New information RE: Washington Square Players and Glaspell:
“Washington Square Players Present Bill of Novelties” Christian Science Monitor 15 November 1916, p. 11. (no author listed). The quite detailed review of this production of Trifles covers the play as part of the Second Bill of their Third Season (1916-17).
Also see the dissertation on the Washington Square Players by Eugene M. Wank: “The Washington Square Players: Experiment Toward Professionalism” Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Oregon, 1973.
What is interesting here is the information about the company’s presentation of multiple works by Glaspell—not only Trifles, but also Suppressed Desires in 1918 (why did they change their mind about this??), and Close the Book (1918). Trifles, moreover, was revived as part of a “Special Suffrage Week” bill sponsored by the Woman’s Suffrage Party, beginning March 12, 1917.
The Wank dissertation draws considerably on archival materials related to core members of the group, especially Edward Goodman’s (husband of Lucy Huffaker) files in the NY Public Library, but it’s not clear if the archival materials provide anything on Glaspell.
—J. Ellen Gainor