O'Neill: Before Breakfast

The Anarchist: His Dog (1912) [narrated by Michael Callahan]

Glaspell's story about a plucky little paper boy and the dog he ends up feeling tremendous affection for was originally published as "The Anarchist—His Dog: The Story of Stubby’s Fight for Hero" in American Magazine in June 1912, and was included in Glaspell's collection of short stories, Lifted Masks, in the same year. As often in Glaspell's works, a character's (or a society's) attitude toward an animal illustrates and symbolizes larger themes. The story touches on serious politics without adopting a heavy-handed approach. It is narrated here by Michael Callahan.

Strindberg: The Stronger [featuring Elissa Dynes]

One of the creative influences on the Provincetown Players, especially on Eugene O'Neill, was the Swedish writer August Strindberg (1849-1912). In January 1924, the company staged Strindberg's one-act play The Spook Sonata (also known as The Ghost Sonata), in the English translation by Edwin Bjorkman. Strindberg's bleak modernism, his highly subjective, expressionistic style and his formal experimentation were all aspects of his approach to theater that made an impression on O'Neill and others. No less a factor was his attention to "chamber" theater pieces, played in the "Intimate Theater" that was active 1907-1910 in Stockholm, one of the direct inspirations for the "Little Theater" movement in the United States of which the Provincetown Players was a part. The present piece, a short play in which there is only one speaking role, although there are two characters on stage, paved the way for Eugene O'Neill's experimental short play / monologue "Before Breakfast," released earlier this season on this podcast. It represents a married woman, "Mrs. X," who meets an unmarried friend, "Ms. Y," in a small café on Christmas Eve, and as Mrs. X talks to her silent companion, she slowly reveals the details of her life and marriage, and ends up making a terrible discovery. The play script was prepared by Mischa Hooker, partly translating, partly adapting from existing public domain translations by E. and W. Oland (1912); E. Björkman (1913); and F. I. Ziegler (1906). Mrs. X is played by Elissa Dynes, and the narrator is Mischa Hooker.

Glaspell: One's Self-Respect (1911) [narrated by Jane Simonsen]

Originally published in Red Book Magazine in July 1911, "One's Self-Respect" is a fairly early story of Susan Glaspell that had been neglected and forgotten through decades of collection and study of her work, but was brought to light (along with a few other stories) by Noelia Hernando-Real in a chapter of Susan Glaspell in Context, edited by J. Ellen Gainor (Cambridge, 2023); in one section of the chapter, Veronica Makowski offers an analysis of the story, which depicts Edith Stuart, the main character, spending a requisite period of residence in Reno, Nevada, in pursuit of a divorce. (At the time, Reno was known as the "Divorce Capital of America" on account of the relative ease with which this could be obtained there.) In the process, she finds new female friends and ultimately ponders what she really wants and what she is willing to put up with, while maintaining her "self-respect." This exploration of the difficulties faced by women in the early 20th century when it comes to marriage and divorce in a general way prefigures Glaspell's 1915 novel, Fidelity.

O'Neill: Before Breakfast

Eugene O'Neill wrote this short play for the Provincetown Players' 1916 season. It is an experiment of sorts, an attempt to see what could be done with pessimistic, modernistic monologue. Mrs. Rowland is the constant focus, as she complains to and about her bohemian, ne'er-do-well husband Alfred, who is in the next room, only his arm ever making an appearance on stage. While the portrayal does not make the main character look like a saint, some of her criticisms are certainly telling. The Provincetown Players' circle was both bohemian and critical of its own bohemianism at times, and it may be significant that O'Neill himself played Alfred. In this audio version, Mrs. Rowland is played by Irene Herzig, and the narrator is Mischa Hooker.

Glaspell: The Girl from Down-Town (1903) [narrated by Elissa Dynes]

"The Girl from Down-Town" is an example of Susan Glaspell's early writing, coming soon after her graduation from Drake University and clearly showing its author's familiarity with the world of college students, while also thinking about the responsibility of college students for the larger world, the world of "Down-Town." The story was originally published in Youth’s Companion 77.14 (2 April 1903).