Historical contextualization and Critical Analysis: “Stage Door” is an entertaining, thought-provoking play, which takes place in New York during the 1930’s. In it the women struggle with financial issues, home situations, and giving up their ideals in order to cope with reality. Through four different characters within the play, we see how some people would have dealt with the economic instabilities surrounding them.
One of the characters, Kaye, copes poorly with her situation. She is one of the newest girls in the apartment with a mysterious past. When her story unfolds, we learn that she had an abusive husband, left home, and was really struggling to find work and money. By intermission, she sees no escape for her predicament after losing yet another job and not being able to pay the rent. She winds up putting a gun to her head, causing the audience to take a much more serious attitude in looking at the problems presented. Kaye felt she had no way out, so she committed suicide.
Another girl takes a less dramatic way out of her situation, but still gives up her ideal to achieve financial security. Ann seems like an elitist snob for most of the play until we discover her own story. When her mom comes to visit, it is clear Ann does not receive all of her financial support from her parents. Uncovering her dress coat, we learn Ann has become essentially a prostitute to a big business man on Broadway. Although he has a family, and she would most likely rather be doing some alternative work, she is forced to find money in a less-than-respectable way. Here we see someone who has a dream but is willing to achieve it through less desirable means.
One of the men in the play is also an example of someone who achieves a financial dream by lowering his standards. Billy is a budding playwright hoping to write the stories he wants to write. He talks idealistically about his plays and ideas dreaming to better the world by revealing social hypocrisies. Terry finds this admirable and begins helping him write a play expecting she will be the star of the play when it hits the stage. Though both are excited when a director chooses to perform his play, Billy explains to Terry that she will not be chosen as the lead role. Pat agrees to let a movie star play the part. Later, he even moves to Hollywood to write sappy love stories for the movie screen. Terry of course is very disappointed. Again we see the kinds of sacrifices some people have to make while in difficult situations. In this play, they have to give up much of their ideals and accept something mediocre simply in order to gain more financial security.Though most have to abandon some ideals, Terry is able to maintain hers and find security. Throughout the play it seems that opportunity after opportunity presents itself and Terry always rejects it. She cannot find good enough reasons to discard her own ideals and standards. At the end of the play, she is finally offered a star role and becomes the love interest to a wealthy Hollywood producer gone Broadway director. She is one of the only characters to actually obtain economic success while holding onto her high ideas perhaps showing us that after struggle and endurance come the blessings.
The Great Depression certainly had an immense impact on people during the 1930’s. This play reveals some of the hardships people could have and probably did go through during this time. It is interesting to observe the different ways people coped with the trials and also inspiring to see how Terry never lost sight of her goals.
Personal Reflection:
I enjoyed the play overall. I liked how the play was usually witty and quick, but there were definite serious sides to it as well. I was shocked that one of the characters committed suicide, and it made me think a little more critically about the situations presented here. Though it was hard to keep track of all the characters in the play, I thought they had great personalities. Some of them, like the Mary Bennet-esque character, were outright hilarious.
I did not like, however, the colors of the makeup and set. The directors apparently wanted to make the play appear to be in black-and-white like films from that time. I thought it made people look blue, gray, and glittery. It is an interesting idea, but it did not convince me. Much of the makeup and hair were not quite the colors they should have been, and I thought it was more annoying than effective. On the whole, though, I thought the play was well done and gave me quite a bit to think about.
