Technique and Tact: Nina Moise Directs the Provincetown Players

Abstract

Historians of the Provincetown Players generally recognize Nina Moise as an individual who made a significant contribution to the company at a crucial period in its existence. Those who acknowledge her as an important member of the group commonly agree that Moise was Provincetown's first professional director and that her success as a director facilitated a shift away from amateurish collectivism toward more professional production techniques. That Nina Moise was largely responsible for this critical transformation in the company's production policies is not in dispute; the factors underlying her success, however, have not been examined. What were the qualities, personal and professional, that enabled Moise to make her significant contribution?