The Fourposter: A Comedy in Three Acts

by Jan de Hartog

The Fourposter published by Samuel french, Inc., actor's editions of the play, includes scene by scene property plots and scene diagrams

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama

84 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1942

About the author

Jan de Hartog (1914 – 2002) was a Dutch playwright, novelist and occasional social critic who moved to the United States in the early 1960s and became a Quaker. From then on he wrote in English.
At the beginning of his career he wrote five detective novels about the adventures of Commissioner Wiebe Poesiat and inspector Gregor Boyarski at the metropolitan harbor police under the pseudonym F.R. Eckmar

Johannes (Jan) de Hartog was een Nederlandse schrijver van romans, toneelstukken en filmscenario's, vooral gekend om zijn romans over de scheepvaart.
In het begin van zijn carrière schreef hij, onder het pseudoniem F.R. Eckmar, ook een vijftal detectieveromans over de avonturen van commissaris Wiebe Poesiat en inspecteur Gregor Boyarski bij de hoofdstedelijke havenpolitie.

Reviews

[Brittany Petruzzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This play is nice and light and fun, but I'm afraid that in its lightness it missed out on depth. The good? The play considers marriage a good thing. Despite various fights, His adultery, and Her desire to leave–or perhaps because of these things–their commitment to their marriage vows enables them to overcome difficulty and learn to love each other even more. The bad? The dialogue is somewhat stilted. Though we do discover their names, it’s obvious that the playwright is attempting to make them an Everyman and Everywoman by tagging them Him and Her in the script. The overemphasis on the universal nature of marriage may be the cause of de Hartog’s ordinary dialogue. The playwright bought himself a second obstacle when he decided to try his hand at the vignette style, which tends to lack depth except at the hands of uncommonly good writer.

Though I find The Fourposter somewhat lacking as a script, given a good director and thinking actors, I don’t doubt it could be brought to full life on the stage.

[Carolyn Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drama, 1M 1F. I liked it. I don't have enough marital experience to know if all of the writing is true to life, but I know at least some of it is. "She"'s emotions are expressed in a way that can only come out on stage, and really illustrates the importance of actors in this world. It was made into a musical "I Do! I Do!" in the 1960s. I think this would be a great play for a beginner director or crew. It really has a wide range of emotions that go quite deep, but also has comedy to keep it light enough to entrance an audience. Good for a challenge for the actor.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heard about this Broadway musical over the years, and finally got around to delving into it.

In sum, it is an alright storyline, but it lacks something that I cannot put my finger on. The songs are forgettable, with the exception of My Cup Runneth Over.

[Kristi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Fourposter was first presented by the Playwrights' company at the ethel Barrymore Theatre on October 24, 1951. It starred Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn. After surviving a particulary awkward honeymoon, Michael and Agnes traverse the usual stages of matrimony: childbirth, extra-marital temptations, terrible teens, and eventual retirement. Through all, their ancient and venerable Fourposter stands, serving as a monument to enduring devotion, then finally becoming a symbol of the continuity of life, or rather, living. Disappointing. If you want to see a great film with this wonderful couple, watch "The Gin Game". Kristi & Abby Tabby

[Brian McCann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring to read. Perhaps Cronyn/Tandy elevated the material.

[Nicolas · Rating 2 out of 5]

In trying to capture the essence of a marriage from start to finish it seems they left out the plot. We go from happy to caddy to resigned, but it seems like all of the meat must be in scenes we don't see. It's not particularly compelling or even pleasant. I'm sure with a perfect cast and able director you'd be able to get some depth that isn't as evident in just a reading, but this just isn't for me.

[Bobby Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started out kinda weird, but ended up being a very sweet play.