Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-09
DRAMA
SESSION OPENED.
Judge Mary 0'Toole Is Toast
mistress at First Pro-
qram of Conference,

The opening session of the Commu-
nity Drama Guilds first annual con-
ference was held last evening in the
form of a dinner at the Mckinley High
School cafeteria. Mrs. Philip s. Smith
was chairman, Judge Mary O'Toole
acted as toastmistress and the speakers
of honor were Mrs. Isabel Harrington,
Denis Connell and Mrs. Adelaide Hib-
bard of the National Theater Players,
who has adopted washington as her
home.
In the course of the evening it was
announced by Mrs. Mary Moore Forrest
that the Drama Guild would present
the Robin Hood play, sherwood" IN
the Sylvan Theater in June.
In opening the meeting Mrs. Smith
introduced Curtis Draper of the Nc
Kinley High Dramatic Club, who an
nounced the speakers and their sub
jects for succeeding meetings this week
Sybil Baker. director of the community
center department, traced briefly the
development of the guild and expressed
the belief that under the present build
ing plans there would be other school
theaters in the future in various sec
lions of the city, comparable TO the
Mckinley auditorium, where dramatic
work could be adequately carried Tor
ward.
Reviews Ills Of Stage.
Mrs. Harrington, giving a personal
ANALYSIS of the ills of the New York
stage, declared that its present parlous
state was traceable to four main
sources: The lack Of taste among pro-
ducers, in connection with which she
said that there is scarcely one gen.
tleman producing drama in New York
today--most of them should be old
clothes vendors or peanut sellers; the
fact that labor has culture by the
throat" citing the high cost of back
stage labor: the fact that playwrights
have become discouraged and are writ
ing no more plays, and the failure OF
the New York Theater Guild to live up
to its earlier standards. Caprice"
present Theater Guild success, Mrs.
harrington described as immoral, and
expressed her opinion that the guild
was giving too much O'Neill," char
acterizing this authors Dynamo" as
"the silliest and most offensive of plays"
Mrs. Farrington's favorite play
wrights. she admitted. were Sir James
Matthew Barrie, Philip Barry, Bernard
Shaw, Ferenc Molnar and Rachel
CrotherS.
Speaks on Amateurs.
Denis Connell, speaking of the anna
teur actor and his work, said that he
was hated by the bookholder. feared
by the director, who doubted that the
amateur could handle the role assigned
him, and loved by himself. The anna
tours chief precautions, he continued,
should be against the friends who AL
ways praised his work, against the IL
fusion that all actors are either Lead
ing men or leading women. against
"swelled head" and against antasoniSm
to playing las cast"
graceful admission that she had been
an amateur as long as she had been a
professional, and that she had been
q professional Tor IS years, said that
the line between the conscientious anna
teur and the professional was very
finely drawn. Mrs. Hubbard gave
recitation of The Low-Backed Car"
Among other speakers called upon
briefly by Judge O'Toole were Curtis
Davis, principal of the Business High
School, who paid tribute to Miss Bakers
work; Marjorie Webster of the Webster
School of Expression, Mrs. J. Garfield
Riley of the Washington College OF Law,
Mai. H. Kerry Brown, Mrs Harvey
Wiley, Mrs. Edith Sears and Miss Eliz-
abeth Pritchard.
The evenings program was marked
by George O'Connor's vocal solos, ac-
companied by Mr.. Horn, and by several
violin selections by Eugenia Botkin, &C.
companied by Mrs. Ward.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays sessions
of the conference will be "demonstra-
ton meetings"