Alfred Sutro
Alfred Sutro was a prominent British playwright born in London, who, alongside contemporaries like Arthur Wing Pinero and Henry Arthur Jones, helped define the genre known as "the well-made play." Active from 1896 until his death in 1933, Sutro produced nearly fifty plays, with a significant output for London's West End and Broadway from 1902 to 1923. He was particularly noted for his translations of works by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck, adding to his contributions to the theater. Although critics acknowledged the craftsmanship of Sutro's plays, his reluctance to tackle controversial social issues limited their impact compared to the works of later playwrights like George Bernard Shaw. His plays often focused on the lives of affluent characters, with few representations of lower-class individuals. While his dialogue was likened to that of Oscar Wilde, his productions began to feel dated by the 1920s as societal norms evolved. Nonetheless, Sutro's memoirs, published shortly after his passing, provide valuable insights into the theatrical landscape of his time and his own experiences.
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Subject Terms
Alfred Sutro
Playwright
- Born: August 7, 1863
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: September 11, 1933
- Place of death: Surrey, England
Biography
Alfred Sutro, along with Arthur Wing Pinero and Henry Arthur Jones, were Great Britain’s three most celebrated exemplars of what is termed “the well-made play.” These playwrights were extremely popular in their day. All three have been somewhat eclipsed, however, by the deeper, more issue- oriented playwrights who followed them in both Britain and the United States.
Born in London, England, Sutro produced nearly fifty plays between 1896 and his death in 1933. From 1902 until 1923, he wrote plays for London’s West End or for Broadway at the rate of one a year, although he exceeded this number significantly in 1907 when three of his plays ran simultaneously in the West End and the premiere of A Lonely Life was being presented at the Queen’s Theatre in Manchester. He also made a notable contribution to British theater with his translations for the London stage of several plays by Belgian playwight Maurice Maeterlinck.
Although major drama critics were restrained in praising Sutro’s plays, they had to admit that the plays were well made and captivating. Most critics remarked on Sutro’s ability to capture and reproduce on stage the authentic speech rhythms of the characters he portrayed. If such plays as Steinmann’s Corner (pr. 1907) and The Romantic Barber (pr. 1908) are justifiably forgettable, others, such as The Walls of Jericho (pr. 1904), The Fascinating Mr. Vanderveldt (pr. 1906), and The Builder of Bridges (pr. 1908) were deserving of praise in their time. Sutro was compared to Oscar Wilde for his sprightly dialogue, dramatic vigor, and sparkling repartee.
Perhaps Sutro’s greatest limitation was his unwillingness to take risks. He knew well the audiences to which his plays appealed, and he was careful to write nothing that was likely to offend them. Obviously, plays of ideas are offensive to some people who see them, but such plays force people to think. Sutro’s plays did not plant any seeds of deep thought in his audiences, but they often left them laughing. He scrupulously avoided the controversial social issues that one finds in the plays of such masters as George Bernard Shaw, John Millington Synge, or Harley Granville-Barker. In examining the cast of characters in a typical assortment of Sutro’s plays, one would find few working-class or lower middle-class characters. Sutro’s dramatic venue is the drawing rooms of the affluent. The few lower-class characters that appear in Sutro’s plays are there included either as temptresses or buffoons.
Although Sutro continued to write almost until the day he died, society had moved forward at a more rapid pace than his creation of dramas had. In the 1920’s, his plays began to strike critics and audiences alike as dated and somewhat labored. His rate of production diminished as he moved into old age. One product of his later years, however, has proved most valuable to historians of drama. That is the publication of his memoirs, disarmingly entitled Celebrities and Simple Souls, that appeared just days after his death in 1933.