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Crothers, Rachel
Crothers, Rachel (1878–1958), playwright. Born in Bloomington, Illinois, she had dabbled at playwriting before she entered the State Normal School of Illinois. After studying acting at the Stanhope‐Wheatcroft School and performing professionally for several seasons, Crothers abandoned acting when her first play, Nora (1903), was produced. Her first successful work was The Three of Us (1906), a story of a spunky sister who protects her brothers' interests in a Nevada mine. Several subsequent plays had short runs before she had better luck with A Man's World (1910), Young Wisdom (1914), Old Lady 31 (1916), A Little Journey (1918), and 39 East (1919). Crothers then hit her stride with a series of plays that explored the roles men and women played in contemporary society: He and She (1920), Nice People (1921), Mary the Third (1923), Expressing Willie (1924), A Lady's Virtue (1925), Venus (1927), Let Us Be Gay (1929), As Husbands Go (1931), and When Ladies Meet (1932). Her last play was Susan and God (1937), describing the problems that ensue when a rich matron discovers religion. During World War I Crothers founded Stage Women's War Relief. She was a consummate craftsman, who, as Howard Taubman noted, “used the stage to articulate the case for woman's freedom. When the battle was won, she did not shrink from poking fun at the liberated woman's pretensions.”
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Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Crothers, Rachel." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Crothers, Rachel." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-CrothersRachel.html Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Crothers, Rachel." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-CrothersRachel.html |
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Crothers, Rachel
Crothers, Rachel (1878–1958), American dramatist, whose first short plays were produced while she was a student at a drama school. Her full-length plays, which she directed herself, included The Three of Us (1906); A Man's World (1910), an attack on moral double standards which was regarded as highly significant in its time; A Little Journey (1918), about a selfish woman's transformation by a railway accident; and He and She (1920, originally known as The Herfords). Nice People (1921) is a study of post-war youth, while Let Us be Gay (1929), As Husbands Go (1931), which contrasts English and American marriages, and When Ladies Meet (1932), a deft study of feminine psychology, are well-observed comedies. Her last work, Susan and God (1937), starred Gertrude Lawrence as a woman devoted to a new religious cult. Always in the vanguard of public opinion, she never allowed her feminist viewpoint to weaken the theatrical effectiveness of her writing.
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Cite this article
PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Crothers, Rachel." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Crothers, Rachel." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-CrothersRachel.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Crothers, Rachel." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-CrothersRachel.html |
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Crothers, Rachel
Crothers, Rachel (1878–1958), Illinois‐born playwright and director, had her first New York success with The Three of Us (1906), a play set in a Nevada mining camp. A Man's World (1909) was her first play concerned with contemporary morality and with the position of women in the modern world. Later plays concerning these subjects include He and She (1911), Ourselves (1913), Young Wisdom (1914), Nice People (1920), Everyday (1921), Mary the Third (1923), Expressing Willie (1924), A Lady's Virtue (1925), Let Us Be Gay (1929), As Husbands Go (1931), When Ladies Meet (1932), and Susan and God (1938). She also wrote one‐act plays and other full‐length dramas, frequently sentimental in their treatment of character. She dramatized Mother Carey's Chickens (1917) in collaboration with Kate D. Wiggin.
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Cite this article
James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Crothers, Rachel." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Crothers, Rachel." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-CrothersRachel.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Crothers, Rachel." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-CrothersRachel.html |
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Rachel Crothers
Rachel Crothers , 1878–1958, American playwright and director, b. Bloomington, Ill., grad. Illinois State Normal Univ., 1892. Her plays, many of which were social comedies treating the ethical problems of women, were notable for their craftsmanship. Among her major successes were The Three of Us (1906), A Man's World (1909), He and She (1911), Old Lady 31 (1916), Let Us Be Gay (1929), and Susan and God (1937). |
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Cite this article
"Rachel Crothers." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Rachel Crothers." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Crothers.html "Rachel Crothers." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Crothers.html |
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