The story of Tobacco Road was quickly adapted into a stage version with the same name and it had its first performance in December 1933. This play would soon become the longest-running play in history with 3,182 performances in total. (This was later defeated by Life with Father, currently the longest-running play in history, in the late 1940s with 3,224 performances.) This stage version was banned for multiple years in several places including Chicago, Detroit, and the entire United Kingdom due to the belief that the play was extremely malevolent, immoral, and even grotesque. This poses the question as to how such a seemingly revolting play could do so well and eventually earn the title of being the longest-running play in history.
Tobacco Road's success as a novel and as a play stems from the reasons why such malevolent characters and plot points are included. Writers, such as Erskine Caldwell of the novel and Jack Kirkland of the stage version, may use any means necessary to drive home a message that is both eye-catching and educational. In order to accomplish this for Tobacco Road, multiple characters have facial deformities and all are placed in extremely stressful situations stretching from basic economic struggles to deaths of family members. Such details are vital in order to drive home the main message of the story regarding how bad life was for rural settlers and farmers during industrialization and the Great Depression era. Through the power of novels and plays, the story of Tobacco Road shed light on those who were struggling during the time of the Great Depression and such a story peaked the interest of many.
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I think it's cool how this play was done so many times and I remember hearing that in the Great Depression that plays were popular and only worth 5 cents to take away the pain and realization of the situation the country is in.
ReplyDeleteThanks for such an interesting post Braden! I found it fascinating how big of an impact this story had especially in a time where it was harder for one piece of entertainment to reach a lot of people. I think that your post clearly emphasizes how impactful the arts and literature can be on society, something that I feel is often forgotten. If you are interested, books like The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck were also quite impactful, disillusioning the population to the state of the country.
ReplyDeleteI find it fascinating that such a play was banned in so many places. As you mentioned, I think that this play serves a very important message about life in rural areas during industrialization/Great Depression. Even during this era, a lot of people most likely did not know about the life there, so I think it's an important aspect for realizing that the world outside of busy areas weren't that great. I'm very interested in reading this book, but I'm also interested in reading about the book that Alex mentioned (The Grapes of Wrath). Thanks for an interesting post!
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