Broadway Director
In 1915, Payne produced the first staging of Hobson's Choice by Harold Brighouse for The Shubert Organization.In 1916 he directed John Barrymore in his first success in a serious role, in the American premiere of Justice by John Galsworthy. According to Angus L. Bowmer, founder of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a financial backer demanded that Barrymore be replaced, fearing a disastrous drinking binge. Payne replied, in effect, that if they replaced Barrymore they would have to find a new director. Barrymore stayed and the performance launched his career. Justice had been produced by John D. Williams, press agent for Charles Frohman. In 1917, Payne accepted a position as a stage director of the Charles Frohman Company, a leading American producing organization.
Payne would split his time between directing professionally in New York City and directing students at the School of Drama at Carnegie Tech, sometimes preferring the attitude and commitment of his "apprentice actors" in Pittsburgh to his professional actors on Broadway. Payne was unhappy with the work at Frohman, with its emphasis on type casting, and a 'star system' where engaging a celebrity actor (who cared more about their own performance than the good of the play as a whole) was the main concern, and he left in 1923.. He returned to Broadway in 1943 to direct several plays for the Theatre Guild of New York.
Read more about this topic: Ben Iden Payne
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