Salmi Morse's "Passion", 1879-1884: The history and consequences of a theatrical obsession.
Item
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Title
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Salmi Morse's "Passion", 1879-1884: The history and consequences of a theatrical obsession.
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Identifier
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AAI9000055
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identifier
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9000055
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Creator
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Nielsen, Alan Walter.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Edwin Wilson
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Date
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1989
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Theater | History, United States | Law | Literature, American | American Studies
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Abstract
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The study examines the moral controversy surrounding the presentation of America's first professionally produced Passion play. Premiering in San Francisco in 1879, The Passion triggered a religious/legal backlash that resulted in the play's suppression by city authorities and the arrest of most of the cast, including James O'Neill and David Belasco. Morse, the playwright, then took his play to New York City, where, over the next four years, facing similar outrage, he tried unsuccessfully to secure a production.;Examining in detail the ministerial and legal objections to The Passion, this study argues that Morse and his play were in large part the victims of Protestant/Catholic conflicts at play in nineteenth-century America, and that the collusion among the pulpit, the press and politicians that resulted in the play's suppression by secular authorities reflected the struggle being waged by the Protestant establishment to maintain control over a changing urban immigrant society. Also examined is the long history of antagonism toward the stage institutionalized by the established colonial churches, and still embodied in the by-laws of most nineteenth-century Protestant sects.;But more than simply offering an instructive example of Victorian moral censorship, the story behind The Passion also emerges as a surprising landmark in American theatrical law. For Salmi Morse attempted to defend his right to present his play by citing the First Amendment, one of the first known instances in which the proposition that a play is a form of "speech" protected by the U.S. Constitution was debated on a national level. It is, of course, a debate that continues today.;Addressing as it does American theatre history, constitutional history, religious, social, political and even film history, this work adopts the broad "American Studies" methodology, attempting to place the principals and events in the full context of American society in the 1880s. Written for the general reader, the author has not assumed an extensive knowledge of American theatre history; thus, the material contained herein is intended to be accessible to interested readers in other disciplines.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
