Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-31
INTEREST
GROWING |NPLAYS
Survey indicates Beginning
of Renaissance of Drama
in America.
BY LEMUEL f. PARTON.

Special Dispatch TO The star.
NEW YORK, August 31.-Recent
DEVELOPMENTS marking the increased
demand for published plays, with
other incidents showing the heighten-
ing interest in the theater, are con-
vincing informed opinion here that
America is at the beginning or a
renaissance of the drama. possibly
comparable to the pre-EliZaoethan
period of England.
This is not a sectional trend Ii IS
distinctly a national development,
with remote places in the far interior
OF America joining in the new demand
for dramatic literature. 1t is one OF
MANY accommodating signs that Amer
lea. as a whole. is declaring its IN
6ependence of Broadway. ana tnat II
is asserting its own critical and Gre
Ative faculties. Even Broadway is be-
ginning TO learn that not all OF Amer
lea lies between the Hudson and the
East Rivers.
Sales Show Increase.
Inouirv among II leading Eastern
publishers brought the information
that the sale of books of plays has in
GREASE about $50 per cent since jan
uary 1, 1928. These plays include not
only those which have been successful
on the stage, and hence widely adver-
tised, but plays which have failed, but
have had intrinsic literary or dramatic
quality, as we'll as others which have
never been produced.
One NAV in steady mail order de-
mand is a dramatiZation of an old
Jewish folk tale, which was given
here in an obscure East Side theater.
II is a play of compelling interest
and power, but so aloof from general
popular comprehension that its sue
cess has amazed its publishers. Al
the bottom of the list is a bawdy
play, imported from Hungary, when
enjoyed fair success when it barely
escaped the censor's ak and was pre-
scented here.
Leading in the demands for print
ed dramatic literature, with prefer
ences sharply in favor of plays of
real dramatic merit. are the states
of Illinois, Iowa, Oklahoma, Colo
RADIO. Missouri. Pennsylvania, Cali
fornia, Texas and Washington.
Curiously enough, Boston, with its
great cultural traditions, lags be-
hind New York. Chicago. San Fran
cisco, Philadelphia and New Orleans
In its demand for plays of literary
quality
Yale Applications Grow.
The Yale Dramatic School. con-
Quoted by Prof. George Pierce Baker,
reports more applicants for enroll
ment than at any time in its history.
While undergraduates attend this
school, it includes many mature men
and women who are interested in
the drama either as profession or
as a cultural pursuit. While there
are many schools of drama in Amer
lea, Prof. Bakers is the most nota-
BILE example of concentration on mod
ern dramatic technique. with empha-
sis on the necessity of freedom from
the old stereotypes of the theater.
Until a few years ago virtually no
modern plays save those of Ibsen,
Shaw. Hauptmann and Strindberg,
and other such European dramatists
which had become classics abroad.
were published in America. With
these there were printed and sold
few Of the great classics of history.
The list of plays by American play
wrighfs put out by leading publishers
whiting the last year includes about
S. These plays touch on crime, mys-
ticisnl. adolescence, race problems.
diplomacy, war. domestic problems.