Mercury Theater - Search for Henry Le Ferre

There is no summary for this play: so we are getting some
background history of the Mercury Theater.


Mercury Theatre. The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory
theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles
and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical
presentations, radio programs and motion pictures.


The Mercury Theatre began with a groundbreaking, critically
acclaimed adaption of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar that evoked
comparison to contemporary Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.


The Mercury Theatre on the Air was an hour-long program. Houseman
wrote the early scripts for the series, turning the job over to
Howard E. Koch at the beginning of October. Music for the program
was composed and conducted by Bernard Herrmann.


The beginnings of The Mercury Theatre on the Air actually go back
to the formation of The Mercury Theatre itself. Having
successfully produced Marc Blitzstein’s controversial labor union
opera, The Cradle Will Rock, for the Federal Theatre Project in
June of 1937, John Houseman and the 21-year-old “boy wonder” of
the theatre, Orson Welles, decided to form their own theatrical
producing company. In August of that same year The Mercury
Theatre was born, starting off with total monetary assets of $100
(about $1150 in modern funds). Their first production,
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, adapted by Mr. Welles (and set in
fascist Italy), opened in New York on November 11 and created as
much controversy as the young producers had hoped; The Mercury
Theatre (along with the widespread public recognition of Orson
Welles) was off and running.


By this time Orson Welles was already a radio veteran, having
made frequent appearances on The March of Time as early as 1935
and, in fact, at the time of The Mercury Theatre’s formation, was
engaged in a seven-part dramatization of Victor Hugo’s Les
Miserables, which was airing on Friday evenings between July and
September of 1937 over the Mutual Broadcasting System. Although
not officially a Mercury (the series had been airing for a few
weeks before The Mercury even came into existence), several
actors who were to become fixtures of The Mercury Theatre of the
Air such as Martin Gabel, Alice Frost, Ray Collins, Virginia
Welles (Mrs. Orson Welles), Agnes Moorehead, and Everett Sloane,
appeared in the program, which Mr. Welles produced, directed,
scripted, and starred in.