Part II - Introduction

Summary

Throughout the nineteenth century, the lack of an international copyright agreement as well as the difficulties of ensuring both publication and production rights within a single country had had a chilling effect upon dramatic writing. There was virtually no tradition of dramatic literature in English during that time. Even today, much of what was written or produced then has been lost or exists only in fragments. By the 1890s, however, the situation had improved greatly as adequate legal protection created better conditions for writing, better conditions allowed for a greater volume of production, and a greater volume meant more noteworthy plays for the dramatic publishing industry to print, advertise, and sell. Besides the stalwart Samuel French Company, early twentieth-century play publishers included Walter H. Baker Company, Dramatic Publishing Company, Penn Company, Dick and Fitzgerald Company, and the Eldridge Company – all of which had a ready audience in the members of newly formed cultural clubs such as the American Drama Society (1909), the MacDowell Club (1910), and the Drama League (1911) (Kozelka 606).

Founded in Chicago by the city's Woman's Club, the Drama League began as a screening committee to identify which local commercial theatre offerings were worth patronizing (and, indirectly, which were not). From its reviews published in the club's newsletter, to a backlist of recommended titles fit for reading or producing amateur theatricals, the committee's influence grew, inspiring woman's clubs around the country to adopt its regulative function in their own local communities.