Welcome to American Blues Theater’s continuation of our 40th anniversary season.
Written in 1950, one might assume William Inge’s domestic drama Come Back, Little Sheba is a dusty period piece from the distant past. When considering it for this season, our ensemble was startled by its relevance. Inge depicts a dysfunctional marriage set in an inequitable era. Currently, women’s rights, choices, and autonomy are being clawed back to a mythical time of nostalgia under the guise of traditional family values. Who defines the traditions and values for America?
There’s a maxim that may apply to this backslide – from thinking to talking to actions. When verbal, physical, and sexual abuses toward women are normalized, we see active legislation creep back onto the People’s floor. Legislatively speaking, we see the bars of that misogynistic cage start to erect again.
Complicating matters, there’s an abundance of social media influencers who romanticize cleaning, cooking, childcare, homeschooling, and subservience to husbands in the modern tradwife movement. To be clear, no one diminishes the women who serve and sacrifice for their families every day. It is some of the hardest work out there. We applaud every mother, auntie, grandmother, sister, and friend who supports and uplifts their families – chosen or birthed. We also acknowledge that in 2026, a single-income “ideal” is far out of reach for most. But we must be careful not to romanticize the inequity and imbalance onto women.
Here are a few realities of the 1950s American woman: only white women were guaranteed the right to vote; no woman could take out a loan, credit card, or sign a lease without a man co-signing; a married woman couldn’t get a job without her husband’s permission – and even then, he had legal control of her earnings; she couldn’t own her own business; she couldn’t get birth control without a man’s assistance; her reproductive rights didn’t exist; she wasn’t legally protected against marital violence; she couldn’t initiate divorce.
In the seventy-five years since Inge penned this play, one would think women would have more autonomy than present-day. We present Come Back, Little Sheba to the next generation in hopes to illuminate the realities of a bygone era so we, as a society, don’t stumble too far into the same darkness again.
– Gwendolyn Whiteside
P.S. In 1998, I began my journey with American Blues Theater as the high school waitress in William Inge’s Bus Stop. Returning to another Inge play in our 40th anniversary season is an honor and artistic challenge of my lifetime.