ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF ...

subsidy … that is like asking for the moon and stars. Only as a vagabond has the
marionette ever been free, only [sic] as a vagabond can he ever expect to maintain
that freedom. He must only serve one master at a time. 266
It is clear that Chesse’ believed in the artistic richness of puppetry, even if he was
skeptical that other puppeteers were able, or at least willing, to serve it. It is equally clear
that he believed his own productions were unique within the mosaic of performance, and
despairs of the society that had a brief but wonderful opportunity to fund them, but too
soon dismissed that opportunity under political pressures.
These apperceptions of most puppetry practice seem to have led Chesse’ to
produce one of the most interesting productions of blackface puppetry under examination
in this study. The Federal Theatre Project produced Chesse’s The Emperor Jones twice,
first in San Francisco, California, in 1936, and again in Los Angeles, California, in 1938.
Meanwhile, the black theatre units footed two live-actor productions of O’Neill’s play, in
Hartford (1937) and Salem (1938). The records only identify the number of individual
productions Chesse’ supervised. The actual number of showings may have numered as
high as the triple digits.
Chesse’ was particularly proud of the reception of this production. He cited it as
the coup de gras that ensured his ascension to the position of regional director. Yet, this
piece may not have been as marked a success for the aesthetic development of blackface
puppetry as it was for Chesse’s specific career. The live version of Eugene O’Neill’s
Emperor Jones was a major play in the twentieth-century theatre’s portrayals of African
Americans. However, within the dramatic annals of the Works Progress Administration,
it was less successful. Descriptions of its sole performance in Harlem attest to the failure
266 Ralph Chesse’, “Untitled,” Lecture given at The Puppeteers of America (24 June 2004).
213