There are a number of different plays that van Itallie decided to write over the terms of his life. Some of the most well-known that are still out there include
- Dream
- King of the United States
- Bag lady
- Struck Dumb
- The Traveler
- Naropa
- American Hurrah
Van Itallie never shied away from commentary on the world around him or bringing in some items that were maybe seen as a little bit controversial for the time either. Van Itallie has been able to write more than 30 plays over the years while working on books and other forms of writing that have garnered him fans all around the world.
American Hurrah
One of the best known plays that van Itallie wrote was American Hurrah. This was actually a play that came in three different pieces and was meant to be a bit of a political statement as well as comedic and satire all rolled into one. It was one of the first of its kind, which is why it had such an impact during that time.
The first part of the trilogy was called Interview. It was a look at the process of job hunting and pointed out how dehumanizing the whole process can be. Even though there have been some changes to this process over the years, many American workers could feel how hard it was to look for a job and have to fight to be seen through all the numbers for one position.
The second part was called “TV” and was a hit at the media. In this one, the commentary focused on how the mass media was able to take a topic and then trivialize it. During this time, three people who worked for a ratings company would watch a variety of different shows. Gradually, the ones that these employees are watching will take over the stage and the three “real” people used in the play are the ones absorbed by the shows instead.
Then there was the third part of the trilogy, “Motel” which wasn’t performed until a little bit later in it all. In this one, there is a big doll used, who is considered the Motel-keeper. This doll is supposed to look over the motel room and would emit a stream of increasingly arcane pattern. During the performance, two other dolls are going to come to the room and work on trashing it all up, adding graffiti to the wall, and then working to dismantle the motel-keeper at the same time.
All of these came together to form the American Huzzah performance that would slowly start to take over. It originally performed in just small theatres around New York, but it didn’t take long before it expanded and was done in other locations as well.
