Anna Christie (1921), a drama by Eugene O'Neill. [Vanderbilt Theatre, 177 perf.; Pulitzer Prize.] At Johnny‐the‐Priest's waterfront saloon, where Chris Christopherson (George Marion) whiles away the hours he is not on his coal barge, a letter arrives for him from his daughter, Anna (Pauline Lord), announcing she is coming back to New York. Chris has not seen her since she was a youngster, for his wife and Anna went to live with relatives on a farm in Minnesota, and after his wife's death, as Chris explains, “Ay tank it's better Anna live on farm, den she don't know dat ole davil sea, she don't know fader like me.” When Anna appears, however, it is obvious to everyone but Chris that Anna has known devils of her own. She was seduced by her cousin when she was sixteen, and, running away to St. Paul, became a prostitute. When the powerful, rough sailor Mat Burke (Frank Shannon) meets and falls in love with Anna, she tells Mat and her father of her history. The men go out, get drunk, and sign on a ship that will take them to Africa. Before they leave, however, they are reconciled with Anna. She promises to await their return and “make a regular place for you to come back to.” Chris is uncertain of what that means. “Only dat ole davil sea, she know!” he responds. Burns Mantle called Anna Christie “one of the big dramas of the day, soundly human, impressively true in characterization and, in its bigger moments, intensely dramatic.” While the Arthur Hopkins–produced drama may be more commercially slanted than many other O'Neill plays, it has remained eminently theatrical and has enjoyed a number of revivals, including Broadway productions with Celeste Holm in 1952, Liv Ullman in 1977, and Natasha Richardson in 1993. The play was also turned into the musical NEW GIRL IN TOWN (1957) with a book by George Abbott and songs by Bob
Anna Christie
| American Theater Guide: Anna Christie |
| Notes on Drama: Anna Christie |
Contents: Plot Summary Characters Themes Style Critical Overview Criticism Sources Further Reading |
Eugene O’neill 1921
Anna Christie went through several revisions before its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O’Neill’s first version was a four-act play entitled Chris, which opened in Atlantic City, New Jersey on March 8, 1920. Anna’s father dominated this play, and Anna and Mat were minor roles. O’Neill called his second version The Ole Davil, which provided the outline for the final version. O’Neill’s last revisions strengthened the character of Anna and reworked the plot to focus on her. The success of Anna Christie helped reinforce O’Neill’s reputation as one of the finest American dramatists.
The play focuses on the problematic relationship between a sailor and the daughter he has not seen for almost twenty years. Their relationship becomes complicated by her romantic involvement with another man of the sea and her unveiling of her troubled past. In this compelling account of a young woman’s decline and subsequent salvation, O’Neill presents a realistic and painful exploration of family conflict and the harsh reality of women’s lives in the early part of the twentieth century. Yet, audiences and critics also praised the play’s confirmation of the power of love and forgiveness. Frederic I. Carpenter, in his study of O’Neill’s plays, comments that Anna Christie is “a serious study of modern life, which dramatizes that mixture of comedy and tragedy most characteristic of life.”
Anna Christie was successfully adapted to the screen three times. The second version starred Greta Garbo and is considered by film critics to be one of Hollywood’s finest motion pictures.
| Wikipedia: Anna Christie |
| Anna Christie | |
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 Poster for the 1977 Broadway revival by James McMullan |
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| Written by | Eugene O'Neill |
| Date premiered | November 2, 1921 |
| Place premiered | Vanderbilt Theatre New York City |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | a former prostitute falls in love, but runs into difficulty in turning her life around |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | 1910; a New York City saloon; on a barge at anchor in Provincetown |
| IBDB profile | |
Anna Christie is a play in four acts by Eugene O'Neill. It made its Broadway debut at the Vanderbilt Theatre on November 2, 1921. O'Neill received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his work.
Contents |
Plot summary
Anna Christie is the story of a former prostitute who falls in love, but runs into difficulty in turning her life around.
- Characters
- Johnny the Priest
- Two longshoremen
- A postman
- Larry - bartender
- Chris C. Christopherson - captain of the barge Simeon Winthrop
- Marthy Owen
- Anna Christopherson - Chris’s daughter
- Mat Burke - a stoker
- Johnson - deckhand on barge
Act I
The first act takes place in a bar, owned by Johnny the Priest and tended by Larry. Old Chris, a coal barge captain, receives a letter from his daughter, a young woman whom he has not seen since she was a baby. They meet at the bar and she agrees to go on the coal barge with him. The rest of the play takes place on the barge.
Act II
The barge crew rescues Mat Burke and four other men, who were in an open boat after a shipwreck. After not getting along at first, Mat and Anna fall in love.
Act III
A confrontation between Anna, Chris and Mat. Mat wants to marry Anna, Chris does not want them to get married because he doesn't want her to marry a sailor, and Anna is upset with both of them for trying to be in charge of her. Anna tells them the truth about her life, that she was raped while living with her mother's relatives on a Minnesota farm, and then became a prostitute after her time as a nurse's aide. Mat gets very angry, and Mat and Chris both leave.
Act IV
Mat and Chris return. Anna forgives Chris for not being part of her childhood, and after a dramatic confrontation, Mat forgives Anna for being a prostitute after she promises never to be one again, and Chris agrees to them getting married. It turns out that Chris and Mat have both signed up for the same ship going to South Africa, and they are about to leave the next day, but promise to come home to Anna after the voyage. The play ends there, with a rather unresolved ending.
Productions
O'Neill's first version of the play, begun in January 1919, was entitled Chris Christopherson and performed as Chris in out-of-town tryouts. O’Neill revised it radically, changing the barge captain’s daughter Anna from a pure woman needing to be protected into a prostitute who finds reformation and love from life on the sea. The new play, now entitled Anna Christie received its premiere on Broadway at the Vanderbilt Theatre on 2 November 1921 for 177 performances before closing in April 1923. The production was staged by Arthur Hopkins starring Pauline Lord.
Alexander Woollcott in the New York Times called it "a singularly engrossing play", and advised that "all grown-up playgoers should jot down in their notebooks the name of Anna Christie as that of a play they really ought to see."[1]
- 1923: The London West End premiere was staged at the Strand Theatre (now the Novello) in 1923. This was the first time an O'Neill play was seen in the West End. The play starred Pauline Lord, who had been the original Anna Christie on Broadway. The play had a great reception. TIME Magazine wrote, "In London, the first night of Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie, with Pauline Lord in the title role, received a tremendous ovation. After the first act the curtain was rung up a dozen times during the applause.[2]
- 1952: The play was revived at the Lyceum Theatre on 23 January 1952 in a production staged by Michael Gordon and designed by Emeline C. Roche with Celeste Holm as Anna, Kevin McCarthy and Arthur O'Connell. It ran for only 8 performances.
- 1977: The play was revived at the Imperial Theatre on 14 April 1977 in a production directed by José Quintero and designed by Ben Edwards. It starred Liv Ullmann as Anna, Robert Donley, John Lithgow and Mary McCarty. It received Tony nominations for Liv Ullman as Best Actress and for Mary McCarty as Best Featured Actress. It ran for 124 performances.
- 1993: The play was most recently revived on Broadway on 14 January 1993 in a production by The Roundabout Theatre Company at the Criterion Center Stage Right. It was directed by David Leveaux and designed by John Lee Beatty. It starred Natasha Richardson, Liam Neeson, Anne Meara, and Rip Torn. It received Tony nominations for Best Actress (Natasha Richardson), Best Actor (Liam Neeson), Best Featured Actress (Anne Meara), Best Direction (David Leveaux) and won the award for Best Revival. Neeson and Richardson both received the Theatre World Award. The production won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for Richardson. It ran for 54 performances.
Adaptations
In 1923 Anna Christie was adapted by Bradley King for a film and directed by John Griffith Wray and Thomas H. Ince with stars Blanche Sweet, William Russell, George F. Marion and Eugenie Besserer.
Another adaptation by Frances Marion was released in 1930 directed by Clarence Brown, starring Greta Garbo, Charles Bickford, George F. Marion and Marie Dressler. This pre-Code film used the marketing slogan "Garbo Talks!", as it was her first talkie. Her first spoken line has become her most famous: "Give me a whiskey with ginger ale on the side, and don't be stingy, baby." George F. Marion performed the role of Anna's father in the original Broadway production and in both the 1923 and 1930 film adaptations.
The German language film was shot simultaneously with the English version and released in early 1931. This film was adapted by Frances Marion, translated by Walter Hasenclever and directed by Jacques Feyder, also starring Garbo, with Theo Shall, Hans Junkermann and Salka Viertel.
In 1957, a musical version by Bob Merrill, called New Girl in Town, opened on Broadway.
Awards and nominations
- Awards
- 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
- 1993 Drama Desk Award for Best Revival of a Play
- 1993 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play
References
- ^ Alexander Woollcott (13 November 1921). "Anna Christie: Second Thoughts on First Nights". New York Times. http://www.eoneill.com/artifacts/reviews/ac1_times.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
- ^ Time writers (21 April 1923). "Notes". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,845905,00.html. Retrieved 2008-10-13.
Further reading
- O'Neill, Eugene (1923). Anna Christie: A Play in Four Acts (First edition ed.). London: Jonathan Cape. OCLC 252007125.
External links
- Anna Christie (premiere) at the Internet Broadway Database
- Anna Christie at the Internet Movie Database
- Production: Anna Christie - Working in the Theatre Seminar video at American Theatre Wing
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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Copyrights:
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 | American Theater Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Notes on Drama. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. Read more |
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