Kenneth Sawyer Goodman

author

Kenneth Sawyer Goodman

1883–1918

A Chicago playwright and naval officer whose life was cut short during World War I, he left such a strong impression that his family created a lasting theatrical memorial in his honor. His name lives on through the Goodman Theatre, one of Chicago’s best-known cultural institutions.

1 Audiobook

The Game of Chess: A Play in One Act

The Game of Chess: A Play in One Act

by Kenneth Sawyer Goodman

About the author

Born in 1883, Kenneth Sawyer Goodman was a Chicago playwright from the Goodman family, later remembered by the city’s theater world for both his writing and his early death. Reliable archival material from the Chicago Public Library notes that the Goodman Theatre was established in 1922 by his parents, William and Erna Goodman, as a memorial to him.

Goodman also served as a naval officer during World War I. Historical summaries of the theater’s founding describe him as a Chicago playwright who died of influenza in 1918 while in service, a loss that gave special urgency and feeling to the memorial his family envisioned.

That memorial became the Goodman Theatre, which officially opened in 1925 with works by Goodman presented at its dedication. Even though his life was brief, his connection to Chicago theater endured through the institution created in his name.