Lizzie May Elwyn

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Lizzie May Elwyn was an American dramatist active during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. [1] Her plays addressed slavery and temperance.

Contents

Her play Millie the Quadroon [2] is set in the Southern United States before the abolition of slavery, and was marketed as "in the style of Uncle Tom's Cabin". [3] Her drama, Switched Off, included a pro-temperance Irishman and another who is pro-drinking. It included instructions on staging and costumes. [4]

Another temperance melodrama by Elwyn, [5] Dot, the Miner's Daughter, was described as "a vivid and realistic emotional and comic play" in 1897. [6] Dot was revived in 1938, [7] and Sweetbrier, or The Flower Girl of New York was revived in 1940, both in productions at the Roadside in Washington, D.C. "Sweetbrier was mighty serious stuff when it was first produced, and that's what made it a howl last night," reported a reviewer. [8] "Lizzie May, bless her, was the mistress of every melodramatic cliche and no matter what plot snarling it involved, she made use of them all in Sweetbrier," wrote another. [9]

Publications

Millie, the quadroon Millie, the quadroon (IA milliequadroon00elwy).pdf
Millie, the quadroon
Murder will out, a farce in one act for six female characters Murder will out, a farce in one act for six female characters (IA murderwilloutfar00elwy).pdf
Murder will out, a farce in one act for six female characters

References

  1. ↑ "Elwyn, Lizzie May | The Online Books Page". onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu.
  2. 1 2 "Rehearse Play at Old Bridge". Perth Amboy Evening News. 1911-02-21. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-11-11– via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ catalog, Buxton, Ida M. [from old. "Cousin John's album ." – via Wikimedia Commons.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Frick, John W. (July 21, 2003). Theatre, Culture and Temperance Reform in Nineteenth-Century America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-81778-3 – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ "Temperance Drama by Byers Talent". Iuka Index. 1915-04-16. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-11-11– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Deserving of Praise". The People's Press. 1897-03-19. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-11-12– via Newspapers.com.
  7. 1 2 "Roadsiders Prepare 'Meller'". The Washington Herald. 1938-07-17. p. 38. Retrieved 2025-11-11– via Newspapers.com.
  8. 1 2 Acosta, Frank Jr. (1940-07-09). "Roadside Back in the Groove with Tale of 'Sweetbrier'". The Washington Daily News. p. 20. Retrieved 2025-11-11– via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ Carmody, Jay (1940-07-09). "Lizzie May's Old Thriller Gives Roadside a Hit". Evening star. p. 34. Retrieved 2025-11-11– via Newspapers.com.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kritzer, Amelia Howe (1995). Plays by Early American Women, 1775-1850. University of Michigan Press. p. 389. ISBN   978-0-472-06598-1.
  11. ↑ "Ten Girls and Never a Man". The Jersey Journal. 1902-04-03. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-11-12– via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ Buxton, Ida M. (May 8, 1885). "Why They Joined the Rebeccas: An Original Farce in One Act". Ames' Series of Standard and Minor Drama, no. 413. A.D. Ames – via Google Books.
  13. ↑ Amesbury, Howard (May 8, 1904). "The Fortune Teller of Dismal Swamp: A Melo-drama in Four Acts". Ames' Publishing Company – via Google Books.
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