The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-05-05

Plays Do
Not Click
New Crop of Productions
Fail to Win Much
Favor,
BY DIXIE HINES

~ hW NOhh, May 5,-HlOdQWay
L has seen some pretty bad
shows the past fortnight. Somc-
times it seems that shows with so
little merit could not possibly pass
playwright, producer director and
actors, and yet the fact remains
that they do, and each one seems
worse than the other.
The show written by such experts
enced playWrights as the Nu9cnt's
was barely able to stay the week
out, and one called Kidding Kid
ders' was SO exceedingly worthless
that it departed after five days,
wholly unSung and unmOmned
Other plays came in during the
week and some barely made the
grade while others may yet decids
that the better part of valor is to
give up life before it really is be-
gun.
Him is something done down III
Greenwich Village by a group of
players and so far as this scribe and
most of the reviewers are concerns
ed, it remains a hidden mystery.
We all saw the play, and we heard
the dialogue. We could fathom
neither.
To ordinary sophisticated ears and
eyes 1t was a lot Of hooey, or n
bunch Of Greenwich Village-it's
making whoopee in a manner
strange, unfamiliar and unfathom-
able to upper Broadway,
At any rate, I am reliably in-
formed that they are still going
through the motions down there,
and any one sufficiently curious and
brave may find out Tor themselves
who's looney now.
"The Golden Age drama by
Lester Lonergan and Charlton AM
drews, tells the story Of a family
Of whites and an old Indian living
primitive life in Utah amidst the
caves of the Grand Canyon. They
have been living there for fifty
years, peaceful and contented, with
the immediate family an old end
sage Indian and a Stranger Man
who appealed for sanctuary and
was received with warmth.
1t develops that the youngest Girl
in the family, budding into Wom-
anhood, is betrothed, in Ind an
fashion to the Stranger Man who
cannot consummate the maIriege
because Of his past When Two
aviators, carrying the mails, do q
nose dive near the hut and are
brought in injured one of them
recognizes the man as a former
soldier condemned by court-nar iaI
to be shot. The story isTelated and
the sympathy of all arc with The
stranger but the youth insists that
the marriage take place
The man then confesses that an
injury sustained during the war
makes such a cOnsummation imp0s-
sible, and he departs with the aVia-
tor to give himself up, leaving the
former peaceful domicile Wracked
by grief and sorrow. The play has
moments of real dramatic power,
and cast with care and good dis
elimination, it has given playgoers
the treat Of novelty.
THE Skull by Bernard J. Mac
Owen and Harry E. HUMPHREYS has
Lew Cantor as producer, and a re-
markedly competent acting cast.
The story concerns the maneuvres
of a super criminal, who likes to
call himself THE Skull" OF all
places he decides to enter a deserted
church at midnight, and by a sys-
tenn in use exclusively by play
wrights, there are a group of others
in the church at the same time and
it is this fact that causes the thrills.
There isn't much talk but there is q
powerful lot of action.
Bells ring that have no tongue,
windows crash, doors open anG close
without human aid, and all sorts of
mysterious appearances and disap-
pearances take place. The audience .
helps it along by giving vent to
frightened shrieks every now and
then, and when it is all over some
one has been killed and It proves
to be the culprit who was the least
suspected member of the cast.
The Skull" is just a thriller
without rhyme or reason, but 1t is
doing business and seems to be pop
ular with the New York girl and her
boy friend.