Martin Beck Theatre
New York, New York
October 27, 1930, Opening Night
Program selected pages
Asian cast: Ivan Achong, Seungman Ahn, Grace Chee, H.L. Donsu, Charlie Fang, Paul Fung, Y. Y. Hsu, Sam Kim, Helen Kimm, Peter Kwan, Arthur Leon, Henry Leong, Siang Pan, Frank Sinne, H. T. Tsiang, Lee Tung-Foo, Richard Wang, Von Wang, Irene Wong, Dorothy Woo, Y. W. Woo, Elsie Wu, and James Yoon
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 26, 1930
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Brooklyn Daily Eagle, November 29, 1930
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S. Tretiakov
Martin Lawrence, 1931
Page 5: ... Later “Roar China” was produced in Berlin and in other theatre-centres of Europe. In America it was first produced by the Theatre Guild in New York on October 22, 1930, with very elaborate sets by Lee Simonson, and with the use of Chinese actors from Chinatown. The text was changed at several points so as to alter somewhat the significance of the play. ...
Internet Broadway Database, Roar China!
Playbill, Roar China!
Arts & Decoration, January 1931
The Young Companion 良友 #56, April 1931
Further Reading and Viewing
Theatre Arts Monthly, April 1927, “The Theatre of the Revolution”; photograph, article
New York Public Library, photograph
Arise Africa! Roar China!: Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century (2021)
Daily Worker, October 27, 1930, “Roar China” Premiere at Martin Beck Theatre Tonite
Time, November 10, 1930
Life, November 14, 1930
The China Weekly Review, December 13, 1930, “China on Broadway”
The New Yorker, December 13, 1930, review “All Wet”
Asian Review of Books, “Roar, China!” by Sergei Tretyakov: a new translation by Stephen Holland
Chinese Digest, February 7, 1936, “Random Notes on Lady Precious Stream”
... So casually was this drama heralded that one could take it for granted Chinese plays are regular offerings on Broadway. Actually the premiere of Wang Pao-chuan (the Chinese name of Lady Precious Stream) perhaps marks the very first time that a classical Chinese drama—adapted into English and fashioned for modern consumption, of course—has come to Broadway. In making this statement the reviewer does not forget that there have been many Chinese plays given in New York during the past decade, notably S. Tretiakov’s “Roar China” and the dramatization of Pearl Buck’s “Good Earth.” But these plays could not be considered as truly Chinese because, for one thing, they were not written by Chinese, and for another, they were not classical dramas. These distinctions, on the whole, should not make any difference, but dramatists seem to insist on it. …
(Next post on Wednesday: Flower Drum Song, May and June 1964)
