Detective Story (Critical Overview)

Critical Overview

In a memorial statement upon the death of Kingsley in 1995, Robert Anderson wrote:

Sidney was part of that extraordinary group of playwrights who came into being in the 1930s and 1940s, which heralded the arrival of the new American theatre and the new American drama.

Kingsley is generally remembered as a noteworthy but minor American playwright whose works addressed serious social problems in popular, dramatically well-crafted Broadway plays. He is praised for his dramatic craftsmanship in writing emotionally engaging yet serious melodramas that also carry a moral message.

Kingsley's plays have been applauded for their treatment of issues pertaining to American democracy and their expression of hope that justice and democracy will prevail over corruption and tyranny. In her introduction to Sidney Kingsley: Five Award Winning Plays, Nena Couch observed, "Kingsley has used his naturalistic writing style to present major American social problems on the stage."

Critics today assert that many of the societal issues addressed in Kingsley's plays, such as police brutality in Detective Story, remain as relevant today as they were fifty years ago. As Couch noted,

The abuse of power by the individual is an issue as old as humankind, and certainly the abuse of power by police is an ongoing problem as well. To the extent that audiences perceive Kingsley's message regarding the police state, Detective Story remains timely.

However, Kingsley's plays are now widely considered to be dated, addressing ongoing societal issues yet stylistically lacking in timeless, universal appeal or lasting literary merit.

Since its original production in 1949, critics have enthusiastically praised Detective Story for its accurate, meticulously researched, realistic detail in portraying a New York City precinct police station. Some critics found the characters in Detective Story to be well rounded; others found them to be stock characters lacking in depth or complexity. Some found the drama and pacing of Detective Story to be gripping and emotionally engaging; others felt that the story is predictable and overly melodramatic.

Several revival productions of Detective Story were staged during the 1980s, in Los Angeles, Tokyo, and England.