The daily worker., 1927-04-09
For a Workers Theatre

commercial mummery or even the better 'little the
atre," which, after ALL is a child of the en-
hghtened and artistcaly sensitive bourgeoisie. 1t
is to be assumed that the formation Of such group
of theatrical consprators against the existing order
will be dalectcal process. Obviously it will in
clude majority of younger men and women Pos
sibly, many artist will only begin his career in
the workers theatre. Undoubtedly the theatre will
draw its main vital power from the solid mass Of
workers.
What wish to see is a theatre where the
reverse of politeness is the rule. In theatre with
out polite plays, where this very politeness of the
better society" is perhaps held up to ridicule
cannot expect the participants to be moving and
conversing like the drawing room mannikins
in the bourgeois theatre We picture a theatre full
of action motion, broad gestures high intonations,
clashes of light reverberations of sounds colorful
groupings, words enhanced by music, music deep
ened by stirring light effects, light made part Of
the whole performance. We wish to see a theatre
where not only the truth is released through real
artistic construction, but where the actor-in the
broader of the words released to greater
freedom Of expression.
5.-This theatre will have meaning only when it
removes the barrier between the stage and the
audience Many an attempt was made to achieve
this (Reinhardt placing the stage in the center of
and a lower level than the audience, Meyerhold
making some of the actors stand up II the middle
of the audience and delivering speech as if they
were part of it, American producers sending out
IL
mechanical means. To remove the barrier
between stage and spectators means to create such
intimate understanding and community ON emo
tion between performers and audience that the lat
ter to be spectators. 1t must be admit
ted that the present writer never saw in the egi-
innate American theatre that abandon on the part
of the spectators, that restless absorption in the
proceedings the stage, that hanging on every
word of the players that he often found in drama
tic clubs performing 'for their own people," A
workers theatre must be band (gang?) of men
and women known to the working masses as "our
own" and performing in such a spirit of mutual
understanding between themselves and the work
ers as would render the theatre ono emotibnal
whole. Such closeness cannot be created artifciay.
It must be the outcome of the workers having
cognized the players as part of their lives and hav
ing taken them to their BOSOM While this mutual
understanding must not only from the max
ing of art but from gaining recognition in ways
other than art creations, it will enhance the pure
art enjoyment of the audience immensely.
6-The theatre, cropping for ever ways, must
necessarily be combined with several theatre
studios where new players are being attracted to
the work and new methods are being tested. We
picture the studios connecting link between the
theatre and the working Masses or rather as rami-
ficatons of the theatre reaching out into the
We picture hundreds of young working and
working passing through these studios,
guirng the technique of theatrical self-expression
forming, it were, the theatrical vanguard of the
working masses theoretically that vanguard can
be increased to embrace very large section of the
class-conscious elements of the workers) spread