Date: 1982-05-12
Speaker: PHILLIP BURTON (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. I rise to express my support for House Jo:nt Resolution 431. establishing a National Theatre Week of June 713. 1982. The resolution has passed the Senate and will. I hope. be voted on by this body in the near future. Long overdue. this resolution will honor a part of our countrys heritage. the legitimate stage. Never before have we. guardians of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. paid tribute to the individuals and organizations who have devoted over 300 years toward one common goalthe American theatre. It is also a way to trace historical years and recognize amateur and professional artists found in childrens. high school. college. community. regional. and Broadway theatres. It is they who have labored long and hard to give the American public the finest theatre entertainment in the world. It is our theatre. Let us be proud of it. Allow me to summarize a few of the many important facets of our theaters 300year history. Over a century before the colonies declared their independence. the seed of theater was planted. In Virginia. for example. there are records dated. 1665. of a play being performed entitled "Ye Barre and Ye Cubb." Students of that great university. Harvard. gave a performance in 1690. of Benjamin Colemans "Gustavus Vasa." the first play written by an American. The theater at Williamsburg of 1718. built by William Levingston. a merchant and dancing master. was the first on the North American Continent and was used for amateur productions by the students of William and Mary College. In New York. the first of many legitimate stages was the Nassau Street Theater. George Farqhars comedy. "The Recruiting Officer." was a popular professional play of the era. along with "The Orphan." which headlined the opening of South Carolinas Dock Street Theater. The American premiere In 1773 of "She Stoops to Conquer" opened at the John Street Theater. Shortly thereafter. the Charleston Theater opened with "A Word to the Wise" and "High Life Below Stairs." More importantly at this time. the Declaration of Independence broke the bond with the mother country and forced us to look at our own resources. to nourish our own intellectual and artistic life. to push for home grown products that bore the American mark. One of these products was Royall Tylers drama "The Contrast." This play dealt with a study of social pretention and sides with an unlettered but shrewd Yankee against his more polished contemporaries. Let me ask my colleagues at this time: Where are these plays and theaters noNi? What can replace them today? Only a few printed records show they existed. and these early years I have mentioned may be disputed. Perhaps the difficulties. hi part. are due to a congressional act adopted in 1778 in Philadelphia prohibiting theater altogether. Who is not familiar with the painting depicting Thomas Wignell. a theater manager. carrying a pair of candlesticks as he led President WashIngton to his box seat? The era of the theater also had more than its share of difficulties. One in particular was lighting. something we now take for granted. Picture with me. if you will. a romantic love scene. The villain has been ousted from the city. the hero and heroine are about to passionately embrace in the middle of the scene. Then. just as her lips near his. a stage hand enters and snuffs the footlight candles. That is not the worst that could happen either. Many a theater found flames shooting the curtain during the second act. It was to great relief when gas jets. contained within ground glass. were introduced at the Bowery Theater in the 19th century. Besides the gas lighting. one of theaters most Inventive workman. Steele MacKaye. added a simple form of airconditioning. The 19th century proved to be an industrious step in the direction of lighting. with the introduction of the incandescent lamp. Lighting became a useful assistant in such plays as: "The Fatal Marriage" and "Bunker Hill." But even with this new added demension. critics of the time were howling with contempt. complaining that American playwrights were imitators. But. does that make these plays any less American? What Americans really protested against them? In this age we are thankful to have these works because they at least give us some measure of the American mind and temper. As Samhuel Johnson said long ago. "The stage but echoes back the public voice." And one of the resounding echoes that voice heard was a. classic piece of poetic Americana that. if not put to music by an actor named Charles Durang. may have been forgotten. Every night. before the performance at the Holliday Street Theater. Durang sang the composition. That classic piece is now nown by every American as the "Star Spangled Banner." At this point in time. people of the legitimate stage were becoming world renown. Names such as: Edwin Forrest. Mary Ann Duff. Thomas Kean. Charlotte Cushman and. of course. the indomitable Edwin Booth. Booth was asked why he always looked insulted when taking his curtain calls at the end of the play. He replied. "I have given my life to these great roles. I do not consider myself an entertainer. I am an interpreter. I reveal the soul of masterpieces." I might add. the great dramatist and thespian began his serious apprenticeship in San Francisco. The year 1831 marked the debut of the showboat in America. Surely. it was on its way to becoming a popular attraction on the waterways. Showboats along with railroads. and later automobiles. were m tin forms of transportation. and therefore became a motivating force in the theatre. Where they went stock. ballet. and opera companies were sure to folow. It was not unusual for these companies to assist each other In their performances. Thus was the birth of a highly crafted theatre art. musical comedy. June 8. 1882. saw the beginning of the Actors Fund of America. an organization whose helping hand to veterans of the stage is still remembered. Also at this time. men. such as Thomas Edison. were at work with stage lighting. taking it from mere illumination to the art it is today. an art showing the smallest details. including costumes. makeup. and set design. Now that America had more reputable craftsmen. people like Ziegfeld. Beck. Langner. and the Shuberts. were building theatres with the intent of making a permanent place for stage in America. Vaudeville was making a successful engagement on many of the stages. and people like Fanny Brice. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. the Foys. and Nat Goodwin were receiving top billing. But at the pinnacle of that billing was a man who some consider "the Father of the American Muscial". This legislative body knows him as the first theatrical performer to receive a Congressional Medal of HonorGeorge M. Cohan. Such well known tunes as "Yankee Doodle Boy". "Youre a Grand Old Flag". and "Give My Regards to Broadway" are stil being received warmheartedly in this country. President Wilson was following his fellow countrymen in regularly saluting the theatre. but the theatre was having an inner turmoil to the regret of many. and found itself in the midst of an actors strike. Actors wanted a bargaining agent and attempted to secure one. By 1919. Equity finally gave actors the protection they wanted. About this point. recognition was bestowed upon an unknown playwright. Eugene ONeill. To date. this mans writing remains a major contribution to the theatre world. And who could forget the other "new wave" playwrights such as: Moss Hart. Robert E. Sherwood. George S. Kaufman and Lillian Hellman among many. Broadway was now in full swing and the musical "Showboat" broke onto the scene with worldwide acclaim. Such tunes as "Ole Man River" and "My Man Bill" established Jerome Kern as a classic partaker of the stage. Many individuals were on the boards at this time but now. competition from Hollywood was having a heavy effect. It was due to motion pictures that stage suffered the losses of onetime thespians like Spencer Tracy. Bette Davis. James Cagney. Kathryn Hepburn. Cary Grant. Barbara Stanwyck. Humphrey Bogart. and Claudette Colbert. Though many were heading to the west coast for "talkies." the best was yet to come for the theater. Playwrights now gave us the necessary vehicles to propel the American stage to previous unattainable heights. "Our Town." "You Cant Take. It With You." "Hotel Universe." and "Abe Lincoln In Illinois" were just a few of those vehicles. Musicals were having a great turnout with composers and lyricists like Rodgers and Hammerstein who combined their talents and came up with the unforgettable "Oklahoma." that had a run of 2.248 performances. The great Agnes De Mille Is also given some quite deserved credit for her choreography of the play. Besides Rodgers and Hammerstein. there were other teams of songwriting turn. ing out hits such as George and Ira Gershwin. Irving Berlin. Lerner and Lowe. and Rodgers and Hart. The theater. past and present. was now gaining a great deal of attention by its leaders in Washington. Members of Congress. the President and First Lady were entertaining theatrical dignitaries on Capitol Hill and at the White House. But many other officials were taking a hardlined look at the theater and complaining about its faults. Yet the constituency of this country took a milder view and started to enjoy the entertainment that regional and community theater gave them. Childrens theater was becoming common as well as inexpensive and enjoyable for the whole family with "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Snow White." Comedies like "Come Blow Your Horn" by Neil Simon and dramas like "Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" were making their debuts. And directors like: Elia Kazan. Joshua Logan. and Harold Clurman were helpful in making many plays successes. More recently we have had such plays as: "Dracula." "Grease." "Amadeus." and "The Dresser." And it is by no means that I am insinuating any of the plays mentioned are better than others. I could literally stand here for hours naming amateur and professional artists that daily do Justice to the great written works. As we know. theater has had to struggle to survive the competition of motion pictures. television. radio. and video. But. many are firm optimists and believe more is to happen in the 20th century in America than in any other comparable span of years in the history of drama. New theories and techniques. plays. theaters. schools of acting. and principles of directingall are to be tried and every aspect scrutinized and tested. The point of my speaking with you today is to reveal the multiplicity of forces that shaped the theater in this countrys heritage. Each of these forces has had a direct bearing on the United States in some shape or form. With many of us it has already had a direct bearing on our lives and our families. How many of us were thespians? How many of our children are involved with the legitimate theater? As the greatest nation on the face of the Earth. we must recover a significant belief that has been lost. The stages of theater are changing the stages of our lives. Theater represents at its best a.victory of civilization. One of this Nations greatest victories was the Arts and Humanities Act which was made into law in 1965. One statement in section V is quite noble. It reads: While no government can call a great artist or scholar into existence. it is necessary and appropriate for the federal government to help create and sustain not only a climate encouraging freedom of thought. imagination. and inquiry. but also material conditions. facilitating the release of this creative talent. Under this pioneering law. the Committee for National Theater Week believes that House Joint Resolution 431 fulfills this need and does so at no expense to the American public or Federal Government. I myself am inclined to agree with them. as do a number of individuals. organizations. and unions. We have Just heard a few of the marvelous things the theater arts of this country have achieved. Why should we be the ones to withhold the knowledge of these marvelous people and deeds from our constituency. We made that mistake once before in 1778. Let us not repeat it. This is our National Theater Week. Let us feel privileged to celebrate it.