playgoers by Arthur Wing Plnero
1§22
February 18:
Cousin Frank by Francis Aynar Mathews
Enid Raymond Anna Johnson
May Raymond Mrs. Mabel Calbtrt
Genevieve Raymond Ethel Carpenter
Maud Thorn* Lida Burnham
"Frank" Hartley Bertha Gray
' An Experiment in Hypnotism by John Chetwood, Jr.
Austin Gilroy Taylor Holmes
Helen Penclose Helen Schick
Dorothy Marden Gertrude Shreve
April, five performances a week throughout the month, starting April li:
Candida by George Bernard Shaw
Candida Jessie Harding
Morell William Linneen
Marchbanks Taylor Holmes
Lcxy Aaron Hoffman
Proserpine Mrs. Charles Schick
Burgess Frederick O'Brien
May Ui
s
Les Femmes Ruseea by Sir Charles Young
Mrs. Montrose Gertrude Shreve
Mrs. Norwood Jones Frances Walker
Juliet Margaret Btatson
(
171*
i
December 7t
A Perfect Cure by W. Sapte, Jr.
Mr. Theodore Spink Glenn Hall
Mrs. Theo. Spink Gertrude Shreve
Mrs. Harris Mrs. Helen Walnwright
Rotunda Mrs. Helen Schick
December 21:
Extremes Meet by Kate Field
Maude Stanley Gertrude Shreve
Madame Bitnvillt Grace Jackson
Line Louise Wright
Captain Howard Peter Moore
1900
February 2;
A Divine Right by Ella W. Peattie
Jessica Meredith . Gertrude Shreve
David Meredith Peter Moore
Katherine Louise Wright
The Twilight of the God by Edith Wharton
Isabel Werland .Anne Walker
Lucius War land .Robert Mcloy
John Obsrville Andrew Sheriff
Marie Grace Jackson
March 16:
The TWi light of the God by Edith Wharton
Cast: same as Ftbruary 2
The First Time by Juliet Wilbor Tompkins
Cast: same as Ftbruary 2, txetpt Sylvia, played by
Mrs. William Kennedy
Mature and Philosophy by Anthony Hope
Nature . Flortnce Bacon
, Philosophy .Frank Wallace
December 1U:
At the Door by Tudor Jenks
Mrs. X Annie Foster
Mrs. Y Gertrude King
May 1, 2, and 3»
Catsar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw
Br itannul Mabel Gray
Tht Persian Reeves Mettler
Rufio Cara Potter
Theodotus Margartt Fenstermacher
Pothinus Julia Briggs
Iras Gertrude White
Serving Woman Gladys Phelps
Sentinel Elizabeth Pierce
Ftatateeta William Linneen
Ptolemy Emalyne Tomlinson
Catsar Edith Moss
Cleopatra Florence Bradley
Guardsman Grace Gulick
Charnian Grace Gulick
Belzenor Marie Alexander
Achillas Marie Alexander
Centurion Leora Moore
Lucius Septimius Leora Moore
Bel Affrls Marion Wood
Apollodorus Marlon Wood
May 8:
Scenes from Shakespeare
King John
Hubert Cara Potter
Arthur Reeves Mettler
Attendants . . . .Marie Alexander
Reeves Mettler
1903
December U, 10, and 11, 1902; January 9, 10, 1903:
The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
Falstaff . . . Leora Moore
Master Fenton Marie Moore
Justice Shallow Nell Anthony
Slender Emalyne Tomlineon
Master Ford Florence Bradley
Master Page Florence Kerby
William Page Alice Pollack
Sir Hugh Evans Julia Briggs
Doctor Calus Elizabeth Pierce
Host of the Garter Inn . . . .Louise Loeb
Robin Edith Filflllan, Louise
Bearse, Mary Buerhmann
Simple Coe Thompson
Rugby Augusta Scott
Mistress Ford Gertrude White
Anne Page Hafford Porter
Mistress Quickly Gladys Phelps
Blanch Gilson
March 2li, 26, 27, 31* April 1, 2, it, 7, 9, 16, 17, 21, 23, 28, 30; May H i
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Claudius Louisa Lotb
Haalet Florence Bradley
Horatio Leora Moore
Polonius Alice Pollack
Laertes Katherine Ready
Guildenstern Emalyne Tomlinson
Maris Altxandtr
Rostncrantz Marie Moore
Marcellus Grace Stain
Bernardo Katherine Gould
Francisco Elizabeth Chapin
Ghost Ntll Anthony
First Actor Florence Kerby
First Clown Emalyne Tomlinson
' Lida Burnham
Second Clown Elizabeth Pierce
Louise Bearse
Ophelia Hafford Porter
Gertrude Aurora Craig
December 18:
At Madame Newberry's by Marjorle Benton Cooke
Jane Mortimer Leora Moore
Mrs. Payson de Slyster . . . .Edith Thomas
Eleanors Paula Krocschell
Claribtll Lee Fritda Kirchoff
Elaira Beecham Eloist MacMlnn
Pearl Green Louise Bearse
The Merry Mad Comedian by Marjorle Benton Cooke
Charles the Second of England .Willi am Raymond
Lady Francis Stuart Louise Loeb
Nell Gwynne Marjorle Benton Cooke
1905
March 30, 31; April 6, 7, 13, 1U, 20, 21:
The Hour Glass by William Butler Yeats
The Wise Man Eloise MacMlnn
A Fool Virginia Brooks •
An Angel Isabelle Doud
The Wise Man's Wife Geraldlne Faro
His Pupils Edith Thomas
Mrs. Feldman
His Two Children
1906
January 27, two performances:
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
Theseus . . . Muriel Culbtrtson
Egeus Mrs. Fay Edsall
Lysander Kyle Onstott
Demetrius Charles Lalt
Philostrate Bessie Collingwood
Quince Agnes Garger
Snug Mabel Matheson
Bottom Carolyn Carr
Flute Dora Mitchell
Snout Florence Leavitt
Starveling Irma Kroeschell
Hippolyta Mabel Johnson
Hernia Geraldlne Faro
Helena Paula Kroeschell
Obtron Virginia Brooks
Titanla Laura Ptrrin
Puck Irene Schooley
Peaseblossom Bertha Johnson
Cobweb . .Dorothy Glover
Moth Ruth Lytle
Nustardseed . . . . . . . . . Franc Leavenworth
Attendants . . . .Virginia White, Eunice
Vellair, Bessie Smith, Augusta
MacDonald, Alice Davis
March 17:
Miss Pembroke's Supper by Helen Bagg
Eaily Pembroke Laura Ptrrln
Julia Osborne Bertha Johnson
Winifred Kent Hattie Borgvardt
Edith Lee Virginia White
Flora Maginnls Dorothy Glovtr
Virginia Morris Mahal Mathtson
Elizabeth Ear It . Alict Davis
Henriette Page Tabitha Kern
Hannah Agnes Gargtr
Jamas Pembroke Charles Lalt
May 1:
In a Balcony by Robert Browning
Norbert . Virginia Brooks
Constance Irene Schooley
Queen Paula Kroeschell
February 8:
Daughter In a Social Whirl by Dorothy Martyn
Cast: Mrs. George Mayer, Selina Livingston,
Eleanor Potter
March 12:
The Class President (listed as A Little World) by Alice
Gerstenberg
Louise Moore Alice Gerstenberg
Peg Dickenson Prudence Jackson
Bert Smith Mk?gueritc Riner
Chip Plymton Alina Livingston
Sidney Dale Esther Rally
Mary Shirley Waters
Florence Goodrich Adele Swabacktr
Dorothy Davis Rae Rosenstein
Cora Seawell Iaogene Riner
Sadie Foster Dorothy Glover
Harriet Fleming Eaily Stearns
May Runnels Laura Turner
:¥S
181
Captain Joe (listed as A Little World, from another point
of view) by Alice Gerstenberg
Josephine Scott Josephine Lydston
Mildred Linn Gladys Chapcck
Kate Winston Harriet. Borgvardt
Pat Dickenson Eleanor Potter
Sue Carpenter Mabel tfcil
June Powell Dorothy Sargent
Team Girls Blanche Martin, Ntvere
Greer, Irma Kroeschell, Hazel
Yondorf, Hazel Habberton
Date Unknown:
Much Ado About Nothing (scenes) by William Shatccspaare
Act I , Scene 1
Leonato Mrs. George Mayer
Messenger Imogens Riner
Beatrice Gladys Chapeck
Hero Dorothy- Glover
Don Pedro Aline Livingston
Don John Dorothy* Rlstsan
Benedict Josephine Lydston
Claudio c . Leroy Worth
Act I , Scene 2
Leonato Mrs. George Mayer
Antonio Rae Roscnstein
Act I, Scene 3
Don John .Dorothy Rlssaan
Conrade . Mr. Cav«
Borachio Gladys Chapeck
Act I I , Scene 1
Leonato Mrs. George Mayer
Antonio Rae Rosensteln
1909
March 3:
John Gabriel Borkman (two acts) by Henrik Ibaen
John Gabriel Borkman Kyle Onstott
Mrs. Gunhild Borkaan Helen Hand
Erhart Borkman Harold Holland
Miss Ella Rentheia Rae Rosatnstein
Mrs. Wilton Hafford Porter
Maid Julie Hstrren
The Dawn of a To-Morrow by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Glad Prudence Jackson
Molly Erva Belter
Mrs. Montaubyn Mra. Elliott Gash
Dart Kyle Onstott
The Thief Harold Holland
Barney Edward Helmti
182
The Obstinate Family (translated from the German)
Mr. Kent r .Kylt Onstott
Mrs. Kent Prudtnct Jackson
Mr. Austin Edward Htlats
Mrs. Austin Blanche Martin
Lizzie .Marguerite Riner
George Harold Holland
April 23:
The Great Experiment by Anna Morgan and Alice Ward Bailey
Hostess Anna Morgan
Anne Hathaway of Shottery . . Mrs. John O'Connor
Queen Catherine of Aragon . . Mrs. Kate Watson
Ann Boleyn of London Mrs. Everett C. Brown
Jane Seymour Mrs. James Chapman
Anne of Cleves Mrs. Bertha Titus
Catherine Howard .Mrs. Ira Morris
Catherine Parr Mrs. Eben Lane
Voluania of Rome Jessie Harding
Queen Gertrude Mrs. Catherine Sherman
Ophelia Mrs. Hafford Porter
Juliet Montague Mrs. Leland Summers
Juliet's Nurse Mrs. John Robbins
Miranda Alice Gerstenberg
Lady Macbeth Mrs. Olivia Strohm
Cleopatra of Egypt Rae Rosensteln
Mrs. Calphurnla Caesar . . . .Mrs. Howard Krctschmer
Mrs. Portia Cato Brutus. . . .Mrs. Frank Johnson
Mistress Ford of Windsor . . .Mrs. C. Gurnee Fellows
Mistress Page of Windsor . . .Mrs. Clarence Peck
Majordoao Ralph Clarkson
Butler Franklin Head
April 30;
The Man of Destiny by George Bernard Shaw
Cast: Rae Rosensteln, Prudence Jackson, Harold Holland,
Edward Helmts
November 26:
The Shadow of the Glen by J. M. Synge
Den Burke Evelyn DeWitt
Nora Burke Miss Horine
Michael Dara Jeannette Kraus
A Tramp Lucy Barton
This same season, Miss Morgan claims to have produced these Synge plays:
The Playboy of the Western World
1911
May 13:
A Midsummer Night's Dream (scenes) by William Shakespeare
Cast: Isabelle Doud, Helen McCurdy, Laura Wilder,
Dorothy Sargent, Margaret MacClennan
1912
Miss Morgan claims that in this year she produced:
The Constant Lovers by St. John Rankin
1913
January 28:
Mates by Wilfred Wilson Gibson
Charlotte Aynsley Harriet Baugh
Marin Aynsley . . . . . . . . Mr. Stanley
Grace Hardy Virginia Sullivan
18U
The Family's Pride by Wilfred Wilson Gibson
Martha Irwin Melba French
Katherine Irwin Evangeline Copeland
Agnes Irwin Frances Saith
Emma Pruddah Bess Brown
April 21:
Soldier's Daughters by Cosmo Hamilton
Helen Meredith Charlotte Samson
Pamela Meredith Frances Smith
December 18:
King John (scene) by William Shakespeare
Hubert Margaret Rathje
Arthur Mrs. Baker-White
Attendants Harriet Baugh
Miss Stewart
i
191b
February, day unknown, Miss Morgan claims to have produced:
Rada by Alfred Noyes
The Maker of Dreams by Oliphant Downs
Hamlet (Act IV, Scene 5) by William Shakespeare
i
185
April 21:
Shakespeare Festival
Cast: Harriet Baugh, Helen Cutter, Annette Deweese,
Gladys Donahue, Esther Edwards, Bertha Gelbard,
Luetic Hart, Agnes Kelly, Wllhelnlna Manierre,
Virginia Martin, Marjorle O'Brien, Pauline Pick,
Margaret Prlndergast, Margartt Rathjt, Enid Rehm,
Virginia Sullivan, La11a Scott, Mary Louise Smith,
Mattie Tyler, Hester Wtntworth, Olga Kargau, Dorothy
Wilson, Bess Brown, Ruby Chapin, Helen Hayes, Marlon
Nelson, Margaret Ortseiftn, Katherine Stiles, Elizabeth
Stuart, Jean Stuart, May Gates, Adtlaidt James, Anna
Ose, Letctia Baldwin, Mae McNulty, Barbara Bent,
Frances Ford, Betty Hamilton, Ola Ghislin, Margaret
Desmond, and Mats: Batt, Crtighton, Baker-White,
Baur, Bartlett, Casse, Dwight, Herman, Low, Sears,
and Stanford
May 1:
A Court Comedy by Marjorle Benton Cooke
Lady Stuart Marguerite Ortstifen
Nell Gwynne Marjorle O'Brien
Charles II of England . . . . Heathe Gregory
'Op 0' Me Thumb by Fenn and Price
Madame Dldier Lalla Scott
Celeste Dorothy Wilson
Amanda Mrs. Baker-White
Rose Margaret Prlndergast
Horace Greensmith Heathe Gregory
Paolo and Francesca by Stephen Phillips
Giovanni Harriet Baugh
Paolo Margaret Rathje
Pulci Bertha Gelbard
Francesca Mrs. Sally Bate
Nita Wllhelmina Manierre
Tessa Mattie Tyler
Girls, visitors to Pulci's
Shop: Annette Deweese, Pauline
Pick, Enid Rehm, Virginia Martin
May h:
Rose of the Wind, author not given
Sebastian Margaret Rathje
Nora Harriet Baugh
The Minstrel Dorothy Wilson
Rose . .Mattie Tyler
186
December 17:
To Dust Returning by Anna Branch
Cast: Ruth Taussig, Lucille Calish, Esther Edwards,
Lalla Scott, Jean Marshall, Dorothy Glover, Fay
Pollitz, Pauline Pick, Iraa Huffaan, Mrs. Nora
O'Shea, Dorothy Gordon, Theresa Falkenau
1916
February 23, for the Cordon Club:
Dramatic Miniatures of the Eighteenth Century
"Fanny Burney"
Fanny Burney Ethel Lyon
Richard Burney Mr. Evans
Ctphia Alict Stooksberry
"Peg Wofflngton"
Peg Wofflngton Lalla Scott
Richard Greville L. F. Chi senna 11
Edmund Burke Mr. Evans
"Beau Nash"
Beau Nash Louis Sponsler
Jepson L. F. Chisenhall
Lady of the Portrait Mary Landrum
187
"Kitty Clive"
Kitty Cllve . . Irene Purcell
Roxane Alice Haugan
' Phyllis Opal Euard
Horace Walpole Mr. Evans
April 28:
The Dark Lady of the Sonnets by Bernard Shaw
1917
January 22, 23, and 2b (four performances):
The Contrast by Royall Tyler
Colonel Manly Mr. Bauaan
Dimple . . . . . . . . . . . .Mr. Hanson
Van Rough Marion McGuire
Jessaay Frances Smith
Jonathan Opal Euard
Charlotte ' Mary Gates
Maria Miss Postlethwaitt
Letetla Frances Ford
Jenny Miss Cantilion
1918
December 2, Miss Morgan claims she prtstnted:
The Wager by Gluseppl Giacosa
1919
March, Miss Morgan claims she presented:
Simoon by August Strlndberg
May 13;
The Burgomaster of StUtmonde (Act IV) by Maurice Maeterlinck
The Burgomaster . Gregory Safranek
Isabelle Mrs. Kathryne Boysen
Florls Marie Bresnahan
Major Baron von Rochow . . . .Ralph Scheinpflug
Lieut. Otto Hilmer Hrrold Moulton
The Municipal Secretary . . . W. C. Smith
February 23:
Modeste by Paul Hervleu
Henriette Priscilla Pardridge
Jacques Harold Moulton
Albert Gregory Safranek
Will 0' The Wisp by Doris Hainan
The White-Faced Girl Mildred Schrelber
The Countrywoman Clara Headrick
The Poet's Wife Josephine Paul
The Serving-Maid Imogene Cox
The Beau of Bath by Constance Mackay
The Beau Harold Moulton
Jepson Gregory Safranek
The Lady of the Portrait . . .Vera Adeline Gibbons
Everybody's Husband by Gilbert Carman
The Girl Priscilla Pardridge
The Maid Lyla Waterbury
The Mother Clara Headrick
The Grandmother Margaret Cantvell
The Great Grandmother . . . . Miriam Smock
December 7:
Ever Young by Alice Gerstenberg
Mrs. Phoebe Payne-Dexter . . .Virginia Fits-Hugh
Mrs. Agness Dorchester . . . .Gertrude White
Mrs. William Blanchard . . . .Miriam Smock
Mrs. Caroline Courtney-Page . Margery Eldrldge
190
1221
February 21;
Ever Young by Alice Gerstenberg
Mrs. Phoebe Payne-Dexter . . .Virginia Fitz-Hugh
Mrs. Agness Dorchester . . . .Gertrude White
Mrs. William Blanchard . . . .Mary Lee Trammel
Mrs. Caroline Courtney-Page . Hephzlbah Warren
He Said and She Said by Alice Gerstenberg
Diana . Donna Pas de Loup
Enid Naomi Dukes
Mrs. Cyrus Packard Lois Aldrich
Felix John Hybarger
Barbara by Kenneth Sawyer Goodman
BBrbara Gertrude White
Archie W. S. Covington
Eccles Marshall DeAngclis
December 9:
The Sweetmeat Game by Ruth Comfort Mitchell
Woo-Lin-Mai Betty Scroggin
San-Chi Dorothy Dodgman
Twng-Yueng Burton Pinkham
Mammy "a Civil War Tale" by Sybil Eliza Jones
Mammy Lois Aldrich
Virginia Dorothy Dobson
John Edward Able
Fourteen by Alice Gerstenberg
Dunham Marshall DeAngells
Mrs. PrIngle Virginia Fitz-Hugh
Elaine Kathryn Myers
1922
November, Miss Morgan claims she produced:
The Birthday of the Infanta by Oscar Wilde
191
December 21:
Captain Applejack (probably from the play by Walter Hackett)
Part I Anne C. Dixon
Part II Martha McAllister
Part III Myrtle Vette
Part IV Kathryn Myers
1923
March 12:
Chinese Love by Claire Kuramer
Wing So Mabel Goldlng
Chan Fah May Palmer
Ming Too Marjorle Lorenz
Ah Me Anne Fuller
Mo Yen John Humphrey
Hlng HI Anne Dixon
A Dear Little Wife by Gerald Dunn
Haglyama Charles Adams
Siegihara San Marjorle Lorenz
Takejiro John Humphrey
Raspberry Shrub by Rolfe
Sarah Jane Dewey May Palmer
Hannah Dewey Dolores Mertz
Bob Taylor John Humphrey
Charles Adams
Jennie Helen Moore
April 3:
Sunrise by Elia W. Peattie
Tate John Humphrey
Sally Sue Mabel Goldlng
Leslie Edward Able
Sumner Anne Fuller
Kate Arledge Marlon McGuire
192
Tht Wandtr Weed by Elia W. Peattie
SaTTna Mrs. Laird Bell
John Constant E. H. Pasmore
Lu Kathryn Myers
Old Woman Jessie Harding
192b
Date Unknown, prior to Fall of 192b:
Arlo de Capo by Edna St. Vincent Mi H a y
ml
April 23:
Hamlet (scenes) by William Shakespeare
Cast: Mary Harts, Estella Bowman, Judith Strohm,
Erstyne King, Consuelo Coombs, Bernlct Thornbtrry,
Viola Goldstein, Rebekah Ktnnett, Mery Herbert, Jane
Cohen, Mrs. Kathryn Boysen
1
I f* -v,l r;*i -A <) 1
193
APPENDIX F
NAMES OF STUDENTS
I x Appeared only on Farmington Society program or Woman's Club program. Probably
not regular students.
Abdlll, Eleanor Bean, Mr. V. L.
Able, Edward Bearse, Louise
Adams, Alice Beatson, Margaret
Adams, Charles Becker, Elizabeth Kain
Adams, Clinton Bell, Laird
Adams, Gertrude Bent, Barbara
Adler, Sarah Bicknell, Mr.
Albright, Marion Bigelow, Grace
Aldrich, Elizabeth Blackstone, Harriet
Aldrich, Lois Elaine Blakeslce, Harriet
Alexander, Marie Reese Blockl, Jeannette
Allen, Vera Bloom, Delia
Alter, Lottie Bloom, Florence
Alvord, Katherine Boles, Winifred
Andrews, Goldie Borgvardt, Harriet
Andrews, Mr. Bowlan, Marian
Anthony, Nell Bowman, Beatrice
Archer, Lucy Bowman, Estclla
Arnold, A. H. Boyd, Lottie
Arthur, William Boysen, Mrs. Kathryn
Augustus, Albert Bradburn, Ida
Axford, Rachel Morgan Bradley, Florence
Babcock, Miss Bresnahan, Marie
Bacon, Florence Briggs, Julia H.
Bagg, Helen Brockvay, Miss
Bain, EsteHe Brooks, Horace
Baity, Laura Brooks, Virginia
Baker, Erva Brown, Bess
Baker, George x Brown, Mrs. Everett Chase
Baker, Rachel Bryant, Clara Mae
Baker-White, Mrs. Buehraann, Mary
Baldwin, Letetia Burnham, Lida
Barchard, Mrs. Lilian Mitchell Burns, Angela
Barnes, Edna Burton, Bessie
Bartholomew, Mrs. Cady, Miss
Bertlett, Mrs. Calish, Lucille
Barton, Lucy Calvert, Mrs. Mabel
Barton, Olivia (later, Strohm) Campbell, Fannie
Bate, Mrs. Sally Cant 1 Hon, Miss
Baugh, Harriet Cantwell, Margaret
Bauman, Mr. Carew, James
Baur, Mrs. Bertha Duppler Carpenter, Ethel B.
t
Carr, Annaline Desmond, Margaret
Carr, Carolyn De Voy, Emmett
Carr, Zlrah Deweese, Annette
Caruthers, Maud DeWitt, Evelyn Isabel
Case, Mrs. Etta L. Dixon, Anne C.
Casse, Mrs. Janet Dobson, Dorothy
Cave, Mr. Dodgman, Dorothy
Ceyurd, Genevieve Donahue, Agnes
Chamberlln, Catherine Donahue, Gladys
Chandler, Mrs. John J. Doud, Isabelle
Chapeck, Gladys Drain, Mrs.
Chapin, Elizabeth Drosdowitch, Dora
Chapin, Ruby DuBois, Eugenia
x Chapaan, Mrs. James R. DuBois, Pearlette
Chappell, Mr. Dukes, Naomi
Chisenhall, Laurence F. Dvorak, Edward
x Clarkson, Ralph Dvorak, John
Cleary, Miss Dwight, Mrs.
Clinger, Virginia Eastman, Edgar
Clow, Martha Eastman, James
Cohen, Jane Eaton, Mabel
Collingwood, Mrs. Bessie Edsall, Mrs. Fay
Cook, Mr• Edwards, Esther
Cooke, Marjorle Benton Eggert, Mrs.
Coombs, Consuelo Eldredge, Elizabeth
Cooper, Laura Eldrldge, Margery
Copeland, Evangeline Ellison, Ella
Copelin, Miss Eppenstein, Eugenia
Countess, Mrs. W. P. Eskrldgc, Miss
Courtenay, Mary Euard, Ida Opal
Covington, W. S. Euziere, Noemie
Cox, Imogene Evans, Mr.
Craig, Mrs. Aurora Evans, Olive
Creighton, Mrs. Fairchild, Roy
Crosby, Mrs. J. F. Falkensu, Theresa
Crowell, Miss Faro, Geraldlne
Culbertson, Muriel Farwell, May
Cushlng, Bartley Feldman, Mrs.
Cushlng, Natalie x Fellows, Mrs. C. Gurnee
Cutter, Helen T. Felt, Miss
Dale, Helen Inez Fcnstermacher, Margaret
Davidson, Bertha B. Ferguson, J. E.
Davis, Alice Fi If Ulan, Edith
Davis, Anne Fish, Harriet
DeAngelis, Marshall Fish, Margaret
DeBruler, Bertha Fitzgerald, Anna R.
DeBruyn Kops, Marea Fitz-Hugh, Virginia
DeCamp, Mrs. Francis Flynn, Frances
DeCampi, Mildred Foley, Florence
DeLcnlmier, Miss H. W. Ford, Frances
Delliet, Miss Foreman, Agnes
DeLorlmler, Marie Louise Foster, Annie Ward
Denllng, Lucy Fox, Ethel
Dens low, Bessie Framhein, Arthur
DeShanc, Jean France, Bertha Belle
Franks, Katherine Hamilton, Betty
Frazer, Charles Hamilton, Mabel
Fre, Miss Hancock, Bertha
French, Miss G. Hancock, Edith
French, Melba .Hanson, Mr.
Friedman, Myrtle Hardiman, Anna
Fuller, Anne Harding, Jessie
Fuller, David Harpold, Miss
Fulton, Gertrude Harrigan, Miss
Gadsden, Lois Harris, Peryle
Gadsden, Lucetta Hart, Lucille
Gadscll, Grace Harts, Mary
Gale, Lucia Hatch, Grace
Gallup, Stella Hunt Hathaway, Alma
Gamble, Lilian Haugan, Alice
Garger, Agnes Hawes, Florence
Gash, Mrs. Elliott Hayes, Helen
Gates, Mary Hazzard, Mary. Elizabeth
Gelbard, Bertha Head, Franklin H.
Gempp, Robert Head, Helen
Gerstenberg, Alice Headrick, Clara
Gerstenberg, Mrs. Erich : Healy, Edith
Ghlslin, Ola Heath, Amabel
Gibbons, Vera Adeline Heaton, Harold
Gilbert, Helen He inlay, Vera
Gilfillan, Edith Helgesen, Vivian
Gilaan, Constance Htlats, Harold
Gilson, Blanch Hengen, May
Given, Susan Htnntbtrry, Marguerite
Glover, Dorothy Herbert, Mary
Glover, Mildred Hermann, Mrs.
Goffe, Margaret Herren, Julia
Goldlng, Mabel Herzog, Delia
Goldman, Mrs. Herzog, Fred
Goldstein, Viola Hewins, Carrie
Gordon, Dorothy Haywood, Genevieve
Gould, Fanny MacFarlane Hieken, Marie
Gould, Katherine Hill, Frederick
Graham, Harry Hill, Mary
Gray, Bertha Himebaugh, Grace
Gray, Mabel Hobart, Susie
Gregory, Heathe Hodgman, Dorothy
Greer, Nevere Hoffman, Aaron
Greynold, Miss Hoffman, Irma Margaret
Griffith, Miss Holland, Harold
Gross, Theresa Holland, Mildred
Grossman, Hortcnse Holmes, Burton
Gulick, Grace Holmes, Marie
Gutman, Helen Holmes, Taylor
Habbenton, Hazel Horine, Miss
Haines, Mabel Horner, Irene
Hall, Glenn Hosmer, Harriet
Hamburger, Claudine Howard, Birdie
x Hamilton, Adelaide Huff, Stella
Huffman, Irma Kretzinger, Clara
Hughes, Ethel Kroeschell, Irma
Hughes, Pearl Kroeschell, Paula
Humphrey, John Krohmer, Olga
x Hunkins, Virginia Kron, Celeste
Huntington, Katherine Kuhn, Laura
Hurt, Katherine Kushum, Miss H. W.
Hybarger, John Lacy, Sara
Inke, Pansy M. Laikln, Miss
Ireland, Miss Lalt, Charles
Jackson, Grace Lampson, Mr.
Jackson, Mrs. H. P. Landrum, Grace
Jackson, Nettie Landrum, Mary
Jackson, Prudence Lane, Mrs. Eben
James, Adelaide Larkin, Lillian
James, C. F. Latimer, Laura
Jefferson, Miss Leavenworth, Franc
Jenkins, Elizabeth Leavitt, Florence
Jenks, C. L. LeBeau, Pearl
Johnson, Anna Stanton Leddy, Mary
Johnson, Bertha Lee, Fred
Lee, Fred
x Johnson, Mrs. Frank Asbury Levea, Sophi<
Johnson, Mabel Levy, Bruce
Jones, Alma H. Lewis, Mabel
Jones, Ora Llchty, Mary
Judd, Miss Light, Evalyn
Judson, Frederick Llljencrantz, Ottilie
KB in, Eva Linneen, William
Kane, Theo Livingston, Selina
Kargau, Olga Lloyd, Ida
Keeler, Anna Loeb, Louise
Keen, Eugenia Loomis, Elizabeth
Keen, Norwood Lorenz, Marjorle
Kellogg, Carmil Low, Mrs.
Kellogg, Gertrude Lunblad, Elfrida
Kellogg, Harriet Lydston, Josephine
Kelly, Agnes Lynch, Robert E.
Kelly, Esther Lyon, Ethel
Kelly, Pauline Lytle, Ruth
Kennedy, Mrs. William B. MacBean, Katherine
Kennett, Rebekah MacClennan, Margaret
Kenney, S. J. MacDonald, Augusta
Kent, Miss MacDonald, Lillian
Kerby, Florence Marion Mackey, Annie
Kern, labltha MacMlnn, Eloise
Kerr, Eugenia x Maitland, Francis
Kilbourne, Walter x Manierre, Julie
King, Frances Erstyne Manierre, Wilhelmina
King, Gertrude Mark, Arvilla
Klrby, Marian Marland, Elizabeth
Kirchoff, Frieda Marshall, Jean
Knowles, Katharine (later, Robbins) Martin, Blanche
Kraus, Jeannette Martin, Mrs. C. C.
x Kretschmer, Mrs. Howard S. Martin, Mrs. D. R.
Martin, Virginia Nash, Edwin
Martyn, Dorothy Nelson, Augusta
Matheson, Mabel Nelson, Marlon
Matthews, Florence Nelson, Susie
May, Olive Nelson, W. T.
Mayer, Fred Neltnor, Shelley
Mayer, Mrs. George Nicholas, Cherle
McAllister, Martha Ninde, Leila
McCarthy, Edwin Noe, Grace
McCurdy, Helen Nott, Miss
McCurdy, Marjorle Noyes, Nellie
x McCutcheon, John T. O'Brien, Frederick C.
McElheny, Dorothy O'Brien, Marjorle
McElrey, Louise O'Conner, Nellie
McGuire, Marlon O'Connor, Delilah
McKean, James x O'Connor, Mrs. John
McKee, Eleanor Onstott, Kyle
McLoney, Margaret Orr, Mattie
McNulty, Agnes Ortselfen, Margaret
McNulty, Mae Ose, Anna
Me H o y , Robert H. Osgood, Edith
Merrill, Grace O'Shea, Mrs. Nora
Merritt, Fred Palmer, May
Mertz, Dolores Pardridge, Priscilla
Metcalf, Elizabeth Pas de Loup, Donna
Mettler, Reeves Pasmore, Edward
Meyer, Elsie Patterson, 211a
Meysenburg, Mrs. Edward Paul, Josephine
Middleton, Agnes Pearson, Mary Logan
Middleton, Lucille Peck, Arllne
Miner, Maud Peck, Mrs. Clarence
Mitchell, Dora Peck, Mrs. Clyde
Mitchell, Helene Peck, Lottie
Moeller, Thea Peddycord, Francis
Moore, Chauncey Perrln, Laura
Moore, Helen Perrlne, Alida Lee
Moore, Leora Perry, Elinor
Moore, MBrie Perry, Frederick
Moore, Marjie Perry, Raymond
Moore, Peter Philip Peterson, Josephine
Moores, Clara Petremont, Mrs. Annie
Morey, Arthur Phelan, John F., Jr.
Morgan, Kathryn Phelps, Gladys
Morrell, C. H. Phelps, Violet
x Morris, Mrs. Ira Nelson Pick, Pauline
Moss, Edith Pierce, Elizabeth
x Moss, Julia Pike, Charles S.
Moulton, Edith Pinkham, Burton
Moulton, Harold Pollack, Alice
Murphy, Ceclle Pollard, Carol
Murphy, Fred (Fred Eric) Pollitz, Fay
Murphy, Marie Pomcrance, Sarah
Murphy, Mildred Pond, Irving K.
Porter, Mrs. Hafford
Myers, Kathryn Postlcthwaite, Miss
Myers, Lena
I
P AND SYMBOLISM.
T Annd Mofgan \isits the Home of the Belgian Shakespeare.
it/
•T» ,. „ - TS ,-. „i,- s» .. wiwwi.ra iB/t w>- wt„ W B S S • *
wx->, -wlsw E; w,'c,s/iS'SlK'aiK^vr'5 •££i&5lii£3r&i
R l S.Snr.S, ,Aug £ 3 - T h e old riemlsh
B
Whatever criticism ma> be pa«i'd upon
tow n of Ghent bears a deep historic al Nordau's ' Dtgeneiatlon," one who Is famil-
Interest from the fact that Emperor iar with the poems of \ erlalnc a d Malarme
Charles V tfald tfalm to the Impellal must be uulv grateful for the •-omenhat
throne b> saving, "Je -ul« bourgeois harsh denunciation/of the bltli.g G u m a n
de Gard"—I am a citizen of Ghent A less critic, If It can In nn\ sens? .nic-t the ttn-
famous peison, but ceitalnh a much more rtencv to extremism thai Is evinced In these
talked about one at present la\8 claim also authors and nstiaSii Ihtlr i ffoi ts In the
to this pioud dfsllryrtlotU Thi- new star that trend of a moif healthful if li «« exciting,
CM has swum Into out kjjn hears the mortal thought r i m n the poetical standpoint there
name of Maui ice AJtaeRrlimk Is a great deal of tine beauts In mans of
It w as m> pi h I lege anu great pleasure Aug these poems The dcseilptlon of a coloi Is
22 to ilsit the poet at his rammer home at 4 - given In suen glowing word-- that one can see
OoKtacker, a half hour's ride by earilage all the glorious ha?e of a w t stei n sunset In a
from Ghent Maeteillnck appealed In re- few plth> serscs, or, again the odor of tome
Us. sponse to m> caid In a faultless negligee or flow ei Is painted with such a luxui v of words
ON Me>cle e o s u m e , which was slrlklngl> be- that one with closed eves, can almost fancv
oo coming, swinging hlm-e,f Into the room, the exotic pei fumes of Aiabla exhaling
accompanied b\ two hunting dogs, In a man- from eveiv pait of the loom In one sense
•V ner in which dlgnltj and nalvettc weie hap- such word painting Is Indicative of the high-
pllv blended, with an air which at once pio- est power It Is mliiiite careful cxriuMtc
U\ clalmed him lord of the manor In "iicce-slon we can feel ourselves wafted
That poets personalities uie nfleeted In on some zephw biee/>- lo Mcs of poet! v and
theli works Is a general nile wlilch Is Illus- repo»o or, unfortunnt»|\ cue Is dragged
trated In the case of Ma»teiUnck, «ince the through such mais-es of tilth and hoi ror that
exception pioves theiulc As> leader of tin It set ms as If the v 11 v muse of poe ti> imt°t
new school of svmhollsts or mote "H lctl> weep at the doMadatlon of hci lii-plr.Mioti
speaking, n svmboll-t ' sul (,inerl«," Mae- Nordau clilnnd that the rtciit irnee of a
terlinck seems to have rihoiced ltlm--« If refrain at -'U<<1 IntHsnl- we- a foim of
from the naturalistic tendencies of the mod- Idiotic iumpc-Hlon vv'thout n p - e and with-
ern diama and to have Ixiouu the t sponent out beau v With one (• 1 swoop he con
of puiel> Intellectual and sMnbollatlc con- plgneil the *\ mlndl-i* and the |,|.-Kaphael-
options H\ this one might Imagine a tall, ttes of I ngiand lf> a lunitlc a-vlum This
slender, pale-faced, tlccpcved elheieal i . -MI in « » • • i ii »• •' i i -i cir
thinker, whose da> times were "-pent In com- Hi.in- of thi g i c n i t ' t :nas'<-i«. eif pin >.s d o t
muting to paper the ill iphanoiis drinms of In 'hi nliovi -in" nilcipri! ••ilino! "i ha ' w-' 1
g Ills restless a i d spltlt-haiintc'l njght*, but
In truth Maeterlinck Is phs sir ills and so-
Mil- liiiniiif t i n l.mvvl h m i i l i i u l v tnui-U il
and pi-Mb 'Tlict II « i . m - l . u . v e r men,
8 clall> a Jojous bov, a bread-shouldered,
tquare-browed, thick-set i sample of the
riemlsh tjpe, whose face onh at times be-
worth cm linn m =pr ik f f ih - 1 • all Hi r i - -
| . I C t - i f In -M<.In.M-t lb II . . . " . . l i . o . i m o '
irie.li i t u t l i ali-urdl le«
Si tra> s the deep thought, the philosophical
and poetical conceptions that halt- de°crv - + -^ +
edlv won foi ihls soung poet the pial u e of Th's i n't i umbel- nr.vv ,tn n g It1- ndhi -
two continents His most ardent admlicrs etits nmiiv .it t'u i M i „ l i n n of b Iters In
lime called him the llili.lan Shakespeare, France IIIKUII. ssI run A i m i ' i i i i ' ^ ' c i i i H I '
3 but this could be none other than a m o -
nomer and a tltlt llkolv to detiact fiom Ills
J t s t U )ii.iii.| c.l tin li . o i i u t
Btuuit Mi n 111 Moi-t I m e h u t n would u'
eompiitiiot
merited praise rather than add to his de-
o seited success The true spliit of symbol-
Kill I I KIHI tn barn that tin I'nunMif m i 0"
tht It m.j«t (.llti'd iiutlnii- lit tlu l inc'uc lot
ism was engendered a few sears ago In of r n Miicilcan bi tin n m m i T I ion of
I'm Is b\ the soungcr set of a'pimm* to I III 11111"! Hill s ll.lV !1|T bid ILtlll alx.ut tills
lllerarv honuis, who, undei ptitext of h a s - u r n u k il'b i iiinbli. it'cu, i t 1 ir'i. Inuib'M
lng discosered new tiuths. In italltv have Innn \in* id in hu'is Mi M m i l 1' i - b a u l v
onls painted o\cr old truths and untiuths t u i m d i h ' t l i l i i b i h - s e vi n i i b - n i l i and ha*
with the gla-s of Impie-slonlsni To Illus- altc i'lv won foi hlm-e.t a i » p u ' i t i n i i m l
e tiate this adiiptallon of old truths to new
u«es, one Is tempted to feel that the - s m -
bollsts tfeslie jo conves theli Impiesfclona in
lnur< 1- that a n i i i i ' b i n . - i . ' f d in n u n tit
his ]>iiifi>sk|,,n nt lil« n c lie is to-d.is n
recritn'«.d fence anmng tin >-v m b c d U i - u n d
the same clever mannei which the Im-
9 picsslonlsts oi effect palnteis s t i h e foi In
oi t M Ith them the essence of potti> Is to
breit'i s out In hi- ]«i" m - the I n . i l t n ' u
s p b l t In a mote wide u i n hlng p r n i l c d l - -
i ilnii iiiiiim ih in hi- l-ii in h i dtni'i c i s t ( t m
coin f j the c n*< ct of a tiuth upon it p«-i son to IIII.^I— r1 i i 1 on fi nf ,• I ni" liv Al
lathei tluui to give lo the world u new tiuih Men il h a - I n • i ' I ' l l ! - .im't'n la'if.tiiit,e th it
The fo lowing lines will, pcihaps ijett II- he in'iipt- n- tin sell i l . toi hi- thoughts 1»
lustraie theli mode of proccdnie ' I'hefui- tin sul nil diliuv i id ib li. nti - p i . i n nf
loned, dlppled, dimpled sea In indicating the i mi lb I- nf I mil- \ \ f ' Mil m u - , imt
billows foamed " He these lines thi readei i m - b l r i 11 it Oil- s m » i r ]••,• t > i- e X-
is placed In the same subjective condition as jiati' i i •! lilm-i 'I f<n a- i ' < '< bl ill d abbe
the °\mbollst himself Lord livroi.'s apos- om f d' lined inn li v n- 'In • s p n - i t e c x-
trophe to the ocean ' Roll on, Ihou deepai.d p i i - - ' o n of an . xipi'-lti I in i it -••'(• i ' -i. m.iv
darkblueocean, toll " has a Mlrrlng maitlal we a t p i i i i a l i tin n a - D i i of M> u 111 - choiis-
note of descrlptlpn about It that, howevei Ing the l u n c h luiiKUiui in v I b h IO cni-
does not g h e that more delicate embclllsh- be.'v nl- ih.nii.ht- Mi M i i i l l I ' i I until n -
ment that we see cvervwheie exhibited as 'zeil hiiu«tll in \nn l b mi i< i I i - moii p i i -
the kes note of 8vmboll«m A\ e can haidls l l i u l a i h tliitiii».b I'M-,. I- in 1'in-i." T
call It exactitude but a line moon'c uoik- .h.ii'ii'ng 11 tic m i l . • t i n ' .'I ti in-1 itin \t
manshlp that calls Into plav I M I V poetical from tin r i i i i i h pi bll-hi 1 In II111J..1- 1
aid that mm ididei the v lunette a fe leltouu \eiii 1.1 -0 J11.11 \mi'ii>. Ill- mo-t 111 tit piib-
arc! esmhollstic picture Art music life It- liLiit'oi.- is 1' t i l l - Pin nil - ! s i i t u n t c "
self cannot In carried to an rsliemc without
de'iiment and, one mas almost add, clegia
da lion This ttuth ought fulls to explain I he N. nl f p I ! , T | « i n s -lift if 1 nioi r un-
Indecent und unuuri.tiiucl lengths to which lu«=tlv fimn tl • ib • ltmlati.in of Noniau
some of the mote noted s>mbolists base than Ib-ui W l i u -tnitfil a- a fad hii-
gone m i b i l i« a n i s l a b l i - h . i l f.i, • 11/ 5)1 it
!!• 111 Ik Ibsen Is 11 n . o t , i i l z . I glinit in ilia-
201
nia.lo l l t f i a t i u e I h M n n i- t. Id ,it Anion Hulldtl ' h n s fulled to meet the pop til il stlc-
Huir that when u (hllil In w a s taught i esst that ci Itlrs clulni can be the onls L,IIUI -
t h l m - s e v e n ien-ons-vvh> he -'uiiib' nnt lien a i i t e e of Its prentne-s
Chilstliin and w a s <,iitful]j i n s l i i n i . d in In " H a m l e t " the destruction of c h i i n c t - r
tl.e'i r t f u i a l l o n s , i,m when In (.nw oblci i id life Is accomplished not bv t h c a b - o i p -
he foi got the lefutatloim and i erne m h u eel lun of Individuals through the s n n e i l o r
cu Iv the rea-nns foi not being n c h i l - t i a n • n e e of o n e man, ns In Solne-s, but bv the
This anecdote mav l - t i \ o us un lllustiatlon it cognized but not m o t e natuiul nn-tii" of
In in. i a-e of Ifeniik Ibsui Sonn Aniei- ni'iider W e a i e not fain to admit the e x -
Ican c r i t i c w h o n mind us of tho-i aiiclrnt istence of this more Insidious means of nnn'-
schoolmen who -pent m u c h time . i i u U i i e i g s Mltillon, t h o u g h It Is happening esi-is das
I i ilgulii", -ucb diiicatt a m - l i o n s as how before our eves Solness is inelepd onls
tin iv angels could stand on the point ol a an exaggerated expression of a blinding
in cilli without touching' each o t h c i " claim ri-alltv, b u t most people are loth to c o n f e s s
thai Ibsen Is not a m a - f e r In i ausc he fails Its existence, and eonseeiuenllv s t a m p the
to presrilht to ccitiiln 'limitations of d i n - p i n y of " T h e M a s t n Builder" as u n i e n l mid
matlc const!uctlon Much h a - bein said ghastlv One great reason whv " H a m l e t '
about the d l v e i g d i i e f i o m fehukespeniean m u s t live Is that it Is a plav that can be
modi Is In Ibsen s dramas and this Is to be a c t e d It Is the province of a drama to rep-
(bpliued In e \ e n his most indent a d m l i c i s resent life and d'splaj the developmei t of
N a t u i e Mings upon I h l - e a i th u g n at d i a m a - e haractei and action t l u o u g h the cons c i t a -
tist with c i n t u i l i s between so to speak, tion and mos ements of the actor, hence thrre
n.id, while mans have l o m e i i n d flitted with i i n lie no such thing a s a closet d i a m a
their p l a s s a c i o s s the s t a g e of lift, s e t few T h e t e f o t e , a production that p i o f c s s c s to b»
h a s i lived and shall live to win the Immor- a drama a n d cannot be acted, Is nothing else
tII 111s of an undv ing name As Shakespeare t h a n & distortion of what might h a v e been
I i c>l<e loose fiom the t i a d l t l o n - of the classic valuable In another f o i m
drama and has been thi ctcatur of a per-
fect drama, so must we expect a constant If the p l a s s of Ibsen and Maeterlinck fMl
change, If not ilc-selopme nt fiom the S h a k e - lo meet the demands of drninnilc art tlnv
spcaiean form Ib«en In ill-ie g iidlng the u n htive onlv nn ephemeral « » I C I « « and
peiffci fuini of a diama like •Uth'llo," h a s i . i n n o t e x i s t as living plctiues of what the \
mate Kills VMiikincd hi- • h u n c n - c i f t m i u i - H I P supposed to poitiav To make a slight
) i(- f i m c , though In will have i t u p i d hi II- digression Into other phases of artistic pio-
li.ini honois eluilng hi- lift tinn Ills I ) l 0 - • Itictlon, o n e feels tempted to quote npiopo-i
dittleins Illustrate the l i n i m t u i i t fact that of Solness in "The Master Builder," In-the
m » i di inuiiists can onls be i c u i i n i ] , like- i i n a n s w c u b i c p h i a s e of the gieat l i e l g i a n
tin | i | , i i e . ' In c m -id u - v - t . i n . upon the painter "Wlertz, "lai Critique en mntlere
fluids of oiie H UakiiU., wiil.e t h e l t t - w l i g h t s ' d i n t , est—elle posslblo7" (Criticism In a
w I ' i .u M k i .1 I'n in in tbt u i i i t i n i ) , be- m a t t e r of art—Is It possible'') Goaded to
ssllib'i us with theli numbei le-srjoiatlon bv critics, who o n h know how
in ilestros sshat thts could not create, the
AH .Shakespeare Is the m a s t e r of dramatic tender -otil of the artist buist foith with this
construction and form, s o can we claim for nil-potent t i u t h that, like the eagle In his
I b s e n t h a t hia d r a m n s breathe o u t a spirit • v r l e , the a i l i s t stands removed from tho
of realism that strike deep h o m e to the h e a i t l o m m o n herd of men svhere his vision can
t i u t h s that are mights and uncle Ing, though (••Ire that sshlch thes from their c l i c i n n -
often they ma> be repellant T h e opinion Kcrlbeel p l a n e a i e unable to conceive of a s
of the public Is often Influenced bj the Judg- • xiPtlng
m e n t passed upon certain p l a s s bj dramatic A s there Is one glors of the sun a n o t h e r
critics This Is ncceBsaills so, a s It Is their g l o i s cf the moon, and s e t a n o t h e t glors of
craft, hence unbiased criticism and not par- the* =tars, - o does the genius of Ibsen a n l
t i s a n approval or dlsapprosal becomes the ' i it of Maeterlinck reveal t h e m s e l v e s enoli
d u t y of every critic of the drama It is i Ills different s p h t i e s e t their a v o w e d pur-
atrange how the public r e f u s e to be decelsed I n - e Is the same—lo give light u n t o the
by the belief of one man a s to tho actual u o i l i l The s t a t s , loo lend theli btilllnrcv
merit of a novel, but f o l l o w s u n h e s i t a t i n g l y lev thi' h e a v e n s , but pale before the
t h e lead of one man In h i s e s t i m a t e of a "• i n - c r n d e n t light of the huge i liimln it le-
drama, which, perhaps, he h a s not tborough- as t h e m u - l c of tho s \ m b o l | s i s sounds |mt ^t
Is studied, oi If he has, d o e s not appreciate an echo before the t o n o u m s tones ,,f die
l'opulailts and g r e a t n e s s are not necessa- mlglitv lines of Ib-cn and V u c t c i l l n i k
rlls co'ncldent in an> w o r k of a i t For e x - A x x v Moue. vx
ample, "Hamlet," which Is admlttedls the
greatest p«v etiological and philosophical
d r a m a ever conceived hns e l e m e n t s In It
s o strongls human that It d r a w s c i o w d s to
hear It, no matter how poor the actor m a s
be, foi It is not the artist but the play t h a t
attract*, and e a c h new s t a r In turn feels,
t h a t the Immortal production of S h a k e s -
p e a i e Is the touchstone t h a t m a k e s or m a r s
h i s reputation H a v e there e s e i been t w o
great H a m l e t s a l i k e 9 D o e s not t h i s m a i n -
sided character affect e a c h Interpreter dlf-
f e i e n t b ' The subtle g e n i u s of S h a k e s -
p e a r e bus made his d i a m a a w e l l - s p i l n g jf
emotion, passion and p h i l o s o p h s , so t h a t
e a c h one mas drasv fiom It a s much us his
c a p a e l t j allows
1- + T
Yet the elements of m s s t l c l - m , of morbid
-elf-intro-peciion, of blind'ng and ten U s -
i n g truths hurl us nloug with such a m a s t e r
m o v e m e n t of force that the hoi nollol often
-trtinl a g h a s t , m s stifled and puzzled os ei
t i u t h s that thej deem u m e a l , bee a u s e s o m e -
times thes full to c o m p i e h e n d theli signifi-
c a n c e Yet who would d a i e to releeinte to
obscuilts the Immoital Jlnmlet foi this l e a -
s o n ' a n d who, after has lug studied this plav
d o c s not fe'l t h a t life Is stronger, g i e a t e r
mid m o i e wonderful than It es ei seemed
possibly to be If the foi te of n plus Is onlv
to amuse, BP the Immoital Goethe puts It In
h i s prelude to ' T a i i s t , " then II Is useless to
e ielite n itient d i a m a 'W ith this Plight d e -
monstuitloii of undisputed t r u t h s . It r a n
ie iilli li< in ' i - t ' - e v l v ' ' I ' m Mister
,,'JMR
VITA
Illinois.