By Parker Anderson

When the Elks Opera House opened its doors on February 20, 1905, the first show was a Spanish Catalan play called, "Marta of the Lowlands," by Angel Guimera. The subject matter of the play, the exploitation of a woman enslaved by a land baron, was strong stuff for 1905 - an era that was rife with more lightweight entertainment on the stage.

Live theater was undergoing a transition at this time. Playwrights (particularly those in Europe) were becoming increasingly interested in tackling serious, important subjects on the stage. Unfortunately, many of them lacked the ability to write realistic dialogue. This resulted in serious dramas written (and therefore performed) in melodramatic fashion, with broad, overdone verbiage and acting. 

Florence Roberts, who performed 'Marta' at the Elks, was regarded in her lifetime as one of the stage's finest actresses, but who knows? By today's standards, she may well have been a considerable ham. 

Theater has long had its ups and downs in terms of content. Shakespeare's histories and tragedies are very heavy going, and down to this day, readers (particularly parents, with the intention of exposing their children to nothing more than culture) are often shocked when they discover the strong violence and sexual content in Shakespeare's writings. 

After Shakespeare had passed from the scene, theater simmered down considerably. This was particularly true in 19th century American theater, which contented itself with bright comedies, melodramas and lightweight historical pieces. This may have been partly due to the times, as well as censorship restrictions in many areas. In 1900, New York City authorities closed down a Broadway show, Clyde Fitch's "Sappho," and arrested the entire cast and crew (including famed actress Olga Nethersole) on morals charges, simply because the play contained a scene wherein a man carries a woman up a flight of stairs and presumably off to...well, the audience could imagine. 

The late 19th century saw a rebellion among playwrights, particularly in Europe. The trail for realistic theater was blazed by Henrik Ibsen from Norway and Britain's George Bernard Shaw. Ibsen stirred worldwide controversy (and a devoted following) by writing plays about syphilis ("Ghosts") as well as a sympathetic portrayal of a woman leaving her husband ("A Doll's House"). In Great Britain, Shaw regularly ran afoul of British censors, and his play that tried to put a human face on prostitutes, "Mrs. Warrne's Profession," was banned by the censor and unperformed for decades. Likewise, Oscar Wilde wrote a starkly realistic and grisly dramatization of the story of "Salome," only to have it banned in Britain and not performed in his lifetime. 

Other overseas playwrights picked up the slack, such as Angel Guimera and Gabrielle D'Annunzio, with their serious, controversial and searing dramas. 

American theater, however, remained fairly lightweight (with a few exceptions), probably due to our then-repressed culture as well as American censorship. This started to change in the 1940s, when some mild profanity started appearing in Broadway plays, and change came full force in the 1950s, with the gritty plays of Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams. At Last, playwrights had found the ability to write realistic dialogue to go with their hard-hitting stories. To this day, audiences cannot sit through such legendary plays as Miller's "Death of a Salesman" and Williams' "The Glass Menagerie" without being affected. 

In the late 1960s, as the last of the censorship laws were falling, the floodgates opened to excess in the movies, and the stage followed suit. With this newfound freedom of expression taking the stage to do whatever, Broadway was scandalized by shows with an all-nude cast (Oh, Calcutta!") and gay themes ("The Boys in the Band"). These excesses burned themselves out in short order, but the die was cast. Playwrights and theater producers could now write and perform whatever they wanted. This has resulted in some powerful theater, often stirring controversy to this day. 

In 2002, Edward Albee's play, "The Goat, Or Who is Sylvia?," stirred controversy and much gnashing of teeth for dealing with the subject of bestiality, but it went on to win the Tony Award for Best Play. Eve Ensler's, "The Vagina Monologues," has taken the world by storm with its series of raw, outrageous, profane and totally compelling women's empowerment speeches. Millions of women have embraced this show - they can't all be wrong. Prescott College performs "The Vagina Monologues" once a year in the Elks Opera House. I have attended twice in the last few years and, while I enjoyed the show tremendously, I couldn't help but wonder what the people who built the Elks would say if they could see such entertainment on that stage! 

Sharlot Hall Museum's Blue Rose Theater will be tackling a once-taboo subject when it presents Terry Earp's "Menopause - The Comedy!" on September 22, 23, 29 and 30, and October 1, 2006. Call the Museum for ticket information at 445-3122. 

(Parker Anderson is an active member of Sharlot Hall Museum's Blue Rose Theater.) 


Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(SHM poster) Reuse only by permission.
The Sharlot Hall Blue Rose Theater will present "Menopause - The Comedy!" September 22, 23, 29, 30 and October 1st.