cover image Shattered Applause: The Lives of Eva Le Gallienne

Shattered Applause: The Lives of Eva Le Gallienne

Robert A. Schanke. Southern Illinois University Press, $44 (344pp) ISBN 978-0-8093-1820-9

British-born Schanke ( Ibsen in America ) traces the remarkable six-decade U.S. stage career of Eva Le Gallienne (1899-1991) in a well-researched biography that draws heavily on interviews with her friends and students. Famed for her subtle interpretation of complex roles such as Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, Le G (as she was called) also founded the Civic Repertory Theater in New York City, the first of its kind. Tormented by conventional sexual mores, which made her ashamed of her lesbianism, she frequently turned to alcohol, believing that she was denied work because of her lifestyle. Schanke presents Le G's complicated personality in a sympathetic study, documenting her tremendous dedication to the American theater and her largely unrecognized contributions to its growth. Photos. (Dec.)