Representative American Plays/The Boss

by Edward Sheldon

Layout 2

THE BOSS
BY
Edward Sheldon

Copyright 1911, 1916, by Edward Brewster Sheldon

All Rights Reserved

Printed, for the first time, by permission of the author.

 

THE BOSS

The Boss represents the play dealing with political and business interests. Its author, Edward Brewster Sheldon, was born in Chicago, February 4, 1886, the son of Theodore and Mary Strong Sheldon. He graduated from Harvard College in 1907, and took the degree of A.M. from Harvard University in 1908. He had been interested in the writing of plays while an undergraduate, and had his first professional success in little more than a year after graduation.

On November 12, 1908, at the Opera House, Providence, Rhode Island, Mrs. Fiske produced his play, Salvation Nell, which was a stage success. A complete list of his plays since then includes The Nigger, produced first at the New Theatre, New York City, December 4, 1909; The Boss (1911); Princess Zim-Zim, played first at the Harmanus Bleecker Hall, Albany, New York, December 4, 1911; Egypt, first played at The Playhouse, Hudson, New York, September 18, 1912; The High Road, produced first at His Majesty's Theatre, Montreal, Canada, October 14, 1912; Romance, played first at Harmanus Bleecker Hall, Albany, February 6, 1913, and The Garden of Paradise, first produced at the Park Theatre, November 28, 1914. Mr. Sheldon also dramatized Das Hohe Lied of Hermann Sudermann in 1914, under the title of The Song of Songs, adapting the original to American conditions. It was, however, not a success from a dramatic standpoint.

The most important plays of Mr. Sheldon are Salvation Nell, The Nigger, The Boss, Romance, and The Garden of Paradise. In these plays he has treated five quite different themes, and shown a dramatic craftmanship, at times, of a high order. Salvation Nell reproduced with fidelity scenes in the street life of New York City, and placed against a background of drunkenness and vice, the work of the Salvation Army. The Nigger showed real power in treating the theme of a young Southerner with political ambitions and great family pride who finds that he is of mixed blood. The ending is somewhat inconclusive, but there are portions of the play, such as the letter of the quadroon to her master, which are remarkable pieces of writing.

The Boss was the third of these realistic studies of American life. Business and politics form the background, but the attention of the audience is centred upon the relations of "Regan" and his wife. They are strongly contrasted types and at first glance their union seems impossible. Yet Mr. Sheldon has indicated unobtrusively enough but surely with sufficient definiteness, the inherent attraction which the strength of "Regan" had for "Emily Griswold" and the way in which her pity and sympathy finally turned to something deeper. The playwright has avoided the temptation to make "The Boss" a hero; he is a very human person, and the acting of Mr. Holbrook Blinn in the part was masterly. For these reasons the play was selected to represent Mr. Sheldon's work, since Salvation Nell was hardly available as a play for reading and study, and copyright considerations prevented the inclusion of Romance. Romance is so far his greatest play, and the remarkable acting of Miss Doris Keane as Madame Cavallini, the Italian opera singer whose love story is the theme of the drama, illustrated again the great strength of Mr. Sheldon, his ability as a practical playwright. Romance was produced at the Lyric Theatre, London, on September 30, 1915. Miss Keane gave 1128 performances of Romance in London and it has been played in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, British India, Egypt, Christiana, Stockholm, and the Swedish Provinces.

The Garden of Paradise is a dramatization of the story of The Little Mermaid, by Hans Andersen, with the love note dominant. While this is pure romance, it is, of all Mr. Sheldon's work, most distinctly a piece of literature, and he has shown his versatility in turning from the realistic study to the poetic interpretation of fairy life.

The Boss was first produced at the Garrick Theatre, Detroit, Michigan, January 9, 1911. It was played first in New York City at the Astor Theatre, January 30, 1911.

The Nigger (1910), Romance (1914), and The Garden of Paradise (1915) have been published by the Macmillan Company. The Boss is now printed for the first time from the manuscript especially prepared by Mr. Sheldon for this collection. The editor is indebted to the courtesy of the author for permission to print the play. For details concerning the play he has to thank Mr. Sheldon and his agent. Miss Alice Kauser.

For criticism of The Boss, see J. E. Metcalfe, in Life, Vol. 57, pp. 308-9,. February 9, 1911, and The Theatre, Vol. 13, pp. vi-viii, March, 1911.