The International is a play by the American playwright John Howard Lawson

John Howard Lawson

John Howard Lawson was an American writer. He was head of the Hollywood division of the Communist Party USA. He was also the cell's cultural manager, and answered directly to V.J. Jerome, the Party's New York-based cultural chief...

. It was first produced by the New Playwrights' Theatre in New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, opening on January 12 1928. Lawson directed this production, while John Dos Passos

John Dos Passos

John Roderigo Dos Passos was an American novelist and artist.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Dos Passos was the illegitimate son of John Randolph Dos Passos , a distinguished lawyer of Madeiran Portuguese descent, and Lucy Addison Sprigg Madison of Petersburg, Virginia. The elder Dos Passos...

 designed the sets, Edward A. Ziman composed its music, Don Oscar Becque choreographed the dances, and Helen Johnson designed the costumes.

Characters

• Simeon Silas Fitch
• Edward Elliott Spunk
• Ethel
• David Fitch
• T. Jerome Henley
• Karneski
• Alise
• Rubeloff (Soviet Commissar)
• The Living Buddha of Lhasa
• Tim
• Madam Miau
• Gussie
• General Fitzmaurice (of the British Army)
• Monsieur Fouchard (of the French Ministry)
• Benjamin Krumb
• Marines
• Native Soldiers
• Gendarmes
• Workmen

Sources

• Lawson, John Howard. 1927. The International. New York: The Macaulay Company.