Thunder Rock (play)

Thunder Rock
Written byRobert Ardrey
CharactersCharleston, Streeter, Nonny, Inspector Flanning, Captain Joshua, Briggs, Dr. Stephan Kurtz, Melanie, Anne Marie, Miss Kirby, Chang
Date premieredNovember 14, 1939 (1939-11-14)
Place premieredMansfield Theatre
Original languageEnglish
SubjectWorld War II, American Isolationism
GenreDrama
SettingThunder Rock Lighthouse, Lake Michigan

Thunder Rock is a 1939 play by Robert Ardrey.

The initial Broadway production, put on by the Group Theater and directed by Elia Kazan, closed after a short run, but the play was far more successful in wartime London. Thunder Rock became a symbol of British resistance[1][2] and was the most notable play of World War II.[3][4] It was first produced in a little-known theater in South Kensington but was transferred, with secret funding from Her Majesty's Treasury,[5] to the Globe Theatre in London's West End.[6][7]: 66 

Thunder Rock has seen many adaptations, including a BBC radio version in 1940 and a 1942 film starring Michael Redgrave and Barbara Mullen with James Mason in a minor role. In 1947 CBS broadcast a radio production; it was awarded a Peabody Award.[8] Stage productions have been mounted all over the world, including an unauthorized production in Zurich,[9] a U.S. government-sponsored production in occupied Berlin,[10]: 24–5  and popular post-war productions throughout Europe and Africa, including in Harare and Nairobi.[7]: 66 

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hobson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Sheean, Vincent. "American Play Stirs Londoners." Review syndicated in the New York Times. 29 July 1940. Print: "An American play called 'Thunder Rock' ... has come nearer than anything else to a statement of the emotional or philosophical content of many minds in embattled England today."
  3. ^ Undated review. "Best Play Since the War Began." Available through The Robert Ardrey Papers 1928-1974. Special Collections Library: University of Chicago. Box 11, Folder 2.
  4. ^ Vincent Sheehan called it "London's Chum Chin Chow of World War II," citing the most emblematic play of the first world war. Quoted in "Concerning Thunder Rock." Undated review, available through The Robert Ardrey Papers 1928-1974. Special Collections Library: University of Chicago. Box 11, Folder 2.
  5. ^ Aldgate, Anthony et al. Britain Can Take It: The British Cinema in the Second World War 2nd ed. London: I.B. Tauris, 2007. pp. 170-2. Print.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Eye was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Education was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Sterling, Christopher H. (ed.) The Biographical Encyclopedia of American Radio. 2010. London: Routledge. Pp. 256-7. Pring
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference TakeIt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Decades was invoked but never defined (see the help page).