Trifles

Susan Keating Glaspell (July 1, 1876 – July 28, 1948) was an American playwright, novelist, journalist and actress. With her husband George Cram Cook she founded the Provincetown Players, the first modern American theater company. The Provincetown Playhouse would be devoted to creating artistic plays which reflected contemporary American issues, in rejection of the more commercial and escapist melodramas produced on Broadway. During the Great Depression, she served in the Works Progress Administration as Midwest Bureau Director of the Fedeeral Theater Project.<br /> Glaspell is known to have composed nine novels, fifteen plays, over fifty short stories, and one biography. Often set in her native Midwest, these semi-autobiographical tales typically explore contemporary social issues, such as gender, ethics, and dissent, while featuring deep, sympathetic characters who make principled stands. Her 1930 play Alison’s House earned her the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Although she was a best-selling author in her own time, Glaspell’s stories fell out of print after her death. She was noted primarily for discovering playwright Eugene O’Neill. Critical reassessment of women’s contributions since the late 20th century has led to renewed interest in her career. In the early 21st century she is today recognized as a pioneering feminist writer and America’s first important modern female playwright. Her one-act play Trifles (1916) – our current production – is frequently cited as one of the greatest works of American theater. She remains, according to Britain’s leading theater critic Michael Billington, “American drama’s best-kept secret.” Trifles was based on a murder trial she had covered as a young reporter in Des Moines, Iowa. Today considered an early feminist masterpiece, it was an instant success, riveting audiences with its daring views of justice and morality. It has since become one of the most anthologized works in American theater history. Susan Glaspell died of viral pneumonia in Provincetown on July 28, 1948. Trifles, by Susan Glaspell (Playing time: 24:58)<br /> Starring Louise Latham, Edie Talt, Larry Williams, David Newton and Braden McKinley (A strange death in an isolated Midwest farmhouse. What happened?) The post Trifles appeared first on SANTA BARBARA THEATRE OF THE AIR.