= Neith_Boyce =

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= Neith_Boyce =
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Introduction
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Neith Boyce (March 21, 1872 - December 2, 1951) was an American script
writer and theatre manager. Much of Boyce’s earlier work was published
with help from her parents, Mary and Henry Harrison Boyce. Neith Boyce
later co-founded the Provincetown Players alongside Susan Glaspell,
George Cram Cook, her own husband Hutchins Hapgood, and others. Boyce
worked with the Provincetown Players in several capacities that
included directing, performing, hosting productions in her home, and
having all four of her plays produced. Boyce’s plays featured plots
that focused on women’s sexuality, personal relationships, and agency.

Early life
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Neith Boyce was born in Franklin, Indiana, the second of five children
to Henry Harrison Boyce and Mary Boyce. Henry Harrison Boyce had a
wife and child before his relationship with Mary Boyce. This first
marriage ended in a complicated divorce. In 1880, the diphtheria
epidemic resulted in the death of all the Boyce children, except for
Neith. The now family of three traveled from Milwaukee to Indiana and
finally settled in Los Angeles.

Neith Boyce was self-educated in her family homes in California She
did this by reading the books in her parents’ library. She later
attended a Los Angeles college that was overseen by an “old melancholy
clerical gentleman.” Like most women at the time, Boyce also received
music lessons.

Early writing and journalism
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Neith began publishing pieces as a teenager in the 1880s in the 'Los
Angeles Times', which her father co-founded. By the mid-1880s the
Boyces were leading citizens in Los Angeles. The family later moved to
Boston in 1891, where Mary Boyce became an associate editor for 'The
Cycle', which was a publication oriented towards women’s rights
issues. Mary Boyce helped publish a great deal of Neith Boyce’s
editorial work and poetry. The first of Neith Boyce's works to be
published with the help of her mother was a segment titled “women’s
nature poetry.” After her family moved to New York in 1896, Boyce
began publishing articles and short stories successfully in 'Vogue'
magazine.

By the late 1890s, Neith Boyce was living in Greenwich Village with
two other young women, who, like herself, were salaried
newspaperwomen. The three made their way by writing for various New
York City newspapers. Neith Boyce worked for Lincoln Steffens, then
editor of 'The Commercial Advertiser'. Boyce published her first book
in 1896, 'The Chap-Book'.Neith Boyce c.1900

Playwright
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Boyce’s husband, Hapgood, took to spending summers in Provincetown,
Massachusetts. Boyce became involved with the local community of
female playwrights in Provincetown and was one of the founding members
of the Provincetown Players. All four of Boyce’s works for the stage
were first presented by the Provincetown Players. Boyce also wrote,
directed, and performed for the company.

Major themes that are consistent throughout Boyce’s work include:
* Cases that argue for young men and women to experience periods of
sexual or relational experimentation to avoid making serious mistakes.
* The power of social conventions, whether for good or evil.
* The negative effects on women’s character from having to cope with
life independently.
* The general difficulty of women’s lives.
Boyce’s 'Constancy' (1914) inaugurated the first season of the theatre
that would become the Provincetown Players. The play deals with the
tempestuous relationship between two of her summer neighbors who were
also members of the Provincetown Players, Mabel Dodge and John Reed.
Boyce addresses sexual double standards through satirizing the love
affair between Dodge and Jack Reed, both of whom were married at the
time to other people. In the play, the male lead, Rex, cannot remain
faithful to his lover, Moira, yet expects her to await his return from
his latest love affair. This topic points to Boyce’s frustration with
the sexual double standard in her own marriage, as well as the
hypocrisies practiced by the male members of the Provincetown Players.

The second production was of 'Enemies' (1916) which was a
collaboration between Neith Boyce and her husband. 'Enemies' was
written as a dialogue between a man and a woman that reflected the
then contemporary war between the sexes. Neith Boyce wrote the woman’s
lines, and Hutchins Hapgood wrote the man’s. The couple appeared in
the play when it premiered in Provincetown. 'Enemies' was one the
first plays to be produced for radio.

Both 'Two Sons' and 'Winter’s Night' were produced in 1916, however, a
printed version of 'Winter’s Night' was not available until 1928. This
published copy of 'Winter’s Night' featured several revisions from the
script originally presented in Provincetown. 'Winter’s Night' features
a female protagonist who rejects a proposal from her late husband's
brother to start a dress-making business. This results in the suitor’s
suicide.

Boyce's last play, 'The Sea Lady', was based on the book by H.G.
Wells. The play was in the works for a Broadway production when the
novelist's agents pulled the rights. The script was then shelved and
only discovered among the playwright's papers in recent years. It was
given its stage premiere by the Metropolitan Playhouse in October
2022.

Personal life
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Neith Boyce met her husband, Hutchins Hapgood, while working for 'The
Commercial Advertiser'. Hapgood himself had a long career as a
novelist and journalist. They married on June 22, 1899. They had two
children.

The two would function as friends and advisors to such cultural
celebrities as Mabel Dodge, Djuna Barnes, Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia
O’Keeffe, and Gertrude Stein. Hapgood and Boyce had what was outwardly
claimed to be a “modern marriage” in which both partners were equal,
and neither was bound by sexual fidelity. However, behind closed
doors, Boyce was solely responsible for the children, while Hapgood
enjoyed numerous affairs. Hapgood’s jealousy prevented Boyce from
enjoying the sexual freedom that he enjoyed for himself. Her one
exception to this restrictive marriage was Hapgood’s support of her
writing, and Boyce’s ability to use her writing as a means to voice
her own discontent and frustration.

Boyce died in 1951, aged 79.

Novels
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* 'The Chap-Book' (1896)
* 'The Forerunner' (1903)
* 'The Folly of Others' (1906)
* 'Eternal Spring' (1906)
* 'The Bond' (1908)
* 'Proud Lady' (1923)
* 'Harry: A Portrait' (1923)

Plays
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* 'Constancy' (1914)
* 'Enemies' (1916)
* 'Two Sons' (1916)
* 'Winter's Night' (1928)

Further reading
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* 'The Modern World of Neith Boyce : Autobiography and Diaries',
edited by Carol DeBoer-Langworthy. University of New Mexico Press,
2003.

Sources
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*[http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/saxon/SaxonServlet?style=http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/saxon/EAD/yul.ead2002.xhtml.xsl&source=http://drs.library.yale.edu:8083/fedora/get/beinecke:hapgood/EAD
Yale University Library - 'Guide to the Hapgood Family Papers']

External links
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*

* [http://www.neithboyce.net Website of Carol DeBoer-Langworthy,
editor of 'The Modern World of Neith Boyce']

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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neith_Boyce