Dramaturg's Statement

Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman delivered the Man Who Came to Dinner in 1939 as a love letter to the rich, famous and powerful of the time period. Most notably, the “man” in the Man Who Came to Dinner was based on real life friend of the playwrights and famed critic and curmudgeon, Alexander Woollcott. Unable to come up with a working plot for their Woollcott vehicle they had all but dismissed the idea until Alexander barged into an estate unannounced and proceeded to terrorize the home’s staff and family—thus, the Man Who Came to Dinner was born. The first printed edition of the play contained the inscription "To Alexander Woollcott, for reasons that are nobody's business." In addition to “Whiteside” (aka Woollcott) other characters bear unmistakable resemblances to people of the times. Most recognizably, Banjo was modeled after Harpo Marx and Beverly Carlton after Noel Coward. These references provide a sort of character study guide for those cast in these parts to pick and choose what to embellish and play with. Herein also lies the primary challenge for both actors and the production team: taking a piece that is so time specific (and in this case, 70 years ago) and making the jokes relevant and readable to a modern audience. Few people attending a show will realize the humor in Zasu Pitts, Sam Goldwyn, or a Salvator Dali mention, to name a few. Therefore, physicality and imitation will have to suffice when carrying out Whiteside’s lengthy, name dropping- stained monologues.

The Man Who Came to Dinner is ideal for a university setting, given the generous list of characters. In production history, several theatres have found it necessary to double cast but in our educational setting, I suspect casting the show will prove an easy feat. (Though perhaps, provide a costumer nightmares.) However, with so many eccentric characters- it’s easy to confuse an audience. Without distinct character choices and going too crazy with character quirks, actors must be mindful to both stand out and simultaneously not steal away from the chief action of Maggie, Lorraine and Whiteside to avoid audience overload and also to give the characters more believability. With many modern audiences, the show seems to adopt a farcical edge with the onslaught of characters and slapstick. While, this was more than likely unintended by the playwrights, the devices of farce might prove useful in this production. The show length constitutes an issue. In some cases, over three hours with two intermissions, many reviews comment it “is so slow to pick up” that revising the script would be viable, if not recommended. Many productions have trimmed off twenty minutes or so, mainly from the first act that in essence, over- establishes the ill behaviors of Sheridan Whiteside.

Technically speaking, the Man Who Came to Dinner fails to present anything I would consider to be very problematic. The set is fairly no-nonsense and the Dramatists script provides the set plot, prop list, and sheet music for Beverly’s reprise. The prop closet upon closing the show will have to make room for a slew of very specialized pieces that will likely have to be constructed. A cockroach hotel, a life-side mummy case and a penguin crate are the front-runners of this undertaking. Almost a character unto itself is of course, the 1930’s wheelchair that provides residence to Whiteside’s “rosy bottom” for almost the entirety of the run. Props such as the latter, the phones, and the décor all should pay homage accurately to the 1930s to ensure the world of the play remains intact for both the actors and audience’s sake. As mentioned earlier, costumes might prove problematic, given the size of the cast. However, in the 1930’s much of the clothing was very non-descript due to the Depression, so most character’s attire (apart from Whiteside or Lorraine) should either already be in stock or fairly inexpensive to construct.

Whiteside’s character bears a lot of criticism largely due to the sheer amount of stage time. He is the sun this zany world revolves around. One of the most vital things to bear in mind that while Whiteside is to be an insufferable bully, he also needs to portray a fully- realized human being. The audience must empathize with him in addition to the people he terrorizes. The only way to ensure this happens is to make these characters round and relatable. The Man Who Came to Dinner might be catalogued as a time capsule of a comedy, but Hart and Kaufman also recognized the importance of situations and characters that have ultimately stood the test of time: seventy years later, their characters gone, the Man Who Came to Dinner still sees the lights of a stage.