The Washington times., 1922-08-20
With Alan Dale
at N. Y. TheaterS
Continued from Page -

AAStN hAC hOtos III oh NeAoeN - ~~'N
bat the genuinely bad and I'm
possible plays that Broadway had
put forth they had gone over 10
the cults, in pardonable despera'
.tion. They had rushed from "The
Cat and the Canary" to "The
Hairy Ape" They needed relief
OF some sort. The theater had
been in the doldrums and they had
sought escape. Last Tuesday
night theater came back with its
old lure and-we thrilled at the
unthrillable.
NOTHING could have been
more unthrillabie than "Shore
Leave" Little dressmaking Con-
ME Martin. spinsterously unhappy,
falls in love with Bilge Smith.
U. s. NJ, a rough.neck Of the most
emphatic sort. He forgets her
and she cannot forget him, but
later he returns, all grimy and un-
recognizable, and washes his face
on the stage!
That's all. There is your plot.
All leads. up to the fact that h.
washed his face on the stage with
real soap. The cults would be
Mortified at real soap, both on the
stage and-probably-off. They
would tell you that Belasco's at
tention to mere detail killed the
Imagination. Belasco never leaves
anything to the Imagination.
Hence, his unpopularity-with the
cults. In "Shore Leave" the
scene was a small seaport town on
the New England coast. You
heard the wash of the waves out
side. Every time the little door
was opened the surge of the sea
smote the ears. This detail
would also have annoyed the cults.
Why not imagine the surge Of the
scar Why not credit people with
the power to hear that surge with
their imagination? Why waste
time staging such pettinesseG!
And so on.
But Belasco never changes his
methods. He does not fall" for
the apparent logic Of the cult. Per.
haps he INDUCES in a sardonic
smile. Possibly he sees the beau
tiful O'Neill play in which the "T.
B." cases in the sanitorium are
seen carrying around expectora-
ton cups and enjoys the novelty OF
the thing. But he is a devotee Of
the theater, not of its pervers.ties,
and he practices restraint.
HIS turn comes. He takes a
play at which the cults would
turn up their nose and puts 1t
over" The lure of "Shore Leave"
started when the curtain rose.
Comics cottage simply fascinates
you. The lighting effects were so
utterly charming. 1t wasn't so
dark that you couldn't fathom your
program and 1t wasn't so light that
you could study your neighbor's
makeup.
In a recent English stage debate
read the following tribute to the
effect of light. 1t certainly explained
a lot Of the charm of Shore Leave"
I quote this: Have you ever re.
flected upon the tremendously emo
tional quality of light? What in.
stinct Is 1t that makes you draw
the curtains on a frosty winters
night, switch off the light and
draw near the bright embers? You
watch the dancing shadows on TIE
wall in silence until an emotional
state is induced in you quite un-
consciously. Now Is the time tc
sweep away misunderstanding
to recall past memories. perhaps
to sing old songs. Such Is the
mysteriously comforting light Of
the fireside. A tremendous ard
most precious gift has been put
into our hands, and as yet we are
scarcely awake to the fact. I 60
so far as to say that the future
Of decoration-I do not say design
lies wholly with the electrician.
The painter must look to his laur-
els. Soon he must go back to the
studio, where he properly belongs.
1t is in this emotional quality Of
light. this power to blend in with
and to vivify the emotional state
created by the drama, without ary
intrusion Of detail, that the most
powerful instrument Of stage dec
grafton lies. As yet we mostly use
light realistically. Eventually 1t
will have to be used decoratively
and to illustrate and magnify emo
ton"
THE light effects in the first
act Of "Shore Leave" created
illusion that nothing could dispel.
The little chandelier that Connie