Harriet

Harriet (1943), a play by Florence Ryerson and Colin Clements. [ Henry Miller Theatre, 377 perf.] When Harriet Beecher (Helen Hayes) marries Professor Calvin Stowe (Rhys Williams), she is not fully aware that she has done so partly to escape her overbearing family. Her writing, too, begins as a way of removing herself from family pontifications. At first, the Beechers are not altogether pleased, but then Harriet's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, makes her famous and wealthy. Soon what started as an escape becomes a crusade, and she even supports her son when he goes off to the war that President Lincoln has suggested she helped precipitate. Producer Gilbert Miller persuaded the somewhat reluctant Hayes to play Harriet, and although the drama was leisurely and loosejointed, it proved successful because of her artistry. Florence RYERSON [Willard] (1892–1965), who was born in Glendale, California, and Colin CLEMENTS (1895–1948) a native of Omaha, were a husband and wife team, both having studied with Professor George Pierce Baker at his 47 Workshop. Their only other success was Strange Bedfellows (1948), a comedy focusing on the suffragette movement.