Alison's House

Alison's House (1930), a drama by Susan Glaspell. [ Civic Repertory Theatre, 41 perf.; Pulitzer Prize.] Alison Stanhope was a spinster who lived in her brother's house and who wrote poetry, which was not published until after her death, bringing her posthumous fame. Now, eighteen years after her death, her brother (Donald Cameron) is selling the home, and the family has gathered to claim keepsakes. Even Mr. Stanhope's daughter Elsa (Eva Le Gallienne) appears, although she has been ostracized by the family for running off with a married man. The excitement proves too much for another of Mr. Stanhope's spinster sisters, Agatha (Alma Kruger), who tries to burn down the house lest her sister's dark secret be discovered, but who dies from a heart attack. The secret is finally revealed: Alison, like Elsa years later, was in love with a married man. Unlike her niece, she sublimated her yearnings by writing poetry about her romance. The family agrees in the end to release these poems. The basic story was suggested by the life of Emily Dickinson, but Glaspell set her version in her native Iowa. The play was indifferently received by the critics, who found it too literary, and was given only twenty‐five performances in the regular repertory season. When, unexpectedly, it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Shuberts hastily moved the play uptown, but it lasted only two weeks more.