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Collected Plays and Writings on Theater
Tender, beguiling, suffused with feeling and wit, the remarkable plays of Thornton Wilder occupy a unique place in American culture. His most celebrated play, Our Town, has achieved iconic status as an expression of the spirit and pathos of small-town American life; adapted for the movies and the operatic stage, it continues to resonate with audiences responding to its formal elegance, plainspoken poetry, and moving evocation of the inevitability of loss.
Collected Plays & Writings on Theater, the most comprehensive one-volume edition of Wilder's work ever published, takes the measure of his extraordinary career as a dramatist by presenting the complete span of his achievement, beginning with his early expressionist experiments and daring one-act plays such as "The Long Christmas Dinner" and "The Happy Journey to Trenton and Camden" (one of Wilder's personal favorites), ranging through the full flowering of Our Town, The Skin of Our Teeth, and The Matchmaker, and encompassing the intriguing dramatic projects of his later years, such as his adaptation of the ancient story of Alcestis (The Alcestiad) and plays written for dramatic cycles based on the Seven Deadly Sins and the varied ages of an individual's life. Complementing the selection of plays is an illuminating group of essays that captures Wilder's reflections on his plays and contains a revealing epistolary account of the film adaptation of Our Town, as well as evaluations of dramatists such as Sophocles, George Bernard Shaw, and the Austrian satirist Johann Nestroy (whose farce Einen Jux will er sich machen Wilder brilliantly transformed into The Matchmaker).
Collected Plays & Writings on Theater also includes material never before published: scenes from The Emporium, an ambitious unfinished play that, emerging out of Wilder's intense engagement with existentialist philosophy in the postwar years, imagines a Kafkaesque department store whose enigmatic activities are as inscrutable as the mysteries of life itself; and the complete screenplay Wilder wrote for Alfred Hitchcock's film Shadow of a Doubt just before reporting for military service in 1942. Although faithful to the spirit of the film, the screenplay presented here restores Wilder's original dialogue, some of which (to Wilder's dismay) was altered for the movie. A study of family life, youthful illusions, and the desperation of a criminal on the run, the Shadow of a Doubt screenplay is a masterful exhibition of the art of suspense and taut dramatic storytelling, and is an essential part of Wilder's ouevre.
800 pages, Hardcover
First published March 15, 2007
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72 people want to read
About the author
Thornton Wilder
236 books514 followersThornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.
For more see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thornton...
For more see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thornton...
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 1, 2018
The Matchmaker (1954): Though the play feels a little like an elaborate Viennese pastry, which I gather is what its source play was, it’s Wilderian in its perspective: it juxtaposes a smaller world with a greater one, which in different ways is also true of Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth and even, I think, Wilder’s novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey. There are expanses of space, time, and destiny or fate or human purpose that Wilder opens up to us in these works, and in some cases to the characters as well. In The Matchmaker, it’s only the small town of Yonkers juxtaposed with the big city of New York, which leads one character to declare, “Isn’t the world full of wonderful things?,” but that’s enough to give it the Wilder flavor. I saw it performed once and thought it held the stage well—it’s funny and charming. The play’s demands, in terms of length, cast size, and settings, are rather high in present-day terms, but those shouldn’t be a challenge to a good-sized college theater program, which is where I saw it.
Our Town (1938): Someone complained on Goodreads that this is not an accurate recreation of early-20th-century small-town American life. That’s not what Wilder is after. He uses a narrator, an abstracted physical setting, and a simplified small-town location in order to get at a certain essence of communal human life, and by evoking change it evokes what we lose to the passage of time. “It goes so fast. We don’t have time to look at one another,” Emily laments in the third act. A stage direction says, “She breaks down sobbing,” and whether or not your eyes moisten too, you’re apt to feel a pang of recognition at that point.
Writings on theater: I read some but not all of these. Wilder’s brief remarks on farce—for instance, that it depends on wildly improbable premises worked out with rigorous logic and objectivity—are reasonable but not very illuminating or even (this is no surprise) sympathetic. And he defines out of the picture most or all of the boulevard farces, which often rely on nothing more improbable than unbridled desire. His introduction to the work of Austrian playwright and actor Johann Nestroy (whom he had adapted in The Matchmaker, and who has also been adapted by Tom Stoppard, among others) makes me curious. His complaint about George Bernard Shaw—that his characters are seldom fully human, “alive in their separateness and their freedom”—has been felt by others, but to take Shaw to task for not being Dickens has an obvious defect.
Our Town (1938): Someone complained on Goodreads that this is not an accurate recreation of early-20th-century small-town American life. That’s not what Wilder is after. He uses a narrator, an abstracted physical setting, and a simplified small-town location in order to get at a certain essence of communal human life, and by evoking change it evokes what we lose to the passage of time. “It goes so fast. We don’t have time to look at one another,” Emily laments in the third act. A stage direction says, “She breaks down sobbing,” and whether or not your eyes moisten too, you’re apt to feel a pang of recognition at that point.
Writings on theater: I read some but not all of these. Wilder’s brief remarks on farce—for instance, that it depends on wildly improbable premises worked out with rigorous logic and objectivity—are reasonable but not very illuminating or even (this is no surprise) sympathetic. And he defines out of the picture most or all of the boulevard farces, which often rely on nothing more improbable than unbridled desire. His introduction to the work of Austrian playwright and actor Johann Nestroy (whom he had adapted in The Matchmaker, and who has also been adapted by Tom Stoppard, among others) makes me curious. His complaint about George Bernard Shaw—that his characters are seldom fully human, “alive in their separateness and their freedom”—has been felt by others, but to take Shaw to task for not being Dickens has an obvious defect.
July 1, 2017
Please see my reviews of Wilder's two early collections of short plays and the four major longer plays included in this volume.
The uncollected shorter plays in this volume are of varying quality, as you'd expect. The earliest, from 1917, is surprisingly good and demonstrates that Wilder was more adept at drama than at fiction at that age. Of his uncompleted longer play _The Emporium_ there are two scenes not available in other collections. It is fascinating to read Wilder's journal entries about this work (included in the notes at the end of the volume) because it gives the reader a glimpse at Wilder's creative process and how he handled an ambitious idea that both fascinated and frustrated him for several years. Some of the staging in those scenes indicates that if Wilder had finished it the play would have presented the audience with further challenges to dramatic conventions as well as challenging their minds: it's Wilder's closest approach to Brechtian theater, getting the audience to actively help create meaning rather than simply being passive observers of what happens on stage. However, he simply couldn't meet the challenge the play posed for his writing ability at the time. Of the "Plays for Bleecker Street," a propsed set of seven short plays themed around the seven deadly sins and sever short plays themed around the "seven ages of man," the deadly sin plays are by far the best (and most fully realized). The "Infancy" play is simply awful, while "Childhod" and "Rivers under the Earth" are the most promising of the "ages of man" plays. Wilder's writings on the theater mainly consist of notes on his own works, which only provide minor illuminations on those works (best considered on their own terms, in my opinion). There are a couple of interesting essays on theater history and dramatists, culminating in a disparaging (but accurate, it seems to me) evaluation of Bernard Shaw's works. The other major work in this volume is Wilder's final version of his screenplay for the Hitchcock film _Shadow of a Doubt_ (Hitchcock and his wife changed some of the dialogue in ways that did not impress Wilder). This work shows that Wilder could ably handle thrillers; the tension is admirably maintained and built up, mostly through characterization and relationships rather than through direct action. It's an impressive achievement.
This volume is only slightly marred by typographical errors, and most of these occur in the notes (there are 1 or 2 in the actual texts themselves, however, which keeps this volume from being a definitive edition of the works affected).
The uncollected shorter plays in this volume are of varying quality, as you'd expect. The earliest, from 1917, is surprisingly good and demonstrates that Wilder was more adept at drama than at fiction at that age. Of his uncompleted longer play _The Emporium_ there are two scenes not available in other collections. It is fascinating to read Wilder's journal entries about this work (included in the notes at the end of the volume) because it gives the reader a glimpse at Wilder's creative process and how he handled an ambitious idea that both fascinated and frustrated him for several years. Some of the staging in those scenes indicates that if Wilder had finished it the play would have presented the audience with further challenges to dramatic conventions as well as challenging their minds: it's Wilder's closest approach to Brechtian theater, getting the audience to actively help create meaning rather than simply being passive observers of what happens on stage. However, he simply couldn't meet the challenge the play posed for his writing ability at the time. Of the "Plays for Bleecker Street," a propsed set of seven short plays themed around the seven deadly sins and sever short plays themed around the "seven ages of man," the deadly sin plays are by far the best (and most fully realized). The "Infancy" play is simply awful, while "Childhod" and "Rivers under the Earth" are the most promising of the "ages of man" plays. Wilder's writings on the theater mainly consist of notes on his own works, which only provide minor illuminations on those works (best considered on their own terms, in my opinion). There are a couple of interesting essays on theater history and dramatists, culminating in a disparaging (but accurate, it seems to me) evaluation of Bernard Shaw's works. The other major work in this volume is Wilder's final version of his screenplay for the Hitchcock film _Shadow of a Doubt_ (Hitchcock and his wife changed some of the dialogue in ways that did not impress Wilder). This work shows that Wilder could ably handle thrillers; the tension is admirably maintained and built up, mostly through characterization and relationships rather than through direct action. It's an impressive achievement.
This volume is only slightly marred by typographical errors, and most of these occur in the notes (there are 1 or 2 in the actual texts themselves, however, which keeps this volume from being a definitive edition of the works affected).
October 12, 2021
In the upcoming months, I will be seeing both The Skin of Our Teeth and Our Town. Previously, I have seen and enjoyed The Matchmaker, and I’m very familiar with Our Town, but I know little about The Skin of Our Teeth so I wanted to prepare a little before seeing the play.
Surprisingly, this lengthy collection does not contain an introduction discussing Thornton Wilder and his career as a playwright. There is a chronology so at least that’s something. It’s pretty clear Wilder grew up in a life of privilege. His father was a diplomat and friend of William Howard Taft, but Thornton was always interested in literature, and specifically theater. He was a close friend of Robert Maynard Hutchins, and while Hutchins was President of the University of Chicago during the 1930’s, Wilder was a visiting lecturer. (As an alum of the University, I didn’t know this, and it was interesting to me.)
Well, I started The Skin of Our Teeth, and it feels dated, diminishing my expectations for the play (even though the play won a Pulitzer Prize). I think I now would like to see it “fresh” and without any additional knowledge. Perhaps, the live experience will have a better effect. I have also looked at Wilder’s introduction to Our Town, but since I’m already familiar with that work, I didn’t gain any additional knowledge.
So, I think it’s time for me to move on to some other reading.
Surprisingly, this lengthy collection does not contain an introduction discussing Thornton Wilder and his career as a playwright. There is a chronology so at least that’s something. It’s pretty clear Wilder grew up in a life of privilege. His father was a diplomat and friend of William Howard Taft, but Thornton was always interested in literature, and specifically theater. He was a close friend of Robert Maynard Hutchins, and while Hutchins was President of the University of Chicago during the 1930’s, Wilder was a visiting lecturer. (As an alum of the University, I didn’t know this, and it was interesting to me.)
Well, I started The Skin of Our Teeth, and it feels dated, diminishing my expectations for the play (even though the play won a Pulitzer Prize). I think I now would like to see it “fresh” and without any additional knowledge. Perhaps, the live experience will have a better effect. I have also looked at Wilder’s introduction to Our Town, but since I’m already familiar with that work, I didn’t gain any additional knowledge.
So, I think it’s time for me to move on to some other reading.
January 29, 2021
Our Town – *** This was much different than I remembered. It is more of an idyll on small town, rural living, a pastoral on “real America,” as some would call it – very white, very agricultural, rather egalitarian. As interesting and innovative as its presentation is, it’s hard not to read/see this play as a nostalgic look back at a life that, in reality, never existed for the vast majority of Americans. Frankly, I don’t know if this expresses the reality of any town in America.
Sure, there’s the town drunk (but even Mayberry had one of those), and there are a few deaths scattered around. But there’s no hunger, no fear, no abusive spouses or parents, and the drunk plays the organ in church (rather than kicks the dog). There’s no pre-marital sex, unwanted pregnancies, no unemployment, failed crops, bankruptcies, mental illness, marital affairs, domestic violence, bigotry, racism, etc. Maybe a family wouldn’t have any of these, but a whole town? Really?
Our Town is a very specific kind of town made up of a very specific kind of people. It’s not everyone’s town. It's not my town. I don't think it's anyone's.
The Skin of Our Teeth – ** I found this play unreadable. It wasn’t the absurdity or incongruence or broken narrative that turned me off, it simply wasn’t interesting. The characters were not interesting, the situation was not interesting, the story was not interesting, the language was not interesting. I couldn’t finish it.
The Matchmaker – **** This was a very funny, very entertaining play. There’s not much depth, but much dizzying mirth. It lacks seriousness, but it’s feathery lightness tickles. The scene at the café is wildly funny, and when Barnaby in the next scene says “Now I have to take a bath and get slapped all over,” I laughed out loud on the train home from work.
This play lacks the experimental staging and storytelling of Wilder’s Our Town or The Skin of Our Teeth. In fact, this play is positively old fashioned – it even has soliloquies! But I prefer it to the other Wilder plays I read. This has all the trademarks of a farce in the tradition of Sheridan, and though the characters are not presented in any depth, they are warm and inviting and funny.
The play has a very interesting history outlined here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mat...
Sure, there’s the town drunk (but even Mayberry had one of those), and there are a few deaths scattered around. But there’s no hunger, no fear, no abusive spouses or parents, and the drunk plays the organ in church (rather than kicks the dog). There’s no pre-marital sex, unwanted pregnancies, no unemployment, failed crops, bankruptcies, mental illness, marital affairs, domestic violence, bigotry, racism, etc. Maybe a family wouldn’t have any of these, but a whole town? Really?
Our Town is a very specific kind of town made up of a very specific kind of people. It’s not everyone’s town. It's not my town. I don't think it's anyone's.
The Skin of Our Teeth – ** I found this play unreadable. It wasn’t the absurdity or incongruence or broken narrative that turned me off, it simply wasn’t interesting. The characters were not interesting, the situation was not interesting, the story was not interesting, the language was not interesting. I couldn’t finish it.
The Matchmaker – **** This was a very funny, very entertaining play. There’s not much depth, but much dizzying mirth. It lacks seriousness, but it’s feathery lightness tickles. The scene at the café is wildly funny, and when Barnaby in the next scene says “Now I have to take a bath and get slapped all over,” I laughed out loud on the train home from work.
This play lacks the experimental staging and storytelling of Wilder’s Our Town or The Skin of Our Teeth. In fact, this play is positively old fashioned – it even has soliloquies! But I prefer it to the other Wilder plays I read. This has all the trademarks of a farce in the tradition of Sheridan, and though the characters are not presented in any depth, they are warm and inviting and funny.
The play has a very interesting history outlined here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mat...
Want to read
January 22, 2010Ohhhhh, book lust, how I love to indulge in thee.
August 17, 2015
Read: The Angel That Troubled the Waters and Other Plays; The Long Christmas Dinner & Other Plays in One Act.
November 11, 2016
"In life and in literature mere sincerity is not sufficient." --Thornton Wilder.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews