Get to know the Playwrights

Revolt of the Beavers was originally produced in 1937 in New York City by the Children's Unit of the Federal Theatre Project by Oscar Saul and Louis Lantz. However, this play was quickly shut down shortly after due to a "socialist" feel. For example, one critic described the play as "Marxism a la Mother Goose". Although this play was a fantasy fable intended for children, it was attacked by the House Un-American Activities Committee for promoting Communist ideals.

Oscar Saul is a screenwriting who wrote and collaborated on the screenplays to numerous movies from the 1940s through the early 1970s. His best-known work was on the screen adaptation of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), which he wrote in conjunction with the playwright. In addition to writing film scripts, he wrote two plays, The Revolt of the Beavers and Medicine Show. Oscar Saul was born on December 26, 1912 in New York. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us because he passed away from prostate cancer in May of 1994 in Los Angeles, California.

Louis Lantz was a successful American playwright and screenwriter. He was born on April 8, 1913 and passed away on November 24, 1987 in Los Angeles, California. He was a Princeton University alumnus and a World War I veteran who served in the United States Army. Before he achieved success as a playwright, he started as a journalist on the East Coast. He soon gained fame in 1934 as the author of the Broadway hit Personal Appearance. This play opened at New York's Henry Miller Theatre and was a huge Broadway success, lasting for 501 performances.

To view the original 1936 play script of Revolt of the Beavers, you can view it at this website:

http://www.aladin.wrlc.org/gsdl/cgi-bin/library?e=d-01000-00---off-0ftpp--00-1--0-10-0---0---0prompt-10---4-------0-1l--11-en-50---20-home---01-3-1-00-0-0-11-0-0utfZz-8-00&a=d&c=ftpp&cl=CL8.2&d=HASH2684bd2b1d8cebe4be6930