The New York herald., 1922-03-14
'Methuselah' Cycle
Ends Achievement
of Theater Guild
AS Far as Thought Can
Reach Closes the Trilogy
i'm Year 1920.
ny LAWRENCE REAMER.

The production in the form of a tril-
osy OF Bernard Shaw's exhausting
Back to Methuselah" entered on the
beginning of the end last night az the
Ga rick Theater. which the Theater
Guild has for the purposes Of this fes-
tival converted into a Shaw Festspiel-
haus with all the solemnity and mys-
terry which attaches to such an nstitu-
ton. The third week OF the play is de-
voted to its last part. "As Far as
Thought Can Reach" with It's period
laid in the year 1890. In this char
acterlstic Shaw has outwitted all his
colleagues No playwright win ever
dare to place the period OF his drama
any further In the future so in at least
one particular Mr.. Shaw has got the
best OF all his rivals.
"As Far as Thought Can Reach" has
as its scene a world barren of all vege-
alton ard dependent for ornament on
Lee Simonson's altogether cubistic pic
ture A temple tanks the view which
is not unlike a roller coaster or some
similar mechanical apparatus seen in
the inappropriate daylight.
There is pretty quality about the
opening scenes with the youths and
maidens dancing in Greek dress to
music selected by Elliott Schenk. Their
cvolutions are graceful and so are their
draperies. which are also harmonious in
color But 1t Is soon evident that life
even in this advanced period is not to
be all beer and skittles. !. One of the
ancients appears. Both the man and
the woman are bald, gray and shriveled
Since age Is so essential to every phase
OF the ARCHAEOLOGICAL pentateuch," 1t
might be worth while to say that one
of the ancients confessed to eight CEN
turtles on this earth. The other char
acters in this division were commonly
Regarded as old at the age of 4. So this
nonsense continued to the bitter end.
Birth of Youngster.
Human nature was by the time Mr.
Shaw arrived at this division of his
work ovparous and the woman ancient
assists at the birth of youngster who.
kicking and roaring Justify, is removed
from the egg In front or the temple.
She reaches life. however. considerably
more advanced in knowledge than the
babies Of this day, since she has matured
In the egg for two years. This may be
taken possibly as one of the high lights
of the play. Then another must be the
appearance of the synthetic couple
created by a certain Pygmalion. This
Is another figure of mythology that
obeesses Mr.. Shaw, who has made use
of him in at least one other notable
case.
The creator Of these two beings de-
scribes his previous failures and his
ultimate success at really grueling
length. The woman causes his death In
a struggle. Then the two also die. since
they cannot live. being wholly creatures
of reflex without thought. They ex-
hibit, however. strikngly human quail
ties, but sink dead to the ground when
the ancients have Unmarried to them
something more than their power to an
swer to their reflexes
Then follows more talk OF the Life
Force about which Pyemalion had
endIessly pont'ficated; all the Shavian
theories OF art which have been in the
past served up in one form or another,
with two sculptors and a woman artist
to keep the ball in the air and finally
the temperance of all the figures from
the first part of the play. with the addi-
ton of Lilith. who was only referred to-
The ghosts of Adam. Eve and Cain
again voice their conclusions about life.
with a long apostrophe from Lilith.
Parts OF these long drawn out trades
are all but unlntelligble. They would
tax the agility Of any listener delivered
In such endless supply and spoken as
stage dialogue While some OF II Is
more or less incomprehensible. all OF Il
is dull.
Life Drained OF Materials.
Then the conclusions Of the author
IN the final scene. hy which he evidently
thought to distinguish himself as a
thinker. seem futile. They end on an
unresolved chord Maybe the anclents
mean that thought is In its final analy-
sis the highest form Of existence. They
rerresent life as drained OF all its ma
terial elements. There is no more
finality In the lamentations of Liiith.
who finds that whatever else the so
luton OF life may he there is the con-
tinual urge to press on TO redemption
by freedom from tho flesh.
Mr.. Shaw as thinker ought to end
his long drawn out study of man by
something a little better than that. II
must be said. however. that there is n
certain sense of elevation in the clos
Ing phrases Of the play. There the
mood scars into a higher emotional
ether than at any previous point.
The Theater Guild. which has accom-
plished so admirably the enormously
difficult task Of mounting the five
plays. again acquitted itself with credit:
that IL to say. with the altogether un-
usual credit that such an uncommon
achievement must earn.
III there were occasional departures
In the performance last night from the
high standard which me others main
tained that may he due to the difficult
ties of the representation. Lee Simon
sons imaginative setting ought to prove
vastly Impressive 10 those who are in
terested in cubistic art.
The actors who deserve to he men
toned. whether they did all that they
might or not. are Dennis King. Miss
Eleanor Woodruff. Miss Clelia Benia-
min, Walter Abel Moffat Johnston.
Stanley Hewlett Claude King. Miss
Martha Allen. A. P. Kaye. George Gaul.
Miss Eruita Lascelles and Miss Mary
Lawton.