The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-10-15
Laughing Lines In
Little Theater' S +.
Production

II
81. hono .sn;.,.s ova- ,,h;.h ,,.h
'ae ~
time mas deem uesoteu py the Psycnoio-
gists, or more lately, by the psycho-ana-
lysts. There are pares of Friend on the
a...to,onr 20 ~ "a 49,. At,..
pss.nOs' "" '
all the delving into this most common
function there's but little light shed
unon the bah;t-;f habit II IL Too
-. ..-,,.
elusive anu ihpohueraoie 70 measure
but problematlcally, its motivations. YET
there are a few ironclad laws that can
be deduced, and from which, seemingly,
there are no deviations. You stump
your toe and fall Tat on your nose and
YOU don't laugh. Somebody seeing you
do this Immediately bursts into loud
outcries OF merriment. Punchineiio
whangs somebody's posterior with a
slap-stick and immediately the audi
ence raises the root with hoarse guIia"s.
ihs lausn aiways cImJS =. .ne enss
u sumo o'nerS pns''e eas
Inc most mofdant PRANK tnaI our
risioilities tand tnats sucii po,ysyI-
Liable word that the laugh Is PROBABLY
on mel play Is the Laughter orougnI on
NJ the expense OF announcer mehtaI ease;
fortunately tnose VINO are tne quiz .,
such laughter are usuany 20 aosorDeo
to realize their piignt ana II tney are
dump enough they never suiier. Du'
when one OF them awaEes 10 inc iaugn-
ter, Di1ng suiiering toioWs. merton
OK the MOVIES typicai specimen OF
s what 1 am trying 10 say. swept into
instant popularity: we thinks FOOT
merton, what a siny ass ne reahy Is
with all MS seriousness OF eiior. ut De-
coming movie star wneh an the time
ne snould oe the target LOT Sus.are J,
pies, and we laugh ut 10 Kill BUT dld
you ever stop TO try ana ieel poor Mer-
tons insides when ne finaliy gers II INTO
ms timex head .nat an .ne WhIie nc
aetihg neroie roies ina. ING csInera =
clicking OF feet OF Mack Sennet.
stuff. The reaiizauon must De norriple-
An ordinary human never Wouiu pc LOO
thick headed NOT 70 surfer e1cruciatlns-
ly from that.
In "Rollo's Wild Oat," the new pro-
duction at the Little theater, there are
just such characters. They are most
cleyerly drawn and acted ana hence tne
play is Jammed full OF laughs. 10 start
with, Rollo's wild oats. II the cat must
come out OF the bag, is nothing IN the
world but q driving urge 10 produce
Shakespeare on his own. At that ne
has nothing ON M. Chariot Chaplln, as
report says that that is one OF his Few
ambitions left. Taking as premise the
age-old human trait OF each OF us want
ing at sometime to appear In the lime
light OF the theater and seeing eacn
year star after star forsaklng tine MOD
erns to produce Shakespeare IN dif-
ferent manner from those OF their pre-
decessors, it may naturally follow that
each of us wants once to play Shakes
pear and stage it differently. There's
the universalness of the theme IN Roi-
los Wild Oat," and his seemingly
funny ideas as an actor-mahager furnish
us laugh after laugh. RollO, to be sure,
doesn't laugh hence it's all the tunnler
to the onlooker. Complications ensue
and with each complication comes added
laughing lines. Finally our funny
bones hurt and when Rolls man adds
his bit of serio-comedy we drag out our
handkerehiefs and finally laugh TIL pam
ensues.
Rollo's man is billed as a superior
geentleman's gentleman, SO to England
we 90 to get Hewston and his yes, sir,
thank you. His serious efforts are of
the acreaminely funny variety and the
author has given him bag Of tricks in
the role that seems to have no end until
the moor fellow, is brought up sharply by
the laughter that he suddenly realizes
is ALI at his own expense and crushed he
IS His plight is pitiable, and still all
the more funny, too.
And to this large measure is added
Rollo's grandfather, a most touchy old
gentleman, who damns his grandson's
efforts with loud damns. There's moth