Maxwell Anderson’s
Anne of the Thousand Days

Visy Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse, June 2006

Playwright Maxwell Anderson (1888-1959) is best known for his Hollywood screen adaptations of his own plays including Key Largo, What Price Glory, Knickerbocker Holiday and Mary of Scotland. He was the most successful playwright of his time & most of his plays, including Anne of the Thousand Days (1948), Mary of Scotland and What Price Glory enjoyed long runs on Broadway. Both Your Houses won the Pulitzer Prize and Winterset and Mary of Scotland won coveted Drama League Awards. The majority of his 48 plays are in verse and he aimed to communicate “the highest and most admirable in the human spirit.” In a period when playwrights such as Eugene O’Neill and Clifford Odets were exploring forms to express the aims of realism, Anderson’s traditional approach to form was widely considered an anomaly. His content, however, was progressive and remains relevant.

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