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The American Clock

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  9w, 15m

Presented at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, and then on Broadway, this brilliantly theatrical, kaleidoscopic study of America during the early years of the Great Depression constitutes a major work by one of our theatre's truly important writers.

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    9w, 15m
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
Subtitled "a mural for the theatre," the play employs a series of vignettes and short scenes, with the actors portraying some fifty-two characters, to capture the sense and substance of America in the throes of the Great Depression. The central figures are the Baums, a wealthy family whose fortune has vanished in the stock market crash, but their story is amplified and illuminated by brief glimpses of other lives; a farmer who has lost all in the dust bowl; a prostitute who exchanges her favors for dental work; a white Southern sheriff in thrall to a black short-order cook; a young man who dreams of success on Tin Pan Alley, etc. Moving deftly from scene to scene, some funny, some movingly poignant, the play becomes a deeply affecting evocation both of a tortured time in American history and of the indomitable spirit of the people who survived and prevailed in the face of unaccustomed adversity.
History
The American Clock premiered at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina before heading to Broadway at the Bitmore theatre in November of 1980 under the direction of  Vivaian Matalon.
ARTHUR ROBERTSON
CLARENCE, ISAAC
MOE BAUM
ROSE BAUM
LEE BAUM
GRANDPA
FANNY MARGOLIES, CHARLESTON DANCER
SIDNEY MARGOLIES, CHARLESTON DANCER, HENRY TAYLOR, RYAN
LUCILLE, DIANA MORGAN, HARRIET TAYLOR
DORISS GROSS, CHARLY, EDIE
JOEY, BROADWAY TONY, FARMER, STANISLAUS
FRANK, SERVANT, LOUIS BANKS, RUDY, TOLAND
DR. ROSMAN, GRANDMA TAYLOR
JESSE LIVERMORE, IOWA SHERRIF, BUSH
WILLIAM DURANT, JUDGE BRADLEY, DUGAN
ARTHUR CLAYTON, BREWSTER, MR. GRAHAM, RALPH
MRS. TAYLOR, MISS FOLER, GRACE
DAUGHTERS
SERVANTS

Media

REVIEWS

"After far too long an interlude, Arthur Miller is back in touch with his best subject, the failure of the American dream, and back on top of his talent." - The New York Times

"…the same kind of intimate, inner-voice writing that made DEATH OF A SALESMAN a masterpiece." - NY Post

"It's warm, funny, interesting…" - Variety

Licensing & Materials

  • Licensing available for professional groups only. Some restrictions apply.

Scripts

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Authors

Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller (1915-2005) was born in New York City and studied at the University of Michigan. 2015 marked the centenary of his birth. His plays include The Man Who Had All the Luck (1944), All My Sons (1947), Death of A Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), A View From the B ...

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