Hide Article Text (OCR)
989 COMMONWEALTH AVE., BOSTON* i'68 Exchange St. 98 Cabot St,76 Washington St. QuincyBavoi-ly#.4 % 4 • -17. IM«... .. iThere is, for instance, no mention of Epgeiig Q'NpIU, beat . known of: 11 Amerjcap dramatists. The minority,tyhlch (Jpeg not tlilrjk O’Neill the great-Ogt playwriblU |n.i America, generallyraUie? beljipd Prank prayon an^ TheFirst Year.’’ But Frank CraYen is alsoleft out, as Is Zpna Gale, the wlpnerof the Pulitzer pr|zo, with Miss Lulu Lett. , sAnd ^hat reminds us that one of theoddities is that npt a slpglo woman Ismentioned in the list of incorporators pf the Natlorjul Theatre.- |n the theatre, at legst, women have mannered to ipajntain an equality with men. When one thinks of the great p|ayers of today,. he would probably mention bpth Duse and Bernhardt before the name of any-man came to his mind. Here In America it is difficult to think of any Individual star quite as famous as Ethel; Barrymore, unless it be her brother, John Barrymore. Moreover,If a disciple df femlnjnlsip should name2 C,ip addition Eaurette Taylor, Jane Cowl, Helen Menken, Jeanne Engels, Eonore Utricf Florence Reed and Graoe George. It would be difficult to match 11 with alist of male performers as capable.Nor are the women playwrights overshadowed. Zpe Akjns, Zona Gale and Susan Giaspell have all been associated With noteworthy successes,The National Theatre seems like a movement to standardize the drama rather than to inspire it.It is perhaps fitting that, there shouldrrri 4»V17 sflt;Plt;* .O]ir*The Good111Sluin*•• v111 a 1beMhlt;soelthmy (t1.Outselling; because its outstanding superiority . has-been; ■ definitely proved by its exceptional performance in the hands of thousands of owners. Outselling because its convenience; comfort, beauty and desirability are recognizable at a glance.OfIshe• . r .!?We find, for Instance, the name of :• Otto H. Kahn, whp Is wealthy and a “ Pfttrgn of the arts. Moreover, ho has given tJiB MetrQppUta.n C*ppra Hops®, a . souml business adnijplstro-tipn; but its . fftjr as wp h*npw, ‘nb p.Yi^’pnoewhatsoever tliat Mr 'K^hh,has, any ability to cpntrlbiite td the fa$k 'Of- guiding t|te thputfe to ne-yv heights. no matter how excellent l)ls} Intentions may be.. Qne attempt hap already been made In tjiis country to found a National thea?• ir® °n the basis of money and good .•..Intentions and nothing came of It.Bpt we are ppt oven quite surd of the - Ipteptjons of the pominittee. The manner Ip which all the modernists have been slighted is so marked that it can hgrdly be accidental.NEW YORK, Dec O-Tbo National Theater which Is to aid American drqipa r. has made an inauspicious Loginning by {ippolntJng a commltteo \vh* jh reflects In no wpy the progress of fho last 10year* \VRfi ppp or two p^coptinpa, $11 the members of the group appointed by' Augustus, Thomas are men who have ad Utah1 day.. Jn a few cases not oven ’W mitdh as that may bo said.:7T• /.v^HoX 1 7 !hoV/ *!Ml.fi .7 »t)P9*+M«•By HI-YWPPD BROUNbe slack Interludes In the middle of tho moat brilliant of theatrical seasons. East wpek furnished such a letdown. While the memory of “Hamlet” was stfil fresh, nothing was offered but a musical comedy and two mystery plays.Musical comedy offers a-, dramatic reviewer his most difficult. assignments. There rpay bo possibilities of subtle criticism in writing about Hamlet which tho cr|tlc will miss, but at least he fias something to write about. He can without very much trouble point to certain tangible things as reasons fprhis like or dislike.Musical comedy iB different. You hate it pr like it uppn Impulse. It is possible to argue about Hamlet, but npt about ’•The Bunch and Judy.” We always i find Johnny Dooley enormously amusing wh®fi h® falls down flat on his back, but if somebody objects that it isn’t funny at all there is nothing we can say about it.• I*To be sure, we have only an inkfing of understanding 36 to why John Bq.rry. nioro presents such an impressive Haip-let, But, on'the other hand,: we haven’t oven the rudiments of a thppry to prer soi-4 about the humorousness of Dpoley.His sister Ray Is just us perplexing. We cannot iproye wjtj) printed word that she is funny. I-Iow’ Inadequate would he any description of the scene in which she Is hit over the head with a hammer qnd begins to stagger about the stage, smiling a little and singing slightly. That doesn’t sound funny, but it was overwhelmingly amusing In the theatre. And the Astaires—Fred and Adele—in the same show danced more delightfully than any couple we have seen all season. Accordingly, It seemed to us that The Bunch and Judy” was an excellent musical comedy.Thins are coming to such a nmes in melodrama that the surest way to convince an audienco that a oharacter still llvos is to announce that his pulse has stopped beating. This happened twice within a week and In both cases tho character proceeded to get up again. It was just suspended animation.This seems to us an unfortunate development. Jt has alwuys been hard enough to kill a villain and we jusr. can't stand It tp learn that even when lie Is dead he usually isn’t.Of tho two melodramas of the week tho more Interesting is It Is the Law,” by Elmer Rice. Mr»Rlqe, it mpy be remembered, scored his first great success in the theatre with a plaj* which moved backward.The technique of his new thriller is a little different. It begins with the murder and then leaps back to tell of theII
Newspaper Details
Boston Globe
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Sun, Dec 10, 1922
Page 43
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
MA, USA 14 Oct 2018
Other Publications Near Boston, Massachusetts
Massachusetts Centinel
Boston Globe
Boston Daily Globe
UMB News
Mass Media
