Outside Looking In

"Outside Looking In represents one of the most atypical plays of Maxwell Anderson’s career. Its peculiarity within Anderson’s corpus is due, in large part, to the fact that it was an adaptation rather than an original work. The source material, Jim Tully’s autobiographical Beggars of Life, consists of colorful tales of Tully’s time riding the rails in the early 1900s. Tully’s account of hobo life was noted for exposing the underbelly of American culture through gritty realism devoid of sentimentality. Anderson’s adaptation does not strictly follow Tully’s path, but in many respects, he remains faithful to the material. Tully’s work is essentially ethnographic in nature. Outside Looking In is certainly the closest Anderson ever came to genuine ethnography in his playwriting. Perhaps the most powerful feature of the play is its atmosphere. The characters are rich in humanity due in no small part to Anderson’s judicious use of Tully’s dialogue and situations. It is difficult to imagine this play working in any style outside of realism and it may even demand naturalism on some level. Yet the play is also inherently theatrical. The scene in the railroad car depicting the mock trial opens myriad possibilities for a creative team to exploit for dramatic purposes." From the Foreword by Dr. Fonzie D. Geary II