Abe Lincoln in Illinois

Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1938), a play in three acts by Robert E. Sherwood. [Plymouth Theatre, 472 perf.; Pulitzer Prize.] In a log schoolhouse, Abe Lincoln ( Raymond Massey) first learns about sectionalism and other barriers to “Liberty and Union” and resolves to do something about it. After his fiancée Ann Rutledge ( Adele Longmire) dies, Lincoln marries Mary Todd ( Muriel Kirkland), whose fiercely possessive, shrewish nature foreshadows her eventual madness. He then runs for Senator from Illinois against the proslavery Stephen Douglas ( Albert Phillips). Before long, Lincoln is a presidential candidate, but somehow his victory at the polls gives him no cause for elation. Mary's behavior and the country's divisive sectionalism have both grown worse. As he leaves for Washington, he tells those who have come to see him off of his hopes that fatalism will not reign in America. The first production of the newly formed Playwrights' Company, the play was extolled by most critics, Richard Watts Jr. of the Herald Tribune calling it “Not only the finest of modern stage biographies, but a lovely, eloquent, endearing tribute to all that is best in the spirit of democracy.” The drama was revived in 1963 by the Phoenix Theatre with Hal Holbrook as Lincoln, and Sam Waterston starred in a commendable 1993 Broadway revival.