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The Corn Is Green

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This article is about the play. For the film, see The Corn Is Green (1945 film). For the TV adaptation, see The Corn Is Green (1979 film).

The Corn Is Green is a 1938 semi-autobiographical play by Welsh dramatist and actor Emlyn Williams. The play premiered in London at the Duchess Theatre in September 1938; with Sybil Thorndike as Miss Moffat and Williams himself portraying Morgan Evans, the West End production ran in all for 600 performances. The original Broadway production starred Ethel Barrymore and premiered at the National Theatre in November 1940, running for 477 performances.

The Corn Is Green
U.S. first edition 1941
Written byEmlyn Williams
ChorusChorus of Miners, Towns People, Children
CharactersMorgan Evans, Miss Moffat, Old Tom, Jones, Ms. Ronberry, The Squire, Bessie Watty, Ms. Watty.
Date premieredSeptember 20, 1938 (1938-09-20)
Place premieredDuchess Theatre, London
Original languageEnglish
GenreDrama
SettingGlansarno, a small village in Wales, over the space of three years in the late 19th century.

Plot

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Ethel Barrymore in the original Broadway production of The Corn Is Green (1940)

L.C. Moffat is a strong-willed English school teacher working in a poverty-stricken coal mining village in late 19th century Wales. She struggles to win the local Welsh miners over to her English ways. She takes in Morgan Evans, an illiterate but promising teenager, to prepare him for higher schooling, but finds she must help him deal with the long-term consequences of an impulsive choice he had made earlier.

Background

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Born in 1905, Emlyn Williams grew up in the impoverished coal-mining town of Mostyn in Flintshire, Wales, and spoke only Welsh until the age of eight. He was barely literate, and later said he would probably have begun working in the mines at age 12 if he had not caught the attention of a London social worker named Sarah Grace Cooke. She established a school in Mostyn in 1915, and recognized Williams' aptitude for languages. Over the next seven years she worked with him on his English and helped him prepare to be a teacher. She obtained a scholarship for him in Switzerland, to study French, and when he was 17 she helped him win a scholarship at Christ Church, Oxford. During his studies there Williams had a nervous breakdown, but Cooke encouraged him to write as a way to recover. His first play, Full Moon, was produced while he was still at Oxford. His first success, A Murder Has Been Arranged, was staged in 1930, followed by the hit thriller, Night Must Fall (1935). The Corn Is Green is considered Williams' most enduring literary credit.[1][2]

Production

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London production

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The Corn Is Green, directed by the author, premiered on September 20, 1938 at the Duchess Theatre in London, following a five-week tour that began on August 15. The outbreak of war forced the closure of the Duchess run on September 2, 1939, after 395 performances.[3] The same production then toured for 11 weeks[4] prior to returning to the West End, at the Piccadilly Theatre, on December 19, 1939 and running till June 15, 1940. The combined West End run totalled 600 performances.[5]

Cast

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Broadway production

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Richard Waring and Ethel Barrymore in the Broadway production of The Corn Is Green (1940)
 
Edmund Breon and Thelma Schnee in the Broadway production of The Corn Is Green (1940)

Produced and directed by Herman Shumlin, the Broadway production of The Corn Is Green opened November 26, 1940 at the National Theatre. The setting was designed by Howard Bay; costumes were designed by Ernest Schrapps. The production transferred to the Royale Theatre on September 9, 1941, and closed January 17, 1942, after a total of 477 performances.[7][8]

Cast

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Boys, girls and parents were played by Julia Knox, Amelia Romano, Betty Conibear, Rosalind Carter, Harda Normann, Joseph McInerney, Marcel Dill, Gwilym Williams and Tommy Dix.[9]

Broadway production (return engagement)

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Barrymore and Waring reprised their roles in a return engagement—again produced and directed by Herman Shumlin—that ran May 3 – June 19, 1943 at the Martin Beck Theatre.[7]

Cast

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  • Ethel Barrymore as Miss Moffat[7]
  • Kenneth Clarke as Idwal Morris[7]
  • Peter Harris as John Owen[7]
  • Gwyneth Hughes as Sarah Pugh[7]
  • Bert Kalmar as Will Hughes[7]
  • Eva Leonard-Boyne as Mrs. Watty[7]
  • Esther Mitchell as Miss Ronberry[7]
  • Patrick O'Connor as Robbart Robbatch[7]
  • Gene Ross as Glyn Thomas[7]
  • Lewis L. Russell as The Squire[7]
  • Richard Waring as Morgan Evans[7]
  • Tom E. Williams as John Goronwy Jones[7]
  • J.P. Wilson as Old Tom[7]
  • Perry Wilson as Bessie Watty[7]
  • George Bleasdale A Groom[7]

Reception

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Revivals

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Adaptations

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In 1945, a film adaptation was made with Bette Davis (herself of Welsh descent) as Moffat.

The BBC adapted the play for television in 1968 as a Play of the Month.

In 1974, Davis returned to the role in a musical stage adaptation that proved to be a disaster. The setting was changed to the American South, with the young man transformed into an African-American field worker (portrayed by Dorian Harewood). When the pre-Broadway run opened in Philadelphia, critics were unimpressed. Plans for revisions were cut short when Davis fell ill, and the show closed abruptly after eight performances. The musical later was staged for a short run in Indianapolis with Ginger Rogers as Miss Moffat.[15]

A 1979 made-for-television movie, directed by George Cukor and starring Katharine Hepburn, was filmed on location in Wales.

References

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  1. ^ Krebs, Albin (26 September 1987). "Emlyn Williams, Welsh Actor and Writer, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  2. ^ Folkart, Burt A. (26 September 1987). "Welsh Dramatist and Actor Emlyn Williams Dies at 81". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  3. ^ Wearing, J. P. (2014). The London Stage 1930–1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 702–703. ISBN 9780810893047.
  4. ^ "Production of the Corn is Green | Theatricalia".
  5. ^ 'Dramatic Year II', The Stage 26 December 1940, page 4.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "The Corn Is Green". Variety. 5 October 1938. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "The Corn Is Green". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  8. ^ "The Corn is Green". Playbill Vault. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Williams, Emlyn (1941) [1938]. The Corn Is Green. New York: Random House. OCLC 699598.
  10. ^ Radio Times, Issue 1112, 21 January 1945, p. 18
  11. ^ "Production of The Corn is Green | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  12. ^ "Poster | V&A Search the Collections". V and A Collections. 27 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  13. ^ Hetrick, Adam (14 January 2009). "The Corn Is Green, with Burton and Ritchie, Opens at the Huntington Jan. 14". Playbill. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  14. ^ "The Corn is Green". National Threatre - What's On. 11 February 2020.
  15. ^ "Ginger Rogers "MISS MOFFAT" Joshua Logan 1983 FLOP | #109835501".
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