The word “explode”originally meant to clap or jeer a performer off the stage. It is an etymological cousin of the word “applaud”.
The author Thomas Hardy was a keen theater fan, but the only acting role he ever played in his life was a walk-on part in a Christmas pantomime.
Arthur Miller’s father lost everything in the stock market crash of 1929.
Before he became a famous playwright, Tennessee Williams worked as a waiter, factory worker, and a caretaker on a chicken ranch. He later called his work on the chicken farm “disastrous.”
One of Williams’ earliest breaks as a writer was winning $100 in a playwrighting contest for under 25-year-olds. Except, he had lied about his age and was actually 27 at the time.
Eugene O’Neill originally hated his masterpiece play A Long Day’s Journey into night, and after completing it in 1941 admitted to a friend that he never wanted to see it published or performed.
