Evening star., 1926-11-21
A Choice Between Stagnation
and the Skies.
y BY pHILANDER JOHNSON.


tions. insist -on seeing it. it is
reasonable 70 assume that there
must be something of genuine un-
derlying quality that enables it to
compel recognition in the face of the
most merciless denunciation. 10
seek a cause for the extraordinary
popularity of this story both in
book and drama does not necessarily
imply an effort to hold a brief foi
it unreservedly as TO moral effect or
literary influence. As to the latter
consideration. it cannot be regarded
as other than unfortunate, since it
has gone a step beyond anything in
a discussion Of themes uncompromis-
inely unpleasant and unsuitable for
thought or conversation excepting
upon the most scientific terms. 1t is
an exploration of the swamps of
morbidity.
That the play is ugly does not bar
il from the shelter of the theater.
1t is not much uglier. at that. than
was Desire Under the Elms." It
is not nearly so ugly as was Dam
aged Goods" which masked under
the hypocrisy of showings to linn
tied audiences for purely educational
purposes and soon took advantage
of the stir thus created 10 launch
itself as a popular attraction at regu-
lar prices.
As the box Office Of the theater
and the shelf of the bookseller have
from year 10 year opened the way
for more and <more daring in the
selection Of themes. it remained for
Michael Ar1en to discuss in unmis-
taxable terms most gruesome sug-
gestion of the clinic at which even
1bsen, with all his capacity for SOM
Der interpretations, could scarcely
do more than hint in dealing with
the theme of heredity when he
wrote Ghosts"
It is needless to emphasize the
unpleasantness OF this play. The
managerial authorities who have
been proceeding on the theory that
patronage is most likely to be &C
corded demonstration OF abrupt vul-
garity have fully attended to all this.
This is the usual dialogue when
the stage is being discussed at a
bridge table:
II understand it is a perfectly
shocking play"
rs it, really? l must go and see
it,"
Yet many plays have failed in
spite of the most aggressive audacity,
II
are lifted through a clear, star
lit atmosphere into buoyant success.
Self-respecting humanity is entitled
to look for some explanation of the
universal desire to see such work
as THE Green Hat" beyond that of
morbid curiosity. BY far more
women than men go to see the play;
and women are credited with a
subtle sense of idealism upon which
men and boys and girls must largely
depend for the Improvement OF
homes and nations.
1t is rather early to credit this
author with any extraordinary ia
cility in literary stvle Some great
writing has passed cotemporary
criticism almost unobserved and the
author deemed well rewarded if he
left behind enough to provide a
tombstone and an epitaph. The
actor often obliterates the author by
a vivid personality that makes the
speech seem for the moment original
and spontaneous. The better the
actor and the better the author the
more this is likely to be the case.
It was an interesting experiment,
when the drunken brother had in
the first act established an ihpor
tant note in the theme. to disregard
the acting and the personality and
listen only 10 the lines. They were
remarkably clean-cut in phraseology,
we'll rounded and proportionate.
That such careful writing should
have lent itself so convincingly to
speech without traces OF the arti
the works of wits and poets, must
be regarded as an evidence OF lit
erary merit The gift OF turning an
epigram in form which makes it
ring true in dramatic situation is
one of the rarest Comedy relief
In so fearful narrative as this is
achieved with bold precision which
must command the admiration due
a craftsman. Literary style is re-
sarded by the playhouse as the least
of all dramatic assets, yet when it
asserts itself i, is subtle and most
reliable influence
The woman of the story CORE
spends. though in a far more tense
emotional vein-and the woman is
we'll acted by Katharine Cornell-to
the man whose unmerited misfor
tunes are woven into the drama He
Who Gets Slapped" The play be-
gins with the suicide Of a man
whose newly-wedded wife is fol-
lowed through a course of heart
yieldings blended with an effort to
support her varying situations. in
which the man always fails her. by
Haunting cynicisms. AS it began
with suicide, SO il ends. A self
destruction in order 70 free the hus-
band Of another woman from his
infatuation is an expiation for her
follies beyond which nothing could
be asked.
There are some tawdry touches in
the performance The mechanics al
effects are not we'll managed. The
approaching and departing automo-
biles might as we'll be highly mega
phoned vacuum cleaners or washing
machines. The stage left in blank
carkness, implying that what takes
place must be left to the spectators
In. zin alton. is a trick so obvious that