Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-23
PREDICTS 'TALK|ES'
WILL HELP STAGE
New York Guild Official Sees
End of MeIodrama
in Theaters.

That the legitimate stage would be
infinitely benefited rather than wholly
destroyed by the talking movie was the
optimistic prediction of Theresa Hell
burn, executive director of the New
York Theater Guild, in lecture de-
livered last evening on Why the The
ater?" under the auspices of the Amer
lean Association of University Women.
Introduced by Miss Sybil Baker, di-
rector Of the Community Institute, as
the reigning spirit. the Dea ex-
Machina" of the Theater Guild, Miss
Helburn proved an engaging speaker.
Her forecast of the fortunes Of the
legitimate theater in relation to the
talkie" was developed in supple
mentary discourse after the large audi
ence had displayed marked unwilling
ness to allow her to retire at the end OF
her formal talk on the modern theater
as Illustrated by the experiences. OF the
guild.
As the first motion pictures usurped
the popularity of the ten, twent',
thirt'" melodramas of an earlier day,
so the present "talkies" will rid the
stage today of melodrama and sheer
story" plays. Miss Helburn believes.
The process thus will not be so much a
destruction of the legitimate stage as
it will be a purging of its cheaper
qualities. What will be left, after the
talkies have ccme into their full
strength, she expects, Is a residue OF
theaters which will be devoted to the
production Of fine drama. with all its
subtlety, delicacy, sophistication. pro-
fundity and courage. Thus, Miss Hell
burn believes, that if 70 of the 80
legitimate theaters in New York at pres
ent become ''talkie" palaces. the re-
manning 10 will have clear way for
the presentation of genuinely artistic
theater material for the audiences that
will always want to have it.
Sounds Calls for Actors.
The movies. with their enormous
financial resources and popular appeal
pushed theaters into second place as
entertainment, Miss Helburn said. Now
the movies, with the new technique OF
sound and voice reproduction, are des-
perate with competition, sending out
frantic o SIS to the legitimate stage
Tor actors and methods of production.
1t was her opinion, Miss Helburn said
that actors won. from the stage by the
and fabulous money Of
fers OF the "talkies" would eventually
return to the stage itself.
Developing a thesis that "the theater,
even in its highest form, is an impure
art" the speaker traced the channels
through which play must go before it
reaches its ultimate bid for appreciation
Other forms of art, such as painting
music and sculpture, represent the di-
rect impulse of the artist Immediately
4 y q nc tCc IN hn he
pointed out. Drama. on the contrary.
is subject to four different media of
treatment from the time 1t leaves the
authors brain and hand: The actor the
the scenic artist and finally
the audience.
The appropriate casting OF actors In
dramatic roles was not easy, the lee
turer said. The usual method was to
cast either "for type" or against type"
The latter method she explained as be-
ing the system of selecting actors for
certain specifications with a cautious
view to the normal exaggeration pro-
vided by makeup, footlights. dramatic
gesture, and so forth. Thus. wishing
once a player for the role OF ford,
bombastic man she chose one who had
been endowed by nature with these very
Qualifica tons. Yet the characterization
was a failure, because the augmenta-
ton of effect provided by the stage it
self. in addition to the gentleman's nat
lral equipment. painted the character
in too violent colors.
Directors Influence Tremendous.
The influence of the director, Miss
Helburn said, was tremendous. Once
suppressed in his functions. an almost
mechanical holder of the book" he
has become a figure of major impor-
lance in. the success or failure of any
play. Citing the work of Philip Moeller
in bringing out" values in small role
assigned to the chagrined Lynn Fon-
tame, the director had caused to be
read into" the part subsurface emo
tional values which. meeting the more
,t,,io,,e cop,ir ct,rrortS rr0dilrpd an eff.