Three Plays: The Adding Machine / Street Scene / Dream Girl

by Elmer Rice

Elmer Rice belongs high on the roster of influential play-wrights. He has brought vitality and world attention to the American theatre. His plays have passed the test of endurance. "A veteran craftsman who knows his job…Rice is a showman who writes for the theatre rather than the library."-- The New York Times

Genres: Plays, Drama, Classics

239 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Expressionist plays of noted American playwright Elmer Leopold Rice include The Adding Machine (1923) and Street Scene (1929).

He authored novels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_Rice

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Rice’s plays, but I can see why they’ve fallen out of favor since their original premieres in the 1930s and ’40s. Street Scene, which won the Pulitzer, is the strongest of the three. Set in a lower-income apartment building, the play shows a few days in the life of the building’s residents. Rice had an ear for dialogue, which is to his credit, although it has limited the play’s longevity. Most modern theatregoers would dislike his depiction of various ethnicities and their dialects, even though part of what makes the play is his ability to capture the caricatures of different groups in New York City and put them all together under one roof.

That the climax of the play features spousal assault with odd non-reactions by the characters is another reason I don’t think the play would sit well with most audiences today. One character’s reaction in particular struck a note that didn’t work even when taking into account the era in which the play was written.

As for the other two: The less said about Dream Girl, the better. Adding Machine is fine, although Eugene O’Neill’s The Hairy Ape or even Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times better captured the wariness over industrialization in 1920s and 1930s America.

For those who enjoy theatrical history and appreciating the American theatre beyond its giants, Three Plays is worth a read. Quasi-recommended.

[Ij · Rating 4 out of 5]

No kidding, i really enjoyed this book. I can give this a 4.8 stars on Goodreads. It is very entertaining.

Adding machine was both a tragedy and comedy. Talking about how a soul is being used again and again.
Street Scene is like a piece in a teleserye. and
Dream Girl is well, just altogether silly.

I can imagine what the audience must have felt when they saw these play on stage. They must have been laughing themselves off at

[Megan RFA · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this at all. Maybe I am too sensitive, but I don't enjoy things this blatantly racist and sexist, even when taking historical context into consideration. Also, the plays were mostly just babble. There are much better ways to accomplish what Rice was trying to do.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the play STREET SCENE, but not in this book. I am giving 4 stars to the play STREET SCENE as it is very entertaining!

[Page Gravely]

i only read street scene.... but i would be interested in reading the other 2 based on what street scene was like.