American poet
Maurice Browne
Maurice Brown, circa 1918
Born (1881-02-12 ) February 12, 1881Died January 21, 1955(1955-01-21) (aged 73) Spouse Ellen Van Volkenburg
Maurice Browne (12 February 1881 – 21 January 1955) was a man of the theatre in theUnited States and theUnited Kingdom . A poet, actor and theatre director, he has been credited, along with his then-wifeEllen Van Volkenburg , as the founder of theLittle Theatre Movement in America through his work with theChicago Little Theatre .[ 1]
He was born inReading ,England , the son of the Rev. Frederick Herbert Browne, a graduate ofWadham College, Oxford and head ofIpswich School , and his wife Frances Anne Neligan, daughter of the Rev. Maurice Neligan D.D.[ 2] [ 3] [ 4]
He was educated atTemple Grove School andWinchester College .[ 5] Eastbourne to run a school, and Maurice moved toEastbourne College . From there he won a scholarship toPeterhouse, Cambridge , where he matriculated in Michaelmas Term 1900, having first joined up to theBritish Army and spent time in South Africa during theSecond Anglo-Boer War . He graduated B.A. in 1903.[ 6] [ 7]
At Cambridge Browne struck up a friendship withLouis Wilkinson .[ 8] Harold Monro who became a close friend, Guy Noel Pocock and Herman Leonard Pass.[ 9] [ 10] [ 11] [ 2] St. Paul's School, Darjeeling .[ 7]
On his return to London, Browne became involved in printing and publishing. As asmall press publisher he concentrated on verse.[ 7] [ 12] A Modern Utopia H. G. Wells .[ 13]
Chicago Little Theatre,c.1912 MeetingEllen Van Volkenburg atFlorence when travelling in Italy, Browne went toChicago to marry her in 1912. That year they adapted a space in theFine Arts Building to create theChicago Little Theatre .[ 14] George Bernard Shaw 'sThe Philanderer [ 15] [ 16] Cornish School inSeattle in 1918.[ 17]
At the opening night of theTheatre of the Golden Bough , Volkenburg had the title-role in Browne's play,The Mother of Gregory, which played June 6, 7, and 14, 1924.[ 18]
Browne's greatest triumph came in 1929 when he producedJourney's End R. C. Sherriff in London.[ 19] Globe Theatre andQueen's Theatre in London's West End.[ 20]
Browne died on 21 January 1955 inTorquay ,England .[ 21]
^ Browne, Maurice (1955).Too Late to Lament: An Autobiography . Retrieved19 February 2024 . ^a b Harbin, Billy J.; Marra, Kim; Schanke, Robert A. (2005).The Gay & Lesbian Theatrical Legacy: A Biographical Dictionary of Major Figures in American Stage History in the Pre-Stonewall Era 73– 76.ISBN 978-0-472-06858-6 ^ Foster, Joseph (1888–1891)."Browne, Rev. Frederick Herbert" Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886 Wikisource .^ "Marriages" .Berkshire Chronicle . 4 January 1879. p. 8.^ "Browne, Maurice" Who's Who (Subscription orUK public library membership required.) ^ Hibberd, D. (13 February 2001).Harold Monro: Poet of the New Age ISBN 978-0-230-59578-1 ^a b c "Browne, Frederick Maurice (BRWN899FM)" .A Cambridge Alumni Database . University of Cambridge.^ Powys, John Cowper; Gregg, Frances (1994).The Letters of John Cowper Powys to Frances Gregg . Cecil Woolf. p. 235.ISBN 978-0-900821-99-8 ^ Grant, Joy.Harold Monro and the Poetry Bookshop ^ "Pocock, Guy Noël (PCK899GN)" .A Cambridge Alumni Database . University of Cambridge.^ "Pass, Herman Leonard (PS894HL)" .A Cambridge Alumni Database . University of Cambridge.^ Kabatchnik, Amnon (2010).Blood on the Stage, 1925-1950: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection : an Annotated Repertoire ISBN 978-0-8108-6963-9 ^ Hibberd, Dominic. "Monro, Harold Edward (1879–1932)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography doi :10.1093/ref:odnb/35071 . (Subscription orUK public library membership required.) ^ Pinkerton, Jan; Hudson, Randolph H. (2009).Encyclopedia of the Chicago Literary Renaissance ISBN 978-1-4381-0914-5 ^ "Maurice Browne Players Please In Philanderer" .Seattle Union Record . Seattle, Washington. 18 July 1921. Retrieved21 March 2024 .^ Wilmeth, Don B.; Bigsby, Christopher (28 July 1999).The Cambridge History of American Theatre ISBN 978-0-521-65179-0 ^ Cornish, Nellie C. (1964).Miss Aunt Nellie: The Autobiography of Nellie C. Cornish . Retrieved19 February 2024 . ^ "The Drama" .Dramatic Publishing Company .15– 16: 33. 1924. Retrieved19 February 2024 .^ Browne, Maurice.Too Late to Lament: An Autobiography . London, Gollancz, 1955, pp. 306-309. ^ Duberman, Martin B. (1989).Paul Robeson . London: Bodley Head. p. 122.ISBN 0370305752 ^ "Maurice Browne, Founder of Little Theater in U.S." The Buffalo News . Buffalo, New York. 21 January 1955. p. 25.Chansky, Dorothy.Composing Ourselves: The Little Theatre Movement and the American Audience . Carbondale, Seattle, Southern Illinois University, 2004. Cheney, Sheldon.The New Movement in the Theatre . New York, Mitchell Kennerley, 1914.
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