The Tree (American play)
The Tree is a 1932 American play by Richard Maibaum about lynching. It had a short run in Iowa then was picked up for a short run on Broadway. It was Maibaum's first Broadway play.[1] |Robert Rossen directed and the prodution launched his career.[2]
Premise
[edit]A woman is loved by several men. One of them, a white man, murders her but the crime is blamed on a black man who is then lynched.
Critical reception
[edit]The play was reviewed favorably by Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times and by Burns Mantle in the New York News. The Afro-American noted that it was the third Broadway play that season to feature the topic of lynching.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ "Tree rates many reviews in New York". Iowa City Press-Citizen. 19 April 1932. p. 2.
- ^ McGilligan, Patrick (1986). "Richard Maibaum: A Pretence of Seriousness". Backstory: Interviews with Screenwriters of Hollywood's Golden Age. University of California Press. p. 266–89 at p 272.
- ^ "Lynching again theme of play on Broadway". The Afro-American. April 23, 1932.