Abstract
This chapter makes the case that the Little Theatre movement in the United States was a unique outgrowth of the Chicago Renaissance’s diversity, values, and networks. The chapter provides a list of Little Theatre characteristics - including artistic exchange, philanthropy, ensemble theater practice, trends in dramatic literature, and development in theater design - evident in Mary Reynolds Aldis’s work with her Lake Forest Players between 1911 and 1916. By putting the Lake Forest Players in context with Laura Dainty Pelham’s Hull-House Players and Maurice Browne and Ellen Van Volkenburg’s Chicago Little Theatre, the chapter makes clear both how the city’s artistic boom helped create the Little Theatre movement and how the practices that these early Little Theatres in Chicago developed became standard for contemporary non-profit theatre in Chicago and in the United States.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Chicago |
Subtitle of host publication | A Literary History |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press, |
Pages | 208-221 |
Number of pages | 14 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781108763738 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781108477512 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 1 2021 |
Keywords
- Chicago Little Theatre
- Chicago Renaissance
- Ensemble
- Hull-House Players
- Irish Players of the Abbey Theatre
- Lake Forest Players
- Little Theatre movement
- Mary Reynolds Aldis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Arts and Humanities