Street scene

Street scene
   Although Elmer Rice experimented with many techniques emerging from the European modernist theatre, particularly expressionism (as in his 1923 drama The Adding Machine), he turned to naturalism with Street Scene (originally titled Landscape with Figures), a drama of the American melting pot set in a New York City tenement. Emphasizing the impact of poverty and the ethnic and religious tensions in 1920s urban life, this multicharacter work featured strains of humor, melodrama, and tragedy. It is set on a single day on which Sam Kaplan, a young Jewish intellectual, and Rose Maurrant, a working-class Irish girl, become soul mates. Their budding understanding is torn apart when Rose's father, Frank, murders her mother, Anna, and her mother's lover. Rose declines an offer to become a businessman's mistress as well as Sam's offer of marriage, deciding to rely on herself. After an emotional farewell with her father, Rose takes her young brother away to live in the suburbs where she will work to care for them. Rice stresses the socioeconomic plight of the various ethnic minorities depicted and the collisions resulting from their differences and deprivations. Despite a Pulitzer Prize and an impressive 601 performances in its original Broadway run, which opened on 10 January 1929 at the Playhouse Theatre, Street Scene is rarely revived in part because of its large cast and technical requirements. A motion picture version of Street Scene appeared in 1930, but has had a more enduring life in a nearly operatic musical adaptation of the same name by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Langston Hughes, first produced in 1947.

The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. .

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  • Street Scene — may refer to: * Street Scene (play), a Pulitzer Prize winning play by Elmer Rice * Street Scene (opera), a Broadway musical or, more precisely, an American opera based on Rice s play * Street Scene (1931 film), directed by King Vidor, also based… …   Wikipedia

  • Street Scene —    Drame de King Vidor, d après la pièce d Elmer Rice, avec Sylvia Sidney, William Collier Jr., Max Mantor, David Landau, Estelle Taylor.   Pays: États Unis   Date de sortie: 1931   Technique: noir et blanc   Durée: 1 h 20    Résumé    Par une… …   Dictionnaire mondial des Films

  • Street Scene — Musicaldaten Titel: Eine Straße in New York Originaltitel: Street Scene Originalsprache: Englisch Musik: Kurt Weill Buch: Elmer Rice Liedtexte: Langston Hughes Litera …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Street Scene (opera) — Street Scene is a Broadway musical or, more precisely, an American opera by Kurt Weill (music), Langston Hughes (lyrics), and Elmer Rice (book), based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name by Rice. For his work on Street Scene ,… …   Wikipedia

  • Street Scene (play) — Street Scene is a play by Elmer Rice that opened at the Playhouse Theatre in New York City on January 10, 1929 and ran for a total of 601 performances. The action of this ambitious, groundbreaking play takes place entirely on the front stoop of a …   Wikipedia

  • Street Scene (San Diego music festival) — This article is about Street Scene (San Diego); for other meanings, see Street Scene (disambiguation).infobox music festival music festival name = Street Scene location = Coors Amphitheatre, Chula Vista, California, United States years active=… …   Wikipedia

  • Street Scene (1931 film) — Infobox Film name = Street Scene image size = caption = DVD cover art director = King Vidor producer = Samuel Goldwyn writer = Elmer Rice narrator = starring = Estelle Taylor David Landau Sylvia Sidney William Collier Beulah Bondi music = Alfred… …   Wikipedia

  • The Street Scene — is a basic model for epic theater set forth by Bertolt Brecht. It makes use of a simple, natural incident, such as could be seen on any street corner: an eyewitness demonstrating to a collection of people how a traffic accident took place. The… …   Wikipedia

  • Street skateboarding — is the act of riding a skateboard on paved surface, whether that surface is found at a public school, a shopping mall, or somewhere else. Street skating, as it is most commonly known among skaters, may include skate tricks such as ollies, or… …   Wikipedia

  • street — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ broad, wide ▪ narrow ▪ bustling, busy, congested, crowded ▪ pedestrian …   Collocations dictionary

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