Civil War Theater: Contemporary Treatments

Professors O. G. and Lenyth Brockett are currently teaching at Stetson University and directing the activities of Stover Theater. Both have published numerous articles and are active in educational theater circles. Civil War Theater: Contemporary Treatments O. G. AND LENYTH BROCKETT despite the advanced state of scholarship on many aspects of the Civil War, much remains to be discovered concerning the theater, and particularly the drama, during the years of conflict. In general histories of the American drama, the period has received, at best, cursory treatment: Quinn1 devotes less than four pages to it, while Moses2 gives it even less attention. Political and social histories of the Civil War period typically ignore the theater. Of the many histories of individual states in the Confederacy , the majority do not mention the theater, and such a lengthy work as The South in the Building of the Nation does not devote a single word to the subject.3 Among recent attempts to fill this gap, the most notable contribution is Fife's study of theatrical conditions during the Confederacy, a work which is of especial value because of the information it provides concerning the location of source materials, but which is restricted in scope to the major towns of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.4 Many graduate schools throughout the country are making valuable contributions through scholarly studies of the theater in individual cities. As yet, however, a complete and detailed picture of the theater and drama during the Civil War has not emerged. The lack of readily available information has led some to assume that playwrights of 1 Arthur Hobson Quinn, A History of the American Drama from the Civil War to the Present Day (Rev. ed.; New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1936). 2 Montrose J. Moses, The American Dramatist (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1925). 3 Julian A. C. Chandler et al (eds.), The South in the Building of the Nation . . . (13 vols., Richmond, 1909-1913). 4 Aine Fife, The Theatre During the Confederacy (Ph.D. diss., Louisiana State University, 1949). 229 230?. G. & LENYTH BROCKETT the period gave little attention to contemporary events, and that serious dramatic treatment of the Civil War had to wait for such playwrights as Bronson Howard and William Gillette in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Not only is such a view inaccurate, but it has had the unfortunate effect of discouraging research in this area. The evidence of contemporary dramatic treatments of Civil War subjects is widely scattered. It is the purpose of this article, therefore, to review the plays written during the years of conflict, the subject-matter of which is directly related to the Civil War. Although every attempt at accuracy has been made, a difficulty arises in this respect because one is frequently dealing with "lost" plays. Few plays of the period were printed, and the manuscripts were valued only as long as the play was "box-office" material. Consequently, many of the plays are no longer extant and one must rely on contemporary journalistic or personal accounts and, occasionally, on titles alone. Reliance on titles is particularly dangerous because of the general practice of giving plays sub-titles. Newspaper notices and playbills sometimes refer to plays by title, sometimes by sub-title, and sometimes by a slightly altered title. In the absence of the play, it is often impossible to know whether one is dealing with three different titles of the same play or with three different plays. Furthermore, when one theater had a success, it was common practice for a rival theater to bring out another play on the same theme, usually under a similar title. Titles alone, then, may be misleading. Coulter, for example, hastily assumes that Tom Taylor's comedy about the English penal system, The Ticket-of-Leave Man, has a Civil War background.5 Quinn lists as a Civil War drama a play called Tlie National Guard? which, judging from the cast of characters (Chevalier Reynard, Achille Bonbon, Mme. Marabout, etc. ) must have been an English adaptation of a French play.7 Included in this survey are many types of entertainment, such as burlerías and extravaganzas, which are rarely...