Stages of struggle: modern playwrights and their psychological inspirations

209 Pages·2008·12.791 MB·English

by  DiGaetani, John Louis

Stages of Struggle

Stages of Struggle
Modern Playwrights and
Their Psychological Inspirations
JOHN LOUIS DIGAETANI
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
Except where otherwise noted, photographs are provided by
the Billy Rose Theatre Division, the New York Public Library for
the Performing Arts, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
DiGaetani, John Louis, ¡943–
Stages of struggle : modern playwrights and their
psychological inspirations / by John Louis DiGaetani.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7864-3¡57-¡
softcover : 50# alkaline paper
¡. American drama—20th century—History and criticism—
Theory, etc. 2. English drama—20th century—History and
criticism—Theory, etc. 3. Dramatists, American—20th century—
Psychology. 4. Dramatists, English—20th century—Psychology.
5. Autobiographical memory in literature. 6. Subjectivity in
literature. 7. Playwriting. 8. Drama—Technique. I. Title.
PS352.D54 2008
822'.909353—dc22 2007045987
British Library cataloguing data are available
©2008 John Louis DiGaetani. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
On the cover:Jessica Lange and Alec Baldwin star in Tennessee
Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desireat the Barrymore Theatre
(photograph ¡992 by Brigitte Lacombe)
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 6¡¡, Je›erson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
For Jim Hohman

Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Hofstra University for granting me a
sabbatical leave and travel funds to work on this book. I would
also like to thank Jim Hohman and Branko Rieger for encourage-
ment with this project.
I would also like to thank Tom Lisanti and Jeremy Megraw
of the New York Public Library for permission to use the photos
from its archive in this book—and Martha Swope and the other
photographers whose work is contained in the archive of the New
York Public Library’s Performing Arts Collection. Those photog-
raphers include Jos Abeles, Hunt/Pucci, Friedman-Abeles, Paul
Kolnik, Richard Feldman, and Brigitte Lacombe.
Finally, I would like to thank Winnie Klotz of the Metropol-
itan Opera for the use of her excellent photos of the Britten operas.
vii

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Preface 1
Introduction 5
1. George Bernard Shaw The Gay Subtext 9
2. Luigi Pirandello Schizophrenia 26
3. Noel Coward Narcissism 37
4. Samuel Beckett Decadence and the Suicidal Impulse 51
5. Tennessee Williams Sibling Rivalry 65
6. Eugene O’Neill, Edward Albee, Simon Gray, Brian Friel,
Martin McDonagh Alcoholism 78
7. Harold Pinter Sadomasochism 94
8. Benjamin Britten Pedophilia 104
9. Caryl Churchill, Joe Orton, Tom Stoppard Sexual Dysfunction 118
10. David Hare Transference 130
11. David Mamet and Harvey Fierstein Gender Roles
and Role Playing 143
12. Stephen Sondheim Perfectionism 153
13. Tom Stoppard Logomania 169
14. Stages of Struggle, a Wagnerian Conclusion 183
Bibliography 187
Index 193
ix