''Idiot's Delight'' is a 1936 Pulitzer-Prize-winning play written by American playwright Robert E. Sherwood and presented by the

Theatre Guild The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of th ...

. The play takes place in the Hotel Monte Gabriel in the Italian Alps during 24 hours at the beginning of a world war. The guests trapped in the hotel by the sudden onset of hostilities are from Germany, France, the United States and Britain. Directed by Bretaigne Windust, the cast starred

Alfred Lunt Alfred David Lunt (August 12, 1892 – August 3, 1977) was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway and West End productions. After th ...

(Harry Van) and

Lynn Fontanne Lynn Fontanne (; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End theatre, West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred i ...

(Irene), with Sydney Greenstreet as Dr. Waldersee and Francis Compton as Achille Weber. The play was nominated for the 1936 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, Best American Play.

Productions

''Idiot's Delight'' had a pre-Broadway tryout at the National Theatre, Washington, D.C., starting on March 9, 1936. It premiered on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre, running from March 24, 1936 to July 4, 1936 and from August 31, 1936 to January 30, 1937, for 300 performances. The play won the 1936

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

, the first of four Pulitzers (three for Drama, one for Biography) that Sherwood received. The Pulitzer jury wrote: "We are absolutely in complete agreement in recommending 'Idiot's delight' ...It is a first-rate play, full of dramatic invention, and one or two of the comedy scenes have a Molierian richness." Sherwood adapted the play into a 1939 film of the same name, starring

Norma Shearer Edith Norma Shearer (August 11, 1902June 12, 1983) was a Canadian-American actress who was active on film from 1919 through 1942. Shearer often played spunky, sexually liberated ingénues. She appeared in adaptations of Noël Coward, Eugene O' ...

and

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

. The New York City Theatre Company presented a revival at the

New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and t ...

from May 23, 1951 to June 3, 1951. Directed by George Schaefer, the cast featured Lee Tracy and Ruth Chatterton. In 1983,

Alan Jay Lerner Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre b ...

and

Charles Strouse Charles Strouse (born June 7, 1928) is an American composer and lyricist best known for writing the music to such Broadway musicals as '' Bye Bye Birdie'', ''Applause'', and '' Annie''. Life and career Strouse was born in New York City, to Jewis ...

adapted the play into the musical, ''

Dance a Little Closer ''Dance a Little Closer'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Charles Strouse. The story is an updated version of Robert E. Sherwood's 1936 antiwar comedy '' Idiot's Delight''. Plot overview The musical is set on N ...

'', which ran one performance on Broadway. The play was produced at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

, Eisenhower Theater in Washington, D.C., in March 1986, directed by Peter Sellars.

Plot

The play takes place in the Hotel Monte Gabriel in the Italian Alps during 24 hours at the beginning of a world war. The guests trapped in the hotel by the sudden onset of hostilities are from Germany, France and the United States, including a British couple on their honeymoon.

Characters

* Harry Van, American, the manager of a group of strippers and dancers * Irene, the glamorous mistress of a Nazi arms dealer * Achille Weber, the arms dealer * the Cherrys, British honeymooners * Dr. Waldersee, a German doctor * Quillery, a French pacifist * Captain Locicero, the commander of the Italian headquarters located next to the hotel

Reception

Brooks Atkinson Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theatre critic. He worked for '' The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of hi ...

reviewed the play for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' on March 25, 1936: “Mr. Sherwood's love of a good time and his anxiety about world affairs result in one of his most likable entertainments…Already it is widely known as the show in which Alfred Lunt plays the part of a third-rate hoofer and Lynn Fontanne wears an exotic blonde wig. That is true, and it demonstrates Mr. Sherwood's taste for exuberance and jovial skulduggery. Having fought in the last war and having a good mind and memory, Mr. Sherwood is also acutely aware of the dangers of a relapse into bloodshed throughout the world today. His leg show and frivolity in Idiot's Delight is played against the background of cannon calamity, and it concludes with a detonation of airplane bombs. at the final curtain, Mr. Sherwood shoots the works…. What you will probably enjoy more than his argument is the genial humor of his dialogue, his romantic flair for character and his relish of the incongruous and the ridiculous. , ”

References

External links