Another Part of the Forest.
Original Mimeograph Acting Script
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Inscribed
Hellman, Lillian. Another Part of the Forest, original mimeograph acting script. (Lillian Hellman and Kermit Bloomgarden present…. [New York: Viking Press, 1947.]
8vo.; 117 mimeograph typescript leaves, each with two holes punched in the left margin; contemporary red morocco and marbled boards, stamped in gilt.
Original mimeograph typescript, the complete unpublished acting script from the original production, including many words of dialogue and accompanying stage directions that did not appear in the 1947 Viking Press edition.
A presentation copy, inscribed on the half-title to one of Hellman's financial backers: To Samuel Orgel, With my very warmest regards and good wishes, Lillian / Jan, 1947.
Another Part of the Forest, which serves as a prequel to The Little Foxes, one of Hellman's most well-known and popular plays, enjoyed a successful run on Broadway when it premiered in 1946. It made a star of Patricia Neal, who won a Tony award for her performance. The film adaptation (Universal, 1948) was also well-received both commercially and critically, and featured Fredric March and Ann Blyth.
A comparison between the typescript of Hellman's play and a published first edition revealed a general polishing and minor reworking of the language throughout the text, as well in differences in the amount and specifics of stage direction, but the overall structure of the work remains the same.
The published edition includes along with the cast of characters the names of the actors appearing in the play's first run, at the Fulton Theatre, beginning November 20, 1946, as well as acknowledging Lillian Hellman as the director and Jo Mielziner as the set designer.
The many minor changes throughout the play include the sorting out of homophones ("I'm going to sashay…" [p. 6] in the published edition for "I'm going to sachet…" [pp. 1-4] in the typescript); simple spelling corrections ("Pharaoh" [p. 111] for "Pharoh" [pp. 3-15], "Lionnet" [p. 29[ for "Lionett" [pp. 1-26]); capitalization changes either for correction or clarification ("…who I am and who Papa is…" [p. 7] for "…who I am and who papa is…" [pp. 1-4], "Confederate Cavalry pants" [p. 4] for "Confederate cavalry pants" [pp. 1-1]), and grammatical corrections ("That would make a pretty scandal, honey–" [p. 4] for "That would make a pretty scandal honey–" [pp. 1-2]). There are also grammatical changes altering the inflection of the lines ("I have a plan, too." [p. 8] for "I have a plan too!" [pp. 1-5]). Hellman has in some cases altered her language only slightly ("I have a letter from Cod Carter. He's in Brazil. He's fighting down there, he says–" [p. 8] for "I had a letter from Cod Carter. Know where he is? Brazil. He's fightin' down there, he says–" [pp. 1-5]), but she has also has occasionally added lines that do not appear in the typescript (For example, in the published edition we have "…glass of lemonade? / Oscar: Did she? / Ben: I don't know. I only know that you told me so. / Oscar: Then I guess it happened. / Ben: That doesn't necessarily follow. / Oscar: Well, it was true. I was pushing a lame horse past Lionnet. I was lame myself from something or other–" [p. 29], but in the proof there is only "…glass of lemonade. / Oscar: Yes she did. I was pushing a lame horse past Lionett [sic]. I was lame myself from something or other–" [pp. 1-26]). Despite these changes though, the acts and scenes in the two versions correspond throughout, and the characters' lines remain essentially consistent.
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