Ernest Hemingway wrote THE FIFTH COLUMN in 1937 while he was in Madrid working as a correspondent during the Spanish Civil War. A hot-blooded romance played out against a backdrop of treachery and intrigue during the Spanish Civil War, Hemingway’s first and only play was published a year later.
The Theatre Guild mounted a production in 1940, but they hired a Hollywood screenwriter to make changes. The produced version was billed as “Adapted by Benjamin Glazer from the published play by Ernest Hemingway.” Even in its diluted state, Hemingway’s muscular brilliance was evident and the production was greeted with enthusiasm by many.
In 2008, Mint Theater produced the US professional premiere of THE FIFTH COLUMN as it was originally written: “A remarkable contemporaneous account, a trenchant observer’s record of the large and small moments that make up a war.”1 Newsday hailed the Mint’s efforts, saying, “On the Mint’s tiny (but always surprisingly mighty) stage, more than a dozen actors roll out almost three hours of heroics and flawed humanity with remarkable conviction and sense of style.”2
THE FIFTH COLUMN rings out with a battle-scarred truth as one would expect from Ernest Hemingway, the Nobel and Pulitzer-prize winning author of A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls and a celebrated war correspondent.
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was one of the most influential and important voices in American fiction, famous for his short, declarative sentences and no-nonsense prose. From the 1920’s until his death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Hemingway captivated the public with his oversize personality and dramatic exploits as well as his powerful short stories and novels. Whether running with the bulls in Pamplona, hunting big game in Africa or reeling in marlin off the Florida Keys, Hemingway had a huge appetite for adventure, competition and exhibitions of strength and courage.
PROFESSOR GERALD WEALES: PHILIP RAWLINGS: PROFESSIONAL AGENT
Professor Gerald Weales from University of Pennsylvania is a drama specialist, critic, and author/editor of a great many books, including Revolution: A Collection of Plays. Weales discusses THE FIFTH COLUMN’s depiction of a professional agent working for the Comintern in a political and literary context.
PROFESSOR ARTHUR WALDHORN: THE FIFTH COLUMN IN CONTEXT
Professor Arthur Waldhorn is the author of “A Reader’s Guide to Ernest Hemingway” and “Ernest Hemingway, A Collection of Criticism,” as well as co-editor of “Hemingway and Faulkner in Their Time.” He is Professor Emeritus of English at the City College of New York.
ANNE TAIBLESON: THE ABRAHAM LINCOLN BRIGADE
Anne Taibleson, Executive Director of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA) discusses the history of the North American role in the Spanish Civil War.”
JUAN SALAS, DRAMATURG: MADRID, 1936-1939
Juan Salas, Dramaturg for THE FIFTH COLUMN and a doctoral candidate at N.Y.U., discusses daily life in Madrid during the war.
JONATHAN BANK, DIRECTOR: THE FIFTH COLUMN ON BROADWAY
Jonathan Bank discusses how it happened that the Theater Guild produced Hemingway’s play on Broadway in an “adaptation” by Benjamin Glazer.
PROFESSOR NOËL VALIS: THE REAL FIFTH COLUMN IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR
Professor Noël Valis from Yale University discusses THE FIFTH COLUMN and the real “fifth column” in the Spanish Civil War. Professor Valis is the author of numerous books as well as the editor of the recently released “Teaching Representations of the Spanish Civil War.”
VERNA KALE: TYPEWRITER SOLDIERS: THE UNCIVIL WARS OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY AND MARTHA GELLHORN
Verna Kale is a Ph.D. candidate in English at Penn State. Her dissertation traces the evolution of the woman war correspondent in America.
