How to Get Tough About It
How to Get Tough About It is a 1938 dramatic play by Robert Ardrey. ProductionHow to Get Tough About It is Robert Ardrey's third play, preceded by Star Spangled and Casey Jones, the latter of which opened on Broadway within ten days of it. Ardrey's next play, Thunder Rock, is his most famous. How to Get Tough About it opened on Broadway in 1938. It was presented by Guthrie McClintic, who bought the script after a single reading.[1] The production starred Katherine Locke and Myron McCormick, who were praised for their acting. Brooks Atkinson, reviewing for the New York Times, wrote "In their scenes together Miss Locke and Mr. McCormick act with fervent sincerity that is beautifully matched and one of the acting treasures of this stirring season."[1] StoryThe author described the play as "A proletarian love story of pleasant dimensions."[2] It tells the story of Kitty, an independent-minded waitress in a cheap cafe in a Midwestern industrial district, and Dan Grimshaw, "a boat-builder with more pride in craft than business sense."[1] Atkinson gives the following summary:
ReceptionHow to Get Tough About It opened two years after Ardrey's first play, Star Spangled. Star Spangled had been commercially unsuccessful, but had garnered Ardrey a reputation on Broadway, as well as notice from important figures. In particular George Abbott, Sidney Howard, Thornton Wilder, and Arthur Hopkins all saw promise in the play, and due to their interventions Ardrey was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship that allowed him the financial freedom to write Casey Jones and How to Get Tough About it.[2][3][4] These two plays opened ten days apart and both also failed to find popularity with audiences, though reviews were mixed. His fourth play, Thunder Rock, was also a failure on Broadway, before it became a massive international success.[2] References
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