The Corn Is Green

This article is about the play. For the film, see The Corn Is Green (1945 film). For the TV adaptation, see The Corn Is Green (1979 film).
The Corn Is Green

U.S. first edition 1941
Written by Emlyn Williams
Date premiered September 20, 1938 (1938-09-20)
Place premiered Duchess Theatre, London
Original language English
Genre Comedy
Setting The living room of a house in Glansarno, a small village in Wales, over the space of three years in the late 19th century

The Corn Is Green is a 1938 semi-autobiographical play by Welsh dramatist and actor Emlyn Williams. The play premiered in London at the Duchess Theatre in 1938 with Williams portraying Morgan Evans. The original Broadway production starred Ethel Barrymore and premiered at the National Theatre on November 26, 1940, running for 477 performances.

Plot

L. C. Moffat is a strong-willed English school teacher working in a poverty-stricken coal mining village in late 19th century Wales. She struggles to win the local Welsh miners over to her English ways, and an illiterate teenager by the name of Morgan Evans eventually graduates with honors.

Background

Born in 1905, Emlyn Williams grew up in the impoverished coal-mining town of Mostyn in Flintshire, Wales, and spoke only Welsh until the age of eight. He was barely literate, and later said he would probably have begun working in the mines at age 12 if he had not caught the attention of a London social worker named Sarah Grace Cooke. She established a school in Mostyn in 1915, and recognized Williams' aptitude for languages. Over the next seven years she worked with him on his English and helped him prepare to be a teacher. She obtained a scholarship for him in Switzerland, to study French, and when he was 17 she helped him win a scholarship at Christ Church, Oxford. During his studies there Williams had a nervous breakdown, but Cooke encouraged him to write as a way to recover. His first play, Full Moon, was produced while he was still at Oxford. His first success, A Murder Has Been Announced, was staged in 1930, followed by the hit thriller, Night Must Fall (1935). The Corn Is Green is considered Williams' most enduring literary credit.[1][2]

Production

London production

The Corn Is Green premiered September 20, 1938, at the Duchess Theatre in London, following a preview performance at the Manchester Opera House. The play ran 394 performances, closing September 2, 1939.[3]

Cast

Broadway production

Produced and directed by Herman Shumlin, the Broadway production of The Corn Is Green opened November 26, 1940, at the National Theatre. The setting was designed by Howard Bay; costumes were design by Ernest Schrapps. The production transferred to the Royale Theatre on September 9, 1941, and closed January 17, 1942, after a total of 477 performances.[5][6]

Cast

Boys, girls and parents were played by Julia Knox, Amelia Romano, Betty Conibear, Rosalind Carter, Harda Normann, Joseph McInerney, Marcel Dill, Gwilym Williams and Tommy Dix.[7]

Barrymore and Waring reprised their roles in a return engagement—again produced and directed by Herman Shumlin—that ran May 3 – June 19, 1943, at the Martin Beck Theatre.[8]

Revivals

The New York City Theatre Company presented The Corn Is Green January 11–22, 1950, at New York City Center, in a production starring Eva Le Gallienne and Richard Waring.[9]

After 21 previews, a Broadway revival directed by Vivian Matalon and produced by Elizabeth Taylor and Zev Bufman opened on August 22, 1983, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Cicely Tyson portrayed Miss Moffat, with Peter Gallagher as Morgan Evans, Marge Redmond as Mrs. Watty, and Mia Dillon as Bessie Watty. The show closed September 18, 1983, after 32 performances.[10]

In 1985 the play enjoyed a successful revival at the Old Vic Theatre, London, starring Deborah Kerr.

Adaptations

In 1945, a film adaptation was made, with Bette Davis (herself of Welsh descent) as Moffat.

In the late 1970s, Davis returned to the role in a musical stage adaptation that proved to be a disaster. The setting was changed to the American South, with the young man transformed into an African-American college student (portrayed by Dorian Harewood) ignoring his studies in favor of football. It was Miss Moffat's responsibility to help him raise his grades so he can remain on the team. At this point in her life, Davis was far too old for the role and was unable to carry a tune. When the pre-Broadway run opened in Boston, the show was derided by the critics, and it underwent major changes before moving to Philadelphia. There audiences greeted it with catcalls, and it closed before its opening night, never making it to Broadway.

A 1979 made-for-television movie, directed by George Cukor and starring Katharine Hepburn, was filmed on location in Wales.

References

  1. ↑ Krebs, Albin (September 26, 1987). "Emlyn Williams, Welsh Actor and Writer, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
  2. ↑ Folkart, Burt A. (September 26, 1987). "Welsh Dramatist and Actor Emlyn Williams Dies at 81". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
  3. ↑ Wearing, J. P. (2014). The London Stage 1930–1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 702–703. ISBN 9780810893047.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "The Corn Is Green". Variety. October 5, 1938. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  5. ↑ "The Corn Is Green". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  6. ↑ "The Corn is Green". Playbill Vault. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Williams, Emlyn (1941) [1938]. The Corn Is Green. New York: Random House. OCLC 699598.
  8. ↑ "The Corn Is Green". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  9. ↑ "The Corn Is Green". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  10. ↑ "The Corn Is Green". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
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