Blood on the Stage, 1950-1975: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery and Detection: An Annotated Repertoire

705 Pages·2011·2.27 MB·English

by  Amnon Kabatchnik

Blood on the Stage,
1950–1975
Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and
Detection: An Annotated Repertoire
Amnon Kabatchnik
THE SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
Lanham (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK
2011
99778800881100887777883322__PPrriinntt..iinnddbb ii 33//88//1111 1100::1177 AAMM
Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
http://www.scarecrowpress.com
Estover Road, Plymouth PL6 7PY, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2011 by Amnon Kabatchnik
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval sys-
tems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who
may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kabatchnik, Amnon, 1929–
Blood on the stage, 1950–1975 : milestone plays of crime, mystery, and detection
: an annotated repertoire / Amnon Kabatchnik.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8108-7783-2 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8108-7784-9 (ebook)
1. Detective and mystery plays—History and criticism. 2. Detective and mystery
plays—Stories, plots, etc. I. Title.
PN1952.K35 2011
809.2’527—dc22 2010047558
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
99778800881100887777883322__PPrriinntt..iinnddbb iiii 33//88//1111 1100::1177 AAMM
For sweet Sutton and Sabrina
99778800881100887777883322__PPrriinntt..iinnddbb iiiiii 33//88//1111 1100::1177 AAMM
99778800881100887777883322__PPrriinntt..iinnddbb iivv 33//88//1111 1100::1177 AAMM
Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xiii
Guys and Dolls (1950) by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows 1
Anastasia (1951) by Marcelle Maurette 12
Darkness at Noon (1951) by Sidney Kingsley 20
Billy Budd (1951) by Louis O. Coxe and Robert Chapman 25
A Pin to See the Peepshow (1951) by F. Tennyson Jesse and
H. M. Harwood 29
Stalag 17 (1951) by Donald Bevan and Edmond Trzcinski 34
The Hollow (1951) by Agatha Christie 37
Remains to Be Seen (1951) by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse 41
The Number (1951) by Arthur P. Carter 46
Requiem for a Nun (1951) by William Faulkner 49
The Chase (1952) by Horton Foote 55
Dial “M” for Murder (1952) by Frederick Knott 61
Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime (1952) by Constance Cox 65
Hanging Judge (1952) by Raymond Massey 74
Gently Does It (1952) by Janet Green 81
The Mousetrap (1952) by Agatha Christie 85
The Crucible (1953) by Arthur Miller 91
v
99778800881100887777883322__PPrriinntt..iinnddbb vv 33//88//1111 1100::1177 AAMM
vi Contents
My 3 Angels (1953) by Sam Spewack and Bella Spewack 103
Sherlock Holmes (1953) by Ouida Rathbone 108
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1953) by Herman Wouk 121
Witness for the Prosecution (1953) by Agatha Christie 125
Someone Waiting (1953) by Emlyn Williams 130
Dead Pigeon (1953) by Lenard Kantor 136
The Quare Fellow (1954) by Brendan Behan 139
The Prisoner (1954) by Bridget Boland 144
Meet a Body (1954) by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat 147
Murder Story (1954) by Ludovic Kennedy 150
Bad Seed (1954) by Maxwell Anderson 155
Spider’s Web (1954) by Agatha Christie 161
Inherit the Wind (1955) by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee 163
The Desperate Hours (1955) by Joseph Hayes 169
The Whole Truth (1955) by Philip Mackie 173
The Chalk Garden (1955) by Enid Bagnold 181
A Hatful of Rain (1955) by Michael V. Gazzo 186
The Visit (1956) by Friedrich Duerrenmatt 189
Time Limit! (1956) by Henry Denker 198
The Ponder Heart (1956) by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov 203
Towards Zero (1956) by Agatha Christie 207
Speaking of Murder (1956) by Audrey Roos and William Roos 209
The Hidden River (1957) by Ruth Goetz and Augustus Goetz 212
The Potting Shed (1957) by Graham Greene 215
West Side Story (1957) by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein,
and Stephen Sondheim 220
Monique (1957) by Dorothy Blankfort and Michael Blankfort 228
Compulsion (1957) by Meyer Levin 233
Murder Is My Business (1958) by James Reach 238
99778800881100887777883322__PPrriinntt..iinnddbb vvii 33//88//1111 1100::1177 AAMM
Contents vii
Jane Eyre (1958) by Huntington Hartford 245
Verdict (1958) by Agatha Christie 255
The Unexpected Guest (1958) by Agatha Christie 258
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (1958) by Bertolt Brecht 261
The Hostage (1958) by Brendan Behan 272
Cue for Passion (1958) by Elmer Rice 275
The Gazebo (1958) by Alec Coppel 279
Rashomon (1959) by Fay Kanin and Michael Kanin 282
Redhead (1959) by Herbert Fields and Dorothy Fields 289
Frankenstein: The Gift of Fire (1959) by David Campton 296
The Aspern Papers (1959) by Michael Redgrave 310
The Gang’s All Here (1959) by Jerome Lawrence and
Robert E. Lee 315
Golden Fleecing (1959) by Lorenzo Semple Jr. 317
A Clean Kill (1959) by Michael Gilbert 320
The Blacks (1959) by Jean Genet 326
The Andersonville Trial (1959) by Saul Levitt 334
The Deadly Game (1960) by James Yaffe 338
Go Back for Murder (1960) by Agatha Christie 344
The Best Man (1960) by Gore Vidal 346
Oliver! (1960) by Lionel Bart 351
Settled out of Court (1960) by William Saroyan and Henry Cecil 360
Advise and Consent (1960) by Loring Mandel 368
The Devil’s Advocate (1961) by Dore Schary 372
A Shot in the Dark (1961) by Marcel Achard 375
Write Me a Murder (1961) by Frederick Knott 379
Daughter of Silence (1961) by Morris L. West 382
The Spiral Staircase (1962) by F. Andrew Leslie 385
Sequel to a Verdict (1962) by Philip Dunning 394
99778800881100887777883322__PPrriinntt..iinnddbb vviiii 33//88//1111 1100::1177 AAMM
viii Contents
Prescription: Murder (1962) by William Link and Richard Levinson 397
The Physicists (1962) by Friedrich Duerrenmatt 404
Calculated Risk (1962) by Joseph Hayes 408
Rule of Three (1962) by Agatha Christie 410
A Case of Libel (1963) by Henry Denker 414
The Murder of Maria Marten, or The Red Barn (1963) by
Brian J. Burton 417
Hostile Witness (1964) by Jack Roffey 424
Blues for Mr. Charlie (1964) by James Baldwin 427
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer (1964) by Heinar Kipphardt 435
Home Is the Hunter (1964) by Helen MacInnes 443
East Lynne, or Lady Isabel’s Shame (1965) by Brian J. Burton 445
Baker Street (1965) by Jerome Coopersmith, Marian Grudeff,
and Raymond Jessel 452
Catch Me If You Can (1965) by Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert 460
Frankenstein (1965) by The Living Theatre Ensemble 464
The Playroom (1965) by Mary Drayton 472
Wait until Dark (1966) by Frederick Knott 474
It’s a Bird . . . It’s a Plane . . . It’s Superman (1966) by
David Newman and Robert Benton 477
We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1966) by Hugh Wheeler 484
Loot (1966) by Joe Orton 488
Don’t Drink the Water (1966) by Woody Allen 498
Seven Days in May (1966) by Kristin Sergel 505
A Case for Mason (1967) by William McCleery 507
Fortune and Men’s Eyes (1967) by John Herbert 513
The Man in the Glass Booth (1967) by Robert Shaw 519
The Real Inspector Hound (1968) by Tom Stoppard 524
Conduct Unbecoming (1969) by Barry England 533
Dracula, Baby (1970) by Bruce Ronald, John Jakes, and
Clare Strauch 537
99778800881100887777883322__PPrriinntt..iinnddbb vviiiiii 33//88//1111 1100::1177 AAMM
Contents ix
Sleuth (1970) by Anthony Shaffer 543
Child’s Play (1970) by Robert Marasco 550
The White House Murder Case (1970) by Jules Feiffer 553
Inquest (1970) by Donald Freed 560
Count Dracula (1971) by Ted Tiller 566
The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (1971) by Daniel Berrigan and
Saul Levitt 568
Suddenly at Home (1971) by Francis Durbridge 572
Something’s Afoot (1972) by James McDonald, David Vos, and
Robert Gerlach 576
Night Watch (1972) by Lucille Fletcher 579
Fiddlers Three (1972) by Agatha Christie 583
Lady Audley’s Secret (1972) by Douglas Seale 584
Dracula (1973) by Crane Johnson 592
Equus (1973) by Peter Shaffer 594
Short Eyes (1974) by Miguel Piñero 600
Sherlock’s Last Case (1974) by Charles Marowitz 606
Frankenstein (1974) by Tim Kelly 611
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1975) by John Osborne 615
Murderer (1975) by Anthony Shaffer 625
Sherlock Holmes and the Curse of the Sign of the Four (1975) by
Dennis Rosa 629
Murder among Friends (1975) by Bob Barry 636
The Return of A. J. Raffles (1975) by Graham Greene 638
Appendix A: Deadly Poison 642
Appendix B: Twentieth-Century Courtroom Dramas 648
Appendix C: Twentieth-Century Death-Row Plays 656
Appendix D: Children in Peril 658
Index 660
About the Author 683
99778800881100887777883322__PPrriinntt..iinnddbb iixx 33//88//1111 1100::1177 AAMM