The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-04-27

paragraph OF THANKSGIVING that We were
born too late to have seen the golden
age of the American ,theatres
A favorite. query up aud down, the
town these months has been, whats
the matter with the EQUITY Players
Inc% The answer at the moment
should be tnmnltuous shout of
''They re all right" ~ ~.
Expressing Willie seems to; me one
of the best plays of the year and among
the most delightful of all American
comedies. 1t. is neither expedient nor
easy, nor. even sensible to be free, with
best" second best" and third. best
1t should be quite enough to say that
Expressing Willie" is good play.
But tine achievement of Equity Play
erss Inc, goes beyond giving stage
room to shrewd and delightful, enter
tainment. A cast of exceedingly happy
fitness has been gathered for the per-
Torrance and the piece is just, a little
better directed than anything else in
town and we have not forgotten The
Show-0ff" either ssz.,,4 =
Expressing Willie was written BY
Rachel Crothers, and it was Miss
Crothers who directed the play This
ought to be enough to assure her of an
ample supply Of laurel over long,
hard summer. = H. 81 5,s,.
Since l. cannot rid myself of a deep
scnsitiyity to, the substance of a play as
well as. its form l must add that one Of
the reasons why I like this comedy
resides in the fact that L think it has
a wholly civilized attitude toward life.
We have play dealing with the arti-
culates, though not necessarily the
younger ones, of the present genera
ton, but for the first time this sea-
son the theme. is handled with under
standing. t.... ~
Miss Crothers realizes that satire
does NOT mean knocking a person down
and digging your heels in his face.
She. manages. to spool ''self-exp preston
and still leave the partisans of that
school of thought good deal less than
damn fools. She fences with folk who
can strike back and they do with many
Il well conceived thrust. ~ s
The story tells of Minnie from the
middle west, who comes to visit at
Willie's house. Years before they al.
most got married, but by now Willie ID
a millionaire and Minnie Isl music
teacher. He hardly cares to Introduce
her to his brilliant and decorative
friends. but when gusty artist talks
to her of self expression Minnie goes
right up to the piano. and plays. in a
way to astound them all. In the end
il is Minnie who quite cuts out Mrs.
Sylvester, the show piece of the whole
party, and marries Willie.
When the hope of career and the
chance of a good mans love seemed
about to crash head-on L feared for
the play. In such a dilemma in many
another comedy Miss. Crothers has very
sternly sent her heroine right about
face. and back to the. kitchen where the
good mans love is assumed to reside.
But Miss Crothers is more lenient with
Minnie. She has more faith in her
than In any of her earlier heroines, and
Minnie gets both the career and the
good man. ~
1t. is, d. very sensitive and compelling
portrait which Miss Crothefs has
drawn, and "a magnificent performance
by Miss Chrystal Herne. -
And then there is the role of the por-
trait painter. Miss Crothers has drawn
a man who talks quite a. little nonsense
and she has made him worth listening
to by adding several generous pinches
of divine good sense. This fine role
fails to Alan Brooks, and he makes the
most of it. "a H
1t is the easiest and fairest to say
that the cast is fine throughout but
there should be individual mention of
Richard Sterling, Merle Madden and
Louise Closer Hale. In the opening
Mrs. Hale oYeracts a bit; but she makes
up for all that by the sureness and de-
licacy of everything she, does; LATER. i