The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-02-08

Mossaiye J. Olgin, editor of the
Yiddish Hammer" had an idea when
he sat down to write "Her Crime"
He wanted to show the clash between
bourgeois theology and proletarian
theology, with decayed aristocracy as
foil for both. 1t was an excellent
idea. 1t might have made a great
play. AS an idea DR.. Olgin was able
to handle it deity; his mind runs
with speed and accuracy. 1t was at
kneading this idea into play that
he falls short. The play remains an
unGCrdone mass of dough, soggy in
spots. Yet it is redeemed to great
extent by scattered intellectual plums
and a superb third act. If only for
the third act, see "Her Crime"
Neither Lydia, the generals daugh-
ter, turned Bolshevik spy, nor Mat
Ney, her lover, nor Prince Kurbsky
ever come to life. They remain to
the end jars into which DR.. Olgin
packs his ideas-swift, singing, we'll
turned ideas-each jar conveniently
labeled. AS in "Shop," the love ele-
ment is old, stale, melodramatic. The
usual sentimental heroine, the usual
noble lover, the usual third-man in
the offing, villain with the correct
Broadway dash of abnormal sex. All
this comes to a head in a bedroom
scene in Act II. Lydia, offering to
sell her body to save her Red lover
from the princes soldiers, is prac-
tically stripped, whipped, chased
around the room, bitten, strangled,
and all but raped. She stabs the
prince with his sword. Tableau.
Then came the superb third act.
Earlier in the play there were hints
Of what the third act might be; the
scene when the police chief, lawyer,
priest, merchant, peasants of the
town appear before the invading
prince; a speech here and there by
Matvey, or Masha, the friend of Ly-I
dia, speeches that jerked the audience
up, but remained detached, floating
on the surface.
In the third act Olgin Abandoned
the hocus-pocus of melodrama. The
third act has little plot, no physical
action to mention. Gone are the evil
prince, the ominous sofa, the beautl-
full lady smiling though her heart
must break. Instead, you have a one
legged Red soldier, one-armed Red
soldier, a working girl, man with
whiskers, student, peasants, Red Of
ficers. They sit down in comradeIy
fashion to discuss Lydia, her life, her
psychology, her crime. Lydia is ac-I
cused of violating revolutionary dis
cipline. BY killing the prince for
personal reasons she endangered the
lives of thousands of local comrades.
They argue, these revolutionists,
back and forth. They defend Lydia.
They analyze her mind They scorch
bourgeois virtue, love, sentimentality,
individualism. The new order and
the old are at grips. The scene
comes to life. The lines sting. Time
and again the audience bursts into
applause, first the Communists, then
the more conservative elements at al
flashing retort from Lydia. Here Is
something new, moving, real. Here
is drama. The simple speech of the
one-legged soldier who flares against
Lydias squeamish individualism, the
simple action of Lydia in throwing
her party card on the table; these
are more stirring, more tense than
all the hair pulling, undressing, stab
bing, shrieking of Act. II. Do i'll
again, DR.. Olgin. Write US another
play. We believe you can write a.
great plot. 0nly-begin with the
third act. Spare us the bedroom. 1t
reeks of camphor.
The acting was fine; the make-ups,
especially of the village characters
and the Red tribunal, among the
finest I've ever seen. Why doesn't
the Yiddish Art Theatre bring its
scenery up to the same level?-HAR-
Dor ALLEN.