| The Little Foxes | |
|---|---|
 First edition (1939) | |
| Written by | Lillian Hellman |
| Characters |
|
| Date premiered | February 15, 1939 (1939-02-15) |
| Place premiered | National Theatre New York City |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | Alabama in 1900 |
The Little Foxes is a 1939 play byLillian Hellman, considered a classic of 20th century drama. Its title comes from Chapter 2, Verse 15, of theSong of Solomon in theKing James version of theBible, which reads, "Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes." Set in a small town inAlabama in 1900, it focuses on the struggle for control of a family business.[1]Tallulah Bankhead starred in the original production as Regina Hubbard Giddens.
The play's focus is Southerner Regina Hubbard Giddens, who struggles for wealth and freedom within the confines of an early 20th-century society where fathers considered only sons as their legal heirs. As a result of this practice, while her two avaricious brothers Benjamin and Oscar have wielded the family inheritance into two independently substantial fortunes, she has had to rely upon her manipulation of her cautious, timid, browbeaten husband, Horace. He is no businessman, just her financial support; although he is pliable enough for her ambition, that ambition has driven him into becoming merely the tool of her insatiable greed. He uses a wheelchair.
Her brother Oscar married Birdie, his much-maligned alcoholic wife, solely to acquire her family'splantation and cotton fields. Oscar now wants to join forces with his brother, Benjamin, to construct acotton mill. They need an additional $75,000 and approach Regina, asking her to invest in the project. Oscar initially proposes marriage between his son Leo and Regina's daughter Alexandra—first cousins—as a means of getting Horace's money, but Horace and Alexandra are repulsed by the suggestion, as is Birdie. Horace refuses when Regina asks him outright for the money, so Leo, a bank teller, is pressured into stealing Horace's railroadbonds from the bank's safe deposit box.
Horace, after discovering this, tells Regina he is going to change his will in favor of their daughter, and also claim he gave Leo the bonds as a loan, thereby cutting Regina out of the deal completely. When he has aheart attack during this chat, she makes no effort to help him. He dies within hours, without anyone knowing his plan and before changing his will. This leaves Regina free to blackmail her brothers by threatening to report Leo's theft unless they give her 75% ownership in the cotton mill (it is, in Regina's mind, a fair exchange for the stolen bonds). The price Regina ultimately pays for her evil deeds is the loss of her daughter Alexandra's love and respect. Regina's actions cause Alexandra to finally understand the importance of not idly watching people do evil. She tells Regina she will not watch her be "one who eats the earth," and abandons her. Having let her husband die, alienated her brothers, and driven away her only child, Regina is left wealthy but completely alone.
The fictional Hubbards in the play are reputedly drawn from Lillian Hellman's Marx relatives. Hellman's mother was Julia Newhouse ofDemopolis, Alabama. Julia Newhouse's parents were Leonard Newhouse, a Demopolis wholesale liquor dealer, and Sophie Marx, of a successful Demopolis banking family. According to Hellman, Sophie Marx Newhouse never missed an opportunity to belittle and mock her father for his poor business sense in front of her and her mother. The discord between the Marx and Hellman families was to later serve as the inspiration for the play.[2][3][4]
The title "The Little Foxes" was suggested byDorothy Parker.
In 1946, Hellman wroteAnother Part of the Forest, aprequel chronicling the roots of the Hubbard family.
Produced and directed byHerman Shumlin, the original Broadway production ofThe Little Foxes opened February 15, 1939, at theNational Theatre. It closed February 3, 1940, running for 410 performances before its two-season tour of the United States.[6][7]
On October 30, 1939,Eugenia Rawls replaced Florence Williams in the role of Alexandra Giddens. Rawls had made her Broadway debut as one of the students in Lillian Hellman's 1934 play,The Children's Hour, which was also produced and directed by Herman Shumlin.[9] Rawls played Alexandra for the rest of the play's Broadway run and the national tour that followed.[8][10]
The 104-city tour ofThe Little Foxes began February 5, 1940, in Washington, D.C., and ended April 15, 1941, in Philadelphia.[5]
Tallulah Bankhead wonVariety magazine's citation as best actress of the 1938–39 Broadway season.[5]: 22
Lillian Hellman wrote thescreenplay for a1941 film version, aSamuel Goldwyn production directed byWilliam Wyler. Other contributors to the screenplay includedArthur Kober,Dorothy Parker andAlan Campbell. The touring production ofThe Little Foxes went on hiatus for three months during filming, and Patricia Collinge, Charles Dingle, Dan Duryea, John Marriott and Carl Benton Reid all reprised their stage roles in their motion picture debuts.Bette Davis,Herbert Marshall andTeresa Wright star as Regina, Horace and Alexandra Giddens.[11]
The Little Foxes was presented onPhilip Morris Playhouse October 10, 1941. The radio adaptation starredTallulah Bankhead.[12]
In 1949, the play was adapted for an opera entitledRegina byMarc Blitzstein.
George Schaefer produced and directed Robert Hartung's television adaptation ofThe Little Foxes for theHallmark Hall of Fame, broadcast December 16, 1956, onNBC. The cast includedGreer Garson (Regina),Franchot Tone (Horace),Sidney Blackmer (Ben),E. G. Marshall (Oscar) andEileen Heckart (Birdie).[13]
Mike Nichols directed a production that opened October 26, 1967, at theVivian Beaumont Theater inLincoln Center, then transferred to theEthel Barrymore Theatre. It ran a total of 100 performances. The cast includedAnne Bancroft as Regina,Richard A. Dysart as Horace,Margaret Leighton as Birdie,E.G. Marshall as Oscar,George C. Scott as Benjamin, andAustin Pendleton as Leo. Costume design was byPatricia Zipprodt.[6] In reviewing the production,Time said, "An admirable revival of Lillian Hellman's 1939 play in Lincoln Center demonstrates how securely bricks of character can be sealed together with the mortar of plot. Anne Bancroft, George C. Scott, Richard Dysart, and Margaret Leighton are expertly guided by Director Mike Nichols through gilt-edged performances."[14] The production was profiled in theWilliam Goldman bookThe Season: A Candid Look at Broadway.
Geraldine Page played Regina in a production in which she starred opposite her husbandRip Torn (in the role of Benjamin Hubbard) directed by Philip Minor. It was staged for the Academy Festival Theater atBarat College inLake Forest, Illinois and received a rave review from William Leonard of theChicago Tribune: "Geraldine Page is giving one of the greatest performances of her glorious career in Lake Forest and she is surrounded by a cast so superb that the Academy Festival Theater's production of"The Little Foxes" becomes a powerful, searing, unforgettable show... it is a harrowing and ennobling evening in the theater-the kind that comes along all too seldom. We have seen other stars in the role of the malevolently, ruthlessly scheming Regina Giddens—Tallulah Bankhead years ago in her greatest triumph,Eileen Herlie five seasons back at the Ivanhoe. Geraldine Page is a whole new story—I have seen Geraldine Page in innumerable roles, ever since she was playing inEast Lynne with the Lake Zurich Players back in the '40s. I've never seen her more thrillingly convincing than in this production."[15]The legendaryKim Stanley once said of Page's Regina that it "was possibly the finest performance" she had ever seen.[16]
Austin Pendleton directed a production at the Parker Playhouse inFort Lauderdale for three weeks that transferred to theKennedy Center inWashington, D.C., for six weeks before opening on Broadway. The production opened on May 7, 1981, at theMartin Beck Theatre for 123 performances and eight previews. The cast includedElizabeth Taylor as Regina,Tom Aldredge as Horace,Dennis Christopher as Leo,Maureen Stapleton as Birdie, andAnthony Zerbe as Benjamin.Florence Klotz was the costume designer.[6] In aTime article prior to the Broadway opening, Gerald Clarke reported nearly $1 million worth of ticket sales during the week after advertisements announcing Taylor's appearance appeared inThe New York Times.[17] Taylor received nominations for both theTony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play and theDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play. Tony nominations also went to Pendleton forBest Direction of a Play, Aldredge forBest Featured Actor in a Play, Stapleton forBest Featured Actress in a Play, and the play itself forBest Revival.
A 1997 revival, again at the Vivian Beaumont, ran for 27 previews and 57 performances from April 3 to June 15. Directed byJack O'Brien, the cast includedStockard Channing as Regina,Kenneth Welsh as Horace,Brian Kerwin as Oscar,Brian Murray as Benjamin, andFrances Conroy as Birdie. Murray was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, and John Lee Beatty was nominated for theTony Award for Best Scenic Design.[6]
The production was revived at TheShakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, from June 3 to 28, 2009, withVenida Evans, Ron Brice, Deanne Lorette, Brian Dykstra, Fisher Neal, Kathryn Meisle, Einar Gunn, Philip Goodwin, Lindsey Wochley, Bradford Cover, and directed by Matthew Arbour.[18]
Another revival was produced byCleveland Play House in the 75th anniversary year of the original Broadway production, September 12–October 5, 2014, in theAllen Theatre (Playhouse Square) inCleveland. The production was directed by Artistic Director Laura Kepley.[19]
Kyle Donnelly directed a revival atWashington, DC'sArena Stage from September 23 to October 30, 2016. The cast includedMarg Helgenberger,Edward Gero,Isabel Keating, and Jack Willis.[20]
Manhattan Theatre Club produced a Broadway revival that began previews on March 29, 2017, and opened officially on April 19 at theSamuel J. Friedman Theatre. It starredLaura Linney (who was nominated for a Tony Award—Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play) andCynthia Nixon who alternated the roles of Regina Giddens and Birdie, with direction byDaniel J. Sullivan. Cynthia Nixon won the Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Play for her turn as Birdie. The production team includedScott Pask, Justin Townsend,Jane Greenwood, Fotz Patton, and Tom Watson.[21][22][23] It played its final performance on July 2, 2017.[24]
TheGate Theatre inDublin, was planning a revival in 2020, directed by Blanche McIntyre, but this was postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[25]
TheYoung Vic inLondon produced a three-month revival that opened December 2, 2024 starringAnne-Marie Duff as Regina.[26]
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