The Theatre. The New Comedy by Mrs. Mowatt.

[Poe, Edgar Allan.] “The Theatre. The New Comedy by Mrs. Mowatt.” In The Broadway Journal. Eds. C. F. Briggs, Edgar A. Poe, and Henry C. Watson. Vol. 1; no. 13. New York: John Brisco, 1845-46. 203-205.

From the Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature.

The Critics II

The Broadway Journal

The Broadway Journal centered around literary notices, book reviews, poetry, prose, biographies of writers, articles on the fine arts, politics, and theatre reviews. The journal was founded and initially edited by Charles F. Briggs, but later Edgar Allan Poe took over the majority of the editing and the publishing. Promoting his literary career, Poe published many of his own stories and poems.

Theatrical reviews found a small, but notable, place in each journal. In the March 29, 1845, issue, Poe reviewed at length Fashion by Anna Cora Mowatt. Although the play enjoyed popular success, Poe was initially less than enthusiastic in his comments:

We presume that not even the author of a plot such as this, would be disposed to claim for it any thing on the score of originality or invention. Had it, indeed, been designed as a burlesque upon the arrant conventionality of stage incidents in general, we should have regarded it as a palpable hit. And, indeed, while on the point of absolute unoriginality, we may as well include in one category both the events and the characters…Compared with the generality of modern dramas, it is a good play—compared with most American dramas it is a very good one—estimated by the natural principles of dramatic art, it is altogether unworthy of notice.

However, Poe went on to write more about Fashion, seeing the show “every night since its first production; making careful note of its merits and defects as they were more and more distinctly developed in the gradually perfected representation of the play.”

Walter Prichard Eaton

Theatre critic, author, and educator, Walter Prichard Eaton wielded much influence in the American theatre during the first half of the twentieth century through his outspoken critical commentaries. A somewhat conservative critic, Eaton contributed to various newspapers and theatrical journals, including The New York Tribune, The New York Sun, the American Magazine, and Drama. He taught modern drama and dramatic criticism at universities such as Columbia University and the Cambridge School of Drama. Eaton wrote several books on theatre including The American Stage Today (1908), The Actor’s Heritage (1924), and The Theatre Guild: The First Ten Years (1929). Eaton also served as a member of the jury that awarded the Pulitzer Prize for playwriting.

Shown are three letters from the Walter Prichard Eaton Collection, in the Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature, from playwrights responding to Mr. Eaton’s criticism.

At right: Autograph letter, signed, from Amélie [Rives Chanler] Troubetskoy to the Editor in Chief of The Public Ledger. 30 March 1916.

It really is not fair that the “dramatic critics” should be privileged to say whatsoever enters their minds about poor dramatists, while the latter must sit meekly and never utter a retort…I am really rather bored with these pea-cocking critics. I don’t care for peacocks anyway. They always strut about one’s garden to eat the heart out of the lettuce plants and nip off every pleasant bloom they pass!

At right: Typed letter, signed, from George S. Kaufman to Walter Prichard Eaton. 29 December 1931.

At right: Typed letter, signed, from Richard Rodgers to Walter Prichard Eaton. 10 August 1950.