Page:Representative American plays.pdf/861

844 -- modern continental playwrights upon the ideas of marriage held by two young Americans, first performed in the Theatre at Ann Arbor, Michigan, March 10, 1910; Tomorrow (1912), a play dealing seriously with the problem of selection in the matter of marriage, first performed at the Little Theatre, Philadelphia, October 31, 1913; A Thousand Years Ago (1914), an Oriental romance, first performed at the Shubert Theatre, New York, December 1, 1913, and Yankee Fantasies (1912), five one-act plays, four of which have been performed, and two of which, Gettysburg and Sam Average, are upon national themes.

The group of Masques and Pageants include the Saint Gaudens Masque-Prologue (1909), first produced June 20, 1905, by the Cornish Colony in honor of Augustus St. Gaudens; the Gloucester Pageant (1903), produced under the auspices of the city of Gloucester in honor of President Taft, August 3, 1909; A Masque of Labor (1912), projected but not yet performed; Sanctuary, a Bird Masque (1914), given first, September 12, 1913, in honor of President and Mrs. Wilson, at Meriden, New Hampshire, and repeated many times, 120 performances being given in the Southern and Western States before over 200,000 spectators by the Redpath Chautauqua players; Saint Louis: A Civic Masque (1914), given in St. Louis to celebrate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the city, from May 28 to June 1, 1914; The New Citizenship, a Civic Ritual (1915), given February 14, 1916, in New York City, on Lincoln's Birthday and, most significant, Caliban, A Community Masque (1916), produced May 25 to June 2, 1916, in New York City as a part of the Shakespeare Tercentenary Celebration. This masque, founded on The Tempest, and having as its main theme the regeneration of Caliban through his love for Miranda, was magnificently produced at the Stadium of the College of the City of New York and marks a new epoch in the community drama. Of the operas, Sinbad the Sailor (1917) and The Immigrants (1915), with music by Mr. F. S. Converse, have not as yet been produced. The Canterbury Pilgrims (1916), with music by Mr. Reginald de Koven, was first produced at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, March 8, 1917.

The Scarecrow was first performed by the Harvard Dramatic Club, on December 7, 1909. Its first professional performance was given at the Middlesex Theatre, Middletown, Connecticut, December 30, 1910. The cast as given remained the same at its first New York performance, at the Garrick Theatre, January 17, 1911, except that the part of "Rachel" was taken by Miss Fola La Follette. The play is dedicated by the author to his mother, for the reason (as he has told the editor) that, but for her sympathetic interest and assistance, it would probably not have been written. The version here printed has been revised by Mr. MacKaye and represents the acting version used by Mr. Frank Reicher during two seasons in the United States, and by Miss Muriel Pratt at the Theatre Royal, Bristol, England. It is also the version translated into