User:AStreetCarNamedDesire2014/sandbox

The American Clock
Farmer in despair over the depression in 1932. - NARA - 512819
Written by	Arthur Miller
Characters	Over Fifty
Original language	English
Setting	United States of America (various)

The American Clock is a play by Arthur Miller. Written and Performed in 1980, the play is about families or individuals living in 1930's America during The Great Depression. It is based in part on Studs Terkel's Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression. Arthur Miller strived to make a play about the '29 crash that reflected the wider awareness of the people at the time. Miller wanted to show intimate lives of individuals like the Baum's family (one of the main families of the play). He also related the characters strongly to his own personal family and experiences he had with the Great Depression . Struggling with the identity of his play, Miller revised his play in 1984, stating that The American Clock was not complete when it was first put on . In the 1984 Mark Taper production was the closest to what Arthur Miller wanted in his production and accomplished his original vision. Even the New York Times felt that The American Clock needed a revision from the previous performances and explained their opinions in their editorial published in the 1980's. In 1986, Peter Wood did his own hilarious rendition of the Mark Taper play at the British National Theatre. This production made Arthur Miller revise his production into a vaudeville.

Characters

• Theodore K. Quinn
• Lee Baum
• Rose Baum (Lee's Mother)
• Moe Baum (Lee's Father)
• Arthur A. Robertson
• Clarence (a shoeshine man)
• Frank (the Baum's chauffeur)
• Fanny Margolies (Rose's Sister)
• Grandpa (Rose's Father)
• Sidney Margolies (Fanny's son)
• Lucille (Fanny's niece)
• Dr. Rosman
• Jesse Livermore (financier)
• William Durant (financier)
• Arthur Clayton (financier)
• Tony (Speakeasy Owner)
• Diana Morgan
• Henry Taylor (a farmer)
• Irene (A middle-aged black woman)
• Banks (a black veteran)
• Joe (a boyhood friend of Lee's)
• Mrs. Taylor (Henry's Wife)
• Harriet Taylor (their daughter)
• Judge Bradley
• Frank Howard (an auctioneer)
• Miss Fowler (Quinn's secretary)
• Graham (a New York Times Reporter)
• Isaac (a black café proprietor)
• Brewster (a farmer)
• Charley (a farmer)
• Doris Gross (the landlady's daughter)
• Stanislaus (a seaman)
• Ralph (a student)
• Rudy (a student)
• Isabel (a prostitute)
• Ryan (a federal relief supervisor)
• People at the relief office: Matthew R. Bush, Grace, Kapush, Dugan, Toland, and Lucy
• Edie (a comic-strip artist)
• Waiter
• Thief
• Farmers
• Bidders
• Sheriff
• Deputies
• Marathon Dancers
• Welfare Worker
• Soldiers

Plot Summary

The American Clock has some fifty characters, but mainly centers on the Baum family. The main focus of the family is their son, Lee Baum, as they face the downfall known as the Great Depression. Lee is wants to be a writer in a world where writers aren’t wanted or needed . He wants to attend the college but the Great Depression strikes and his family can’t afford it right away. He saves up his money and eventually gets to go the cheapest college around. He does want to attend a free college that requires students to study bacteriology, but his mother, Rose, convinces him to stick with his dreams. While Lee is at college, his mother and father are sent into debt along with the rest of America. Lee decides to send his father to a relief office to get money from the government. They see a cruel scene of a starving man not getting financial relief because he still owns furniture in his apartment. Moe and Lee then come up with a plan to have one another hate each other in order to get the financial aid with no problem. This ‘fake’ hate actually spurs some real hate between father and son about their beliefs. It goes through Lee's life, but using the other characters as perspective. You get the horror of the Great Depression from the other characters while Lee is at college or doing something else. These scenes don't seem to have anything to do with the plot, other than to give the audience context of the hardships of the time. Since this is a vaudeville, some songs are added in scenes. The songs are just a few lyrics and which all the characters jump in. The song is usually after something tragic has happened or when something tragic is going to happen. Songs like "I Found a Million Dollar Baby in a Five-and Ten-Cent Store" or "In New York City, You Really Got to Know Your Line" . This adds to the whole feeling of the play, rather than the actual plot.

Brief Character Synopsis

The Baum family is the main focus, but Arthur Miller has added other characters in the mix. Each of these characters is connected someway to the other characters, either by meeting or scenario. There is Henry Taylor, a farmer, who loses his house to the bank and watches the auction turn into a mob. The mob threatens to hang the Sheriff and the bidders if they bid. So the auction continues and the other neighbors by the house for one dollar and give it back to Taylor. He is thankful but feels like he cheated the American system of doing things. Taylor is later seen in the play coming to the Baums for food. Another character is Irene, a prostitute who sells love for dental work. There is Sidney, a man who wants to write songs for a living and is forced to marry the landlord’s daughter to keep his mother’s apartment. They end up falling in love and being the only married couple not to divorce. There is Fanny, mother of Sidney and sister of Rose, who appears to be handling the Great Depression with ease. There is a Mr. Robertson who pops in now and again to be the narrator or transition to a different scene. He comes in to deliver a short line of dialogue before each new scene starts and even sometimes before his own. He appears as a character in scenes with Ted Quinn, another character that comes in to have conversations with Mr. Robertson.

Performance History

The premier of The American Clock was first at the Harold Clurman Theatre in New York City and was opened on May 24, 1980 the Spoleto Festival's Docside Theatre in Charlestown, South Carolina . This was the first production and was appalled by critics, such as the New York Times, because of its unfinished feeling . The American Clock was later put on [Broadway (theatre)|Broadway]] was at the Biltmore Theatre. They started on November 20, 1980 and closed on November 30, 1980 after 12 performances. The most noticeable in the cast was Miller's younger sister, Joan Copeland, who won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Rose Baum.. The opening in London was on August 15, 1986 at the Cottesloe Theatre of the National Theatre. Later that year it moved to the Olivier Theatre of the National Theatre and opened on December 19, 1986. This opening was directed by Peter Wood and lead to Arthur Miller's revision of the original production .

The American Clock Movie

The movie of Arthur Miller "American Clock" was published to TV in 1993. It was published in the USA and follows the original production of The American Clock. It has an approximate run time of 92 minutes . The characters names are changed but it still follows the original story line. The movie was nominated for two awards: Best Supporting Actor and Best Sound Editing Award. The CableACE Best Supporting Actor award nomination was for John Rubinstein who played the movie rendition of Moe. The second nomination for an award was by Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA .

References

Category:1980 plays Category:Plays by Arthur Miller Category:Broadway plays