The Ladies of the Corridor

The blackly comic play about the oppressed lives of women in 1950s New York

One of Literature's leading humorists, Dorothy Parker drew from the dark side of her imagination to pen The Ladies of the Corridor, a searing drama about women living on their own in a New York residence hotel. Loosely based on Parker's life, and co-written with famed Hollywood playwright Arnaud d'Usseau, The Ladies of the Corridor exposes the limitations of a woman's life in a drama teeming with Parker's signature wit.

“As unyielding and coruscating a portrait of women before feminism that I have ever seen.”

a a aHonor Moore in "The New York Times," on the 2005 off Broadway revival
Honor Moore in "The New York Times", on the 2005 off Broadway revival ? ? ?Honor Moore in "The New York Times", on the 2005 off Broadway revival

Dorothy Parker was born in West End, New Jersey, in 1893 and grew up in New York, attending a Catholic convent school and Miss Dana's School in Morristown, New Jersey. In 1916 she sold some of her poetry to the editor of Vogue, and was subsequently given an editorial position on the magazine, writing captions for fashion photographs and drawings. She then became drama critic of Vanity Fair and the central figure of the celebrated Algonquin Round Table.

Famous for her spoken wit, she showed the same trenchant commentary in her book reviews for The New Yorker and Esquire and in her poems and sketches. Her collection of poems included Not So Deep as a Well and Enough Rope, which became a bestseller; and her collections of stories included Here Lies. She also collaborated with Elmer Rice on a play, Close Harmony and with Arnaud d'Usseau on the play the Ladies of the Corridor. She herself had two Broadway plays written about her and was portrayed as a character in a third. Her cynicism and the concentration of her judgements were famous and she has been closely associated with modern urbane humour.

Her first husband was Edwin Pond Parker II, and although they were divorced some years later, she continued to use his name, which she much preferr

The blackly comic play about the oppressed lives of women in 1950s New York One of Literature as leading humorists, Dorothy Parker drew from the dark side of her imagination to pen "The Ladies of the Corridor," a searing drama about women living on their own in a New York residence hotel. Loosely based on Parkeras life, and co-written with famed Hollywood playwright Arnaud daUsseau, "The Ladies of the Corridor" exposes the limitations of a womanas life in a drama teeming with Parkeras signature wit.

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