Onstage II: Hamlet, 1949

Abstract

He had not been back from Germany in July 1949 long enough to recover from jet lag, but Robert Breen was already critiquing the very successful tour of Hamlet which he had directed, starred in and co-produced. The production had played at the Elsinore Festival in Denmark and at US military bases in occupied Germany. “The sad thing about our trip to Germany as we heard continually from the Military Company there and is being echoed by the State Department and Civil Affairs people here—… that the Military Government were not wise enough to arrange before our entry into Germany or while we were there for the company to stay on and play for the German civilian population with the Military Government assuming all responsibilities for the salaries.”1 The limited audience of Danes (and other Scandinavians) as well as US military personnel was too small for the scope of Breen’s ambitions. His vision for the future of US theatre, as those involved in ANTA already well knew, was global. Three weeks later he outlined his plan to supply Germany (and the rest of Europe) with the best of US theatre. He even enlisted Hamlet producer Blevins Davis to use his personal connections to President Harry Truman to ensure the plan’s success.