Sidney Kingsley The following is an annotated, secondary bibliography of publications on the drama of Sidney Kingsley. The scope is inclusive of material published in the U.S. after 1970, a time when social concerns brought renewed interest in Kingsley's plays, particularly Men in White, Dead End, and Detective Story. To date, one important primary and secondary bibliography is available. Michael L. Counts' bio-bibliographical essay and checklist provides a survey of important books, interviews, articles, and reviews published during the 1930s, '40s, '50s and the early '60s, thereby covering the period when Kingsley's plays were being produced for the stage (Counts 1995). The purpose of this compilation was to extend and update Counts' work and other secondary bibliography. It accomplishes that by providing a survey of new scholarship and commentary, covering interviews, film reviews, and dissertations after 1970. It also provides documentation of significant festivals and revival productions in the U.S. Students and interested researchers should also consult Nena Couch's scholarly edition of prizewinning plays (1995). Couch gives us authoritative editions complemented with the context that surrounded Kingsley's life and work. This compilation begins with general reference and bibliographical sources, followed by interviews, dissertations and theses. Plays having received critical attention and or significant revival productions follow. Of note: I discovered revivals only for Dead End and Detective Story. Entries for these plays are primarily composed of newspaper pieces offering commentary or review. Men in White, on the other hand, had no revivals of note, but received a good amount of critical attention. Entries for this play consist of articles and essays bringing critical treatment and or useful context on the play's writing and production. Those entries are arranged alphabetically by author with a separate section titled "Other Related" made up of articles and essays that focus on themes in Men in White or reference the play in broad treatment on the portrayal of medical doctors in popular media. A list of the sources I consulted in the process of compiling this bibliography, other than those listed in the "Reference and Bibliography" section, are noted on pages 7-8. Sidney Kingsley: Five Prizewinning Plays. Ed. Nena Couch. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University Press, 1995. Print. Counts, Michael L. "Sidney Kingsley." American Playwrights, 1880-1945: A Research and Production Sourcebook. Ed. William W. Demastes. Westport: Greenwood, 1995. 251-261. Print. Reference and Bibliography Bailey, Paul M. "Sidney Kingsley." Twentieth-Century American Dramatists: Dictionary of Literary Biography. 2 vols. Detroit: Gale, 1981. Print. Bio-bibliographical essay. Primary sources and selected list of secondary sources. Bonin, Jane F. Prize-Winning American Drama: a Bibliographical & Descriptive Guide. Metuchen: New Jersey, Scarecrow Press, 1973. Print. Consists of plays awarded one or more of five prizes including the Pulitzer. Arranged chronologically
by theatre season, plays are described with commentary. Included are scene synopses, brief histories, bibliographical overviews describing critical reception, and a listing of characters in each play. Covers Men in White, The Patriots, and Darkness at Noon. Broadway Song & Story: Playwrights, Lyricists, Composers Discuss their Hits. Ed. Otis L. Guernsey, Jr. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1985. Print. Contains transcripts of discussions and interviews that took place over several years in symposia sponsored by the Dramatists Guild. Divided into three parts, the first features discussions among original participants of on-and-off Broadway landmark hits; part two features interviews with established dramatists, Sidney Kingsley included; and part 3 contains discussions on authorship in play and musical theatre. Carpenter, Charles A. Modern Drama Scholarship and Criticism 1981-1990: an International Bibliography. Toronto: U Toronto Press, 1997. Print. Consists of four citations, arranged (by) and (about), not duplicated in Counts' bibliography (1995). Enser's Filmed Books and Plays : a List of Books and Plays from which Films have been made, 1928-2001. Comp. Ellen Baskin. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2003. Print. Cites studio information, release dates and directors for Kingsley's plays made into film: Dead End, Detective Story, Men in White, and The Patriots. Leonard, William Tolbert. "'Men in White'." Theatre: Stage to Screen to Television. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1981. Print. Opens with a synopsis of the play with excerpts from commentary and reviews. Contains details of stage, screen, and television productions, including facts on openings, number of performances, names of directors and producers, cast members, and sets. Lewis, Allan. " The Emergent Deans Kingsley, Inge, and Company." American Plays and Playwrights of the Contemporary Theatre. Rev. ed. New York: Crown, 1970. Print. Critical essay on Kingsley's career and influence in the "the theatre of realism." Miller, Jordan Y. and Winifred L. Frazer. American Drama Between the Wars: a Critical History. Boston: Twayne, 1991. Twayne's Critical History of American Drama. Print. Discusses the writing and staging of Men in White, Dead End, Ten Million Ghosts, The World We Make, and The Patriots. Salem, James M. A Guide to Critical Reviews: Part I: American Drama, 1909-1982. 3rd ed. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1984. Print. Details opening productions with selected reviews for Darkness at Noon, Dead End, Detective Story, Lunatics and Lovers, Men in White, Night Life, The Patriots, Ten Million Ghosts, and The World We Make.
"Sidney Kingsley." Critical Survey of Drama. 2nd rev. ed. 2003. Literary Reference Center. Web. 14 April 2009. Bio-bibliographical essay and analysis of Kingsley's major plays. Includes bibliography. "Sidney Kingsley" IBDB: Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League, 2009. Web. 4 June 2009. Brief biography followed with a list of productions each linked to performance and production details. Includes credits and cast. Interview Kingsley, Sidney. "Conversations with Sidney Kingsley." Interviewed by Ruth Goetz and John Guare. Dramatists Guild Quarterly 21:3 (1984): 21-31. Print. Transcript from 1984 Dramatists Guild program series titled "Conversations With" a symposia that provided dramatists an opportunity to interview prominent playwrights. Discussion focuses on Kingsley's work in the Group Theatre and the development of his plays Men in White, Dead End, Detective Story, and Darkness at Noon. Dissertations and Theses Melillo, Joseph V. A production study and text of the play Detective Story by Sidney Kingsley as presented at Catholic University of America. Thesis. Catholic University of America, 1972. Master Microfilm, 1972. Print. Clark, Richard McConnell. A Critical Analysis of Eight Selected Plays of Sidney Kingsley. Diss. City University of New York, 1976. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1976. Print. Gorgan Roodi, Gholam Reza Sami. 'A dark fairyland': America in the American Social and Political Drama of the 1930's: a Study of Plays by Maxwell Anderson, Elmer Rice, Robert E. Sherwood, Lillian Hellman, Sidney Kingsley and Clifford Odets. Thesis/diss. Brighton: University of Sussex, 2004. Print. Men in White Morphos, Evangeline. "Sidney Kingsley's 'Men in White.'" The Drama Review 28:4 (1984): 13-22. JSTOR. Web. 4 June 2009. Describes the development of Men in White as produced by the Group Theatre. Contains excerpts of comments from producers and actors. Raben, Estelle Manette. "'Men in White' and 'Yellow Jack' as Mirrors of the Medical Profession." Literature and Medicine 12:1 (1993): 19-41. Periodicals Archive Online. Web. 6 June 2009.
Discusses the influence of the plays and the historical, social, and economic conditions that informed their dramatic portrayal of the American doctor as seen in medical dramas today. It also looks at the still relevant tensions between science and medicine, profit and practice, and social concerns such as abortion and government sponsored healthcare. Smith, Wendy. Real Life Drama: The Group Theatre and America, 1931-1940. New York: Knopf, 1990. Print. Provides an account of the history and background of the Group Theatre, its period of decline and subsequent renewal brought about by the staging of Men in White. Portrays the people involved and the decisions involved in acquiring the script, the tensions between actors and directors, and the play's ultimate success. Wider, Todd. "The Positive Image of the Physician in American Cinema." Journal of Popular Film and Television 17:4 (1990): 139-152. Print. Discusses the influence of Men in White and other films that portray physicians as self-sacrificing heroes and central focus in hospital drama. Other Related Brock, D. Heyward. "The Doctor as Dramatic Hero." Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 34 (1991): 279-295. Print. A study on the portrayal of doctors in drama beginning with the sixteenth century and their emergence over time as a central dramatic character. Contains a brief analysis of Men in White in this context. Garner, Stanton B. "Is There a Doctor in the House? Medicine and the Making of Modern Drama." Modern Drama 51:3 (2008). Project Muse. Web. 10 October 2009. This article looks at the intersections of theatre and medicine in modern drama with a focus on realism. Lederer, Susan E. "Repellent Subjects: Hollywood Censorship and Surgical Images in the 1930s." Literature and Medicine 17.1 (1998) 91-113. John Hopkins University Press. Project Muse. Web. 4 June 2009. Describes the influence of the Motion Picture Production Code Administration (PCA) and the monitoring of the film industry. Focuses on acceptable content in hospital drama of the 1930's as portrayed in such plays as Men in White. Markel, Howard. "Men in White: The Operating Room's Debut into Popular American Culture." JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association 302.21 (2009). Web. 10 Oct. 2009. An essay looking back from today's medical reality TV to early medical dramas. Treatment is given of Kingsley's Broadway hit, MGM's version in film, and the Three Stooges' parody, Men in Black.
Detective Story 41 st Annual Shaw Festival Theatre Production of Detective Story. Niagara-on-the-Lake Ontario, Canada. May 23-Sept. 23, 2002. "A Good Guy with Depth." Toronto Star 23 May 2002, Ontario ed.: sec. Entertainment. Lexis Nexis. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. Coulbourn, John. "Arresting Tale: 'Detective Story' Investigates One Cop's Hard Nature." The Toronto Sun 25 May 2002, final ed. Lexis Nexis. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. Cushman, Robert. "The Lineup is Simply Brilliant." National Post (Canada) 27 May 2002. Toronto ed.: sec. Arts & Life. Lexis Nexis. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. Portman, Jamie. "Police Work: The Shaw Festival Features Revival of Provocative 1949 Play 'Detective Story'." The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec) 4 May 2002. sec.: Arts & Entertainment. Lexis Nexis. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. Tanitch, Robert. "Shaw Festival 2002." Theatre Record 22:19 (2002): 1258-1259. Print. Taylor, Kate. "Testing the limits of law and order." The Globe and Mail (Canada) 25 May 2002. sec.: Weekend Review. Lexis Nexis. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. Marcuson, Lewis R. The Stage Immigrant: the Irish, Italians, and Jews in American Drama, 1920-1960. New York: Garland, 1990. European Immigrants and American Society: a Collection of Studies and Dissertations. Print. Studies the portrayal of three immigrant groups in major plays of the period. Offers analysis on both Dead End and Detective Story. Weinberg-Harter, George. "'Detective Story' at Lamb's Players Theatre." Back Stage West 10:10 (2003). Lexis Nexis. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. Dead End Brantley, Ben. "When Poor were Perky as if Life were Swell." The New York Times 15 July 1997, late ed: sec. C. ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Web. 2 Sept. 2009. Hartigan, Patti. "Brave Beginnings with 'Dead End' Huntington's Depression-Era Drama Makes Contemporary Statement." The Boston Globe 15 Sept. 2000, third ed.: sec. Stage Review. Lexis Nexis. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. Knight, Tiffany. "'Dead End.'" Theatre Journal 58:3 (2006): 506-507. Project Muse. Web. 30 July 2009. Maeder, Jay. "From 'Dead End'... The Dead End Kids Chapter 41." Daily News (New York) 14 April 2002.
Lexis Nexis. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. Marcuson, Lewis R. The Stage Immigrant: the Irish, Italians, and Jews in American Drama, 1920-1960. New York: Garland, 1990. European Immigrants and American Society: a Collection of Studies and Dissertations. Print. Studies the portrayal of three immigrant groups in major plays of the period. Includes analysis for both Dead End and Detective Story. Reynolds, R. C. Stage Left: The Development of the American Social Drama in the Thirties. New York: Whitston, 1986. Print. Offers critical analysis on Dead End and a discussion of its influence in the development of social drama. Describes critical and audience reception. Center Theatre Production of Dead End at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles. Sept. 7-Oct. 16, 2005. Hirschhorn, Joel. "A Center Theater Group Presentation Play in Three Acts by Sidney Kingsley." Daily Variety 8 Sept. 2005. Lexis Nexis. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. Hirschhorn, Joel. "'Dead End'." Variety. 12-18 September 2005, sec: LEGIT REVIEWS. Lexis Nexis. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. Lacher, Irene. "Theater Chief in Los Angeles Looks Forward From Past." The New York Times 6 April 2005, late ed.: sec. E. Lexis Nexis. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. Margolies, Dany. "Opening this Week: 'Dead End': Lively Beginnings." Back Stage West 12:37 (2005). Lexis Nexis. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. Spindle, Les. "'Dead End' at the Ahmanson Theatre." Back Stage West 12:38 (2005). Lexis Nexis. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. Spindle, Les. "Stage Spot." Back Stage West 12:40, 15 Sept. 2005. Lexis Nexis. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. Waxman, Sharon. "Splashing in the Waters Of an Onstage Slum." The New York Times 31 Aug. 2005, late ed.: sec. E. Lexis Nexis. Web. 23 Aug. 2009. Dead End at the Williamstown Theatre Festival July 14-20, 1997. Dyer, Richard. "Play in Three Acts by Sidney Kingsley." The Boston Globe July 1997, city ed.: sec. Arts & Film. Lexis Nexis. Web. 4 June 2009. Karamcut, Edward. "Despite Splendid Acting, 'Dead End' seems dated Theatre." The Patriot Ledger. 19 July 1997. Lexis Nexis. Web. 4 June 2009. Sommer, Elyse. "'Dead End.'" Curtain Up: The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features,
Annotated Listings. 1997. Web. 4 June 2009. A substantive review of the play directed by Nicholas Martin. Includes interesting facts on its 1935 Broadway opening performance including an excerpt from Kingsley's stage directions. Huntington Theatre Company's Production of Dead End, Boston, September 8-October 16, 2001. Dezell, Maureen. "'Dead End' New Tradition with the Depression-Era Drama, The Huntington Begins a Fresh Era in Local Theater." The Boston Globe 3 Sept. 2000, third ed.: N1. Lexis Nexis. Web. 12 Oct. 2009. Dirks, Arthur. "New England Theatre in Review: Huntington Theatre Company." New England Theatre Journal 12 (2001): 215-218. International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance. Web. 8 Sept. 2009. Frieze, David. "Regional Roundup." Back Stage 41 :41 (2000): 23. Lexis Nexis. Web. 10 Oct. 2009. Nesti, Robert. "The Breeding Grounds." Bay Windows (2000): N. Lexis Nexis. Web. 10 Oct. 2009. White, Karen. "Making a Splash." Stage Directions 14:2 (2001): 26-27. Lexis Nexis. Web. 10 Oct. 2009. The following is a listing of sources I consulted during the process of constructing this bibliography. Online Databases 1. Books and Parts of Books Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL) Global Books in Print Google Scholar Advanced Scholar Search MLA International Bibliography of Books and Articles on the Modern Languages and Literatures WorldCat and WorldCat Dissertations and Theses 2. Articles Academic OneFile Academic Search Premier Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL) Arts & Humanities Citation Index Film & Television Literature Index Google Scholar Advanced Scholar Search Humanities International Complete (includes American Humanities Index) International Bibliography of Periodical Literature (IBZ) International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance International Index to the Performing Arts JSTOR: The Scholarly Journal Archive Literature Resource Center MLA International Bibliography of Books and Articles on the Modern Languages and Literatures
Periodical Archives Periodicals Index 3. Newspaper Pieces Historical Newspapers (Times London 1906-1980) Lexis Nexis (1999-2009) Newspaper Source (1995-2009) Sources in Print Annual Checklists in Modern Drama (1991-1999) [continues Modern Drama Scholarship] Essay and General Literature Index (1970-1999) Humanities Index (1974-2004) International Bibliography of Theatre (1982-1999) Modern Drama Scholarship and Criticism, 1981-1990 Theatre History Studies: A Twenty-Year Index, 1981-2000 (TRI) Theatre Record (1981-2009) Readers Guide to Periodical Literature, Annual Cumulations (1970-2009)