The Mint Theatre, an Off-Broadway theatre, seating 99, is committed to reviving lost and neglected plays. Their archive is extremely impressive and includes such well-known playwrights as John Galsworthy, James Barrie, D H Lawrence, Arthur Schnitzler, Arnold Bennett and many others who are not so well-known.
Under the artistic directorship of Jonathan Bank, the standards of acting and design are extremely high. I wish London, too, had a Mint Theatre reviving neglected 20th century plays and old classics.
Lillian Hellman (1905-1984) had scored a sensational success in 1934 with The Children’s Hour and its lesbian theme. The play ran for 691 performances. Days to Come, eagerly anticipated, premiered in 1936 and ran for only seven performances. Hellman blamed the director and the actors and herself most of all. “I spoiled a good play,” she said, “I wanted to say too much.” It might have worked better as a film.
Days to Come is set during the Depression in a small town in Ohio. Andrew Rodman runs a family business, selling brushes. He is in financial difficulties; so, he cut the wages of his workers, who have now gone on strike. Three weeks in, he has called in a union organiser and a strike-breaker, which leads to violence in the town.
Hellman always admitted she was more interested in the family than the actual strike. The seemingly ineffectual Rodman (Larry Bull) has to cope with a neurotic sister and an unhappy wife, who is having an affair with his supposed best friend. His real best friend is a worker (Chris Henry Coffey) who had also worked for his father. His wife takes a fancy to the union organiser (Roderick Hill). The best moment is Rodman lambasting everybody.
Days to Come is, inevitably disappointing. Three years later in 1939, Hellman would go on to write her masterpiece, The Little Foxes, which was last seen in London in 2001 and deserves an all-star revival. The 1941 film version with Bette Davis is well worth watching.
J R Sullivan’s 2018 production of Days to Come can be watched free until April 2 on the Mint Theatre channel. You can find out more from the Mint Theatre website by following this link.
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