An update: after sending all the wonderful information folks sent me
about bread for the play "The Drawer Boy" being done by the
Contemporary American Theatre Company (CATCO) in Columbus, Ohio, to
the director and the actor involved -- the overwhelming
recommendation/memory/historical fact was that it should be white
bread -- the director and actor have decided to use white bread. The
actor will have one loaf kneaded, shaped, and risen in advance, and
knead another on stage, then put the risen loaf in the oven. So
thanks for the advice -- it changed their minds about what was best
to do to stay true to the play's setting and time!
Alan
Alan Woods
Director, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute
The Ohio State University
woods.1@osu.edu
http://alan-ohio.blogspot.com
http://library.osu.edu/sites/tri/