Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2011 - 76

book
In a chapter titled "The Octopus and the
Matinee Girl," the author describes the driving
force behind theatre offerings as relatively unintelligent, flighty young women who didn't work,
who could go to matinees, and had no job responsibilities. The "fluff" these women preferred
was overly sentimental and had little or no plot.
Although women from all levels of society were
attending theatre in greater numbers, and promotional gimmicks were being directed at them,
theatre wasn't catering to them. A great distrust
of foreign imports, and anti-Semitism in particular, became an issue due to unscrupulous theatre
managers in the Syndicate, most of whom were
Jewish. Critics had lost much of their power, and
audience members felt emboldened to choose
what they liked regardless of critical response.
In her second chapter, "The Department
Store Theater and the Gendering of Consumption," the author shows how with the rise of national department stores, manufacturers found
it difficult to determine what a woman might
purchase. Most theatre productions required

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fashionable modern dress, which changed
frequently so the audience would return more
than once. Department stores typically costumed leads. As productions became more
spectacular and department stores competed
more closely with Broadway, the tensions between them became greater. The close proximity of the garment industry to the "Ladies' Mile,"
which included Broadway and many department stores, brought scrutiny to the sweatshops
that produced ready-to-wear. Women became
increasingly concerned about the people making ready-to-wear clothing, the wages they were
earning, and the conditions they were working
in. The same is true of the treatment of department store workers, a.k.a "shop girls." Theatre
and department store managers tried to keep
picketers away from their doors. The subway
system created an "invisible Ladies' Mile" that
allowed women to avoid the "ugliness" of striking workers if they wished to.
The pressure that actresses were under to
make their looks seem effortless yet attainable

summer 2011

was great. They were to create the illusion that
they were glamorous and belonged on Broadway. They needed to "dress" the part even if it
meant they spent more money on their clothes
than they might earn. Women of ethnic backgrounds had a particularly difficult time being
accepted, and in the case of black women, often
couldn't appear at all.
Actresses grew increasingly political, as
did their characters. They could now say something onstage that they might not have felt comfortable saying if they weren't representing a
character. As clothing became more revealing
(the sheath) and freer (Irene Castle's style),
they were told to consider their own body type,
personality, and individual taste before adopting
every trend. Having living models, rather than
wax mannequins, that looked like consumers,
greatly helped them make decisions about how
a garment might look on them.
In fashion magazines actresses were now
openly discussing the psychology of clothing, including colors, styles, and fabric choices made

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2011