The period in history from the Depression up until the beginnings of World War II were financially bleak for Broadway Theatre. The number of productions being produced were also down. Producers were going bankrupt left and right, and the Shubert Brothers developed a monopoly of Broadway itself. With the oncoming war approaching, theatre, as well as American pride, needed a boost. I will argue that this time on Broadway (1935-39) was productive in the case of The Playwright's Company. I will argue that these talents combined provided the most forward form of thinking on the Broadway stage. First, I will look at the rise in power of the Shuberts and the motion picture industry. Both set the stage for the formation of the Playwright's Company. I will then delve into the details of the Playwrights Company-including detailed information on those involved in the group. This evidence will show the influence and success the company had upon Broadway, especially consideri!

ng the previously mentioned challenges they faced.

The Shubert Brothers (Lee, Sam, and Jake) are well-known within the Broadway community. The Depression, knocking out a majority of individ

erested in facing this coming problem. They felt a need to preserve some sense of national unity. Each author struggled with what it meant to be American, and eventually, came to the conclusion that we should join together as one against any social evils. They moved away from the typical Socialist plays of the Federal Theatre Project to deal with more universal themes. This subtle shift awakened a new interest in American theatergoers and gave them an alternative to the Living Newspapers and other agitprop plays of the day.

S.N. Behrman always wrote with a comic vein but shared a concern for the human condition as well (Atkinson 271). His first play with the Company, No Time For Comedy, was produced on Broadway in 1938. It was a success and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. The play, on surface level, was a simple drawing-room comedy. There was self-reflection going on within the script, though, questioning the validity of the pursuits of an artist and what it means to write comedy (Broadway Scrapbook, Atkinson 112). He was a faithful and active member of the Company, who often felt overwhelmed by the responsibilities of it, He says of the Company, " [It was an] entity with a life of its own." Once it started, he was constantly busy reading and criticizing the other's work as well as watching rehearsals (Behrman 227).

These playwrights, on their own, were successful enough. But when they came together, their work was bettered by one another. Not only did they help criticize one another's work, but they seemed to do so with sincerity and without feelings of jealousy. This community that was formed, I argue, is one of the major factors that led to the relative longevity and success of the Playwright's Company. They formed a strong base, so that even when they began allowing other playwrights to enter their production circle in later years, the Company did not falter. To further analyze the success of the Company, it is also vital to look at the historical factors involved at the time of the group's formation. The Depression was coming to a close and World War II was coming on strong. America was in a state of confusion and distress about how to relate to the war, since it seemed so distant. As I have shown through brief descriptions of the Company's playwrights, they were all int!

The rise of talking motion pictures in the 1930s also had a significant impact on Broadway. As early as the 1931-32 season, 20% of legit theatres were being used to screen motion pictures (97). Because of this, producing a play on Broadway became a much more difficult task. The money to be made in Hollywood was also enticing many New York directors, actors, and writers to Los Angeles. It became increasingly more difficult to secure top name talent because of their Hollywood commitments. Also, the selling of a Broadway play's rights became very important to Hollywood. This is because a play previously produced successfully on Broadway was more likely to lead to a success on the screen (148). Many producers on Broadway were unwilling to produce a play that might not lend itself to the screen. This, naturally, led to a lact of control for the playwright produced by an outside manager. The Dramatist's Guild, formed in 1920 to protect the authors for United States pro!

it proved a tough case for anyone to go up against them and hope to compete. Those theatre groups that had more artistic than economic vision often could not last because their money sense was not up to par. This was seen in the dissolvement of the Guild Theatre, the Group Theatre, and the Mercury Players to name a few. But for the Playwright's Company, their tenacity and vision outlasted this theatre monopoly.

ual theatre producers on Broadway, did have some effect upon the brothers. Within the first year of the Depression, they had lost a million dollars. The next season, they suffered a three million dollar loss, and by the end

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Approximate Word count = 2789
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)