New Athens Players Podcast

Glaspell's story about a plucky little paper boy and the dog he ends up feeling tremendous affection for was originally published as "The Anarchist—His Dog: The Story of Stubby’s Fight for Hero" in American Magazine in June 1912, and was included in Glaspell's collection of short stories, Lifted Masks, in the same year. As often in Glaspell's works, a character's (or a society's) attitude toward an animal illustrates and symbolizes larger themes. The story touches on serious politics without adopting a heavy-handed approach. It is narrated here by Michael Callahan.

One of the creative influences on the Provincetown Players, especially on Eugene O'Neill, was the Swedish writer August Strindberg (1849-1912). In January 1924, the company staged Strindberg's one-act play The Spook Sonata (also known as The Ghost Sonata), in the English translation by Edwin Bjorkman. Strindberg's bleak modernism, his highly subjective, expressionistic style and his formal experimentation were all aspects of his approach to theater that made an impression on O'Neill and others. No less a factor was his attention to "chamber" theater pieces, played in the "Intimate Theater" that was active 1907-1910 in Stockholm, one of the direct inspirations for the "Little Theater" movement in the United States of which the Provincetown Players was a part. The present piece, a short play in which there is only one speaking role, although there are two characters on stage, paved the way for Eugene O'Neill's experimental short play / monologue "Before Breakfast," released earlier this season on this podcast. It represents a married woman, "Mrs. X," who meets an unmarried friend, "Ms. Y," in a small café on Christmas Eve, and as Mrs. X talks to her silent companion, she slowly reveals the details of her life and marriage, and ends up making a terrible discovery. The play script was prepared by Mischa Hooker, partly translating, partly adapting from existing public domain translations by E. and W. Oland (1912); E. Björkman (1913); and F. I. Ziegler (1906). Mrs. X is played by Elissa Dynes, and the narrator is Mischa Hooker.

Originally published in Red Book Magazine in July 1911, "One's Self-Respect" is a fairly early story of Susan Glaspell that had been neglected and forgotten through decades of collection and study of her work, but was brought to light (along with a few other stories) by Noelia Hernando-Real in a chapter of Susan Glaspell in Context, edited by J. Ellen Gainor (Cambridge, 2023); in one section of the chapter, Veronica Makowski offers an analysis of the story, which depicts Edith Stuart, the main character, spending a requisite period of residence in Reno, Nevada, in pursuit of a divorce. (At the time, Reno was known as the "Divorce Capital of America" on account of the relative ease with which this could be obtained there.) In the process, she finds new female friends and ultimately ponders what she really wants and what she is willing to put up with, while maintaining her "self-respect." This exploration of the difficulties faced by women in the early 20th century when it comes to marriage and divorce in a general way prefigures Glaspell's 1915 novel, Fidelity.

Eugene O'Neill wrote this short play for the Provincetown Players' 1916 season. It is an experiment of sorts, an attempt to see what could be done with pessimistic, modernistic monologue. Mrs. Rowland is the constant focus, as she complains to and about her bohemian, ne'er-do-well husband Alfred, who is in the next room, only his arm ever making an appearance on stage. While the portrayal does not make the main character look like a saint, some of her criticisms are certainly telling. The Provincetown Players' circle was both bohemian and critical of its own bohemianism at times, and it may be significant that O'Neill himself played Alfred. In this audio version, Mrs. Rowland is played by Irene Herzig, and the narrator is Mischa Hooker.

"The Girl from Down-Town" is an example of Susan Glaspell's early writing, coming soon after her graduation from Drake University and clearly showing its author's familiarity with the world of college students, while also thinking about the responsibility of college students for the larger world, the world of "Down-Town." The story was originally published in Youth’s Companion 77.14 (2 April 1903).

In this story, Susan Glaspell presents the narrator as a dear friend observing the relationship between the married couple, Katherine and Philip Hoyt, and meditating on how they navigated a growing disability. Ultimately the piece grows into a beautiful and affecting reminiscence -- a deep rumination on what makes people matter so deeply to each other and also on what gives them strength as individuals. In the process Glaspell manages to work in as an indirectly evoked setting the desolate area on Cape Cod she returned to so often, for example in her short play, The Outside. "The Hearing Ear" was originally published in Harper’s (December 1916): 234-41.

This Christmas tear-jerker was Susan Glaspell's first published story, appearing in Davenport's Weekly Outlook in December 1896. Some of her later story-telling patterns are clearly visible in this early work: The importance of animals and human sympathy in a harsh, difficult world. It's a positive Christmas message, but be warned: Have some tissues handy!

How can we best preserve and honor the memory of a dear one who has passed away? In "His Smile," Susan Glaspell gives us an unforgettable picture of a mourning widow who finds some solace in the brief, unexpected appearance of her late husband on film as an extra in a motion picture playing for a limited time in the theaters. The story, read here by Sophia Kilburg, was first printed in the Pictorial Review 22.4 (Jan. 1921), then selected as one of the "Best Stories of 1921," and reprinted in a collection edited by E. J. O'Brien (Boston, 1922).

In "Freckles M'Grath," Susan Glaspell tells how a cheeky elevator boy was inspired to have a major effect on the plans and councils of the mighty men of power and industry. This humorous by-way in the world of politics, reflecting something of Glaspell's time as a reporter in Des Moines, was originally published with a title highlighting the outsized political effect a young enthusiast was able to cause, "Freckles McGraw: A Young Statesman's Memorable Service to the Cause of Reform," in Munsey's 31.4 (July 1904), pp. 481-6. It was later revised and included with a number of other stories by Glaspell in Lifted Masks (1912). The version here narrated by Dan Haughey is the revised version from 1912.

On July 30, 2024, New Athens Players presented a night of readers' theater, open to the public, entitled "Susan Glaspell and Friends." The program including two short plays by Glaspell, and one each by Djuna Barnes and Edna Ferber. The acoustics were not optimal, and one short part had to be re-recorded, but the result is still a fairly good reflection of the night's readings. They will be released one by one on this podcast in order of presentation on the program. Program notes have been recorded and added at the beginning of each piece.

This fourth and final piece on the program, Glaspell's play, "The Outside" (1917), was performed by the following in order of speaking: Pamela Briggs (Narrator); Michael Carron (Captain); Mark Garden (Bradford); Dan Haughey (Tony); Sophia Kilburg (Mrs. Patrick); Jane Simonsen (Allie May)