The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-01-19

This is a rather exaggerated view {
lude," but there have been so ma
four and quarter hours. that The :
collecting them and publishing thel
as the old-time Ford jokes booste
And yet, Strange Interlude" is
not so enormously long.
True, it begins when most business
men have just closed their desks, at
$50 promptly in the afternoon, and
continues until about II p. m, but
counting out the intermission for
dinner from TAO to 9, the actual
playing time is only about four
hours and quarter, about twice the
length of an ordinary play.
But this two-plays-in-one idea
has attracted so much comment
that everywhere the drama is called
a histrionic marathon and there
are even those who refer jokingly
to taking q seventh-inning stretch
during the performance.
During this uncustomarily long
play, however, audiences never dis
play any reStlessness, so fascinating
is the story of the piece, even
though the periods between the
acts are very short and do not allow
for much intermisSion promenading
Strange Interlude'' is not the first
lengthy play. Contemplate if you've
a mind like that, the f;I;l text of
Goethe's Faust" first and second
parts. OF course, the Germans are
notorious for their habit of making
play-attendance an all day festival
1t Is not unusual for them to start
in on a play or opera at three in the
afternoon (Parsifal starts in Munich
at 2:30) and not go home until
nearly midnight-with several inter-
missions for frankfurters and OTHER
food.
Even when abridged a good deal,
"Parsifal" and Twilight of the
Gods" and several other Wagnerian
works take up nearly four hours
when given by the Metropolitan
Opera company in New York-be-
ginning at 2 in the afternoon and
ending just before Gust light
matinee that does not encroach on
the evening.
But as our non-musical plays in
America, there have not been many
long ones before Strange Inter-
lude." Our own "Uncle TOMS
Cabin" it is said, ran for five con-
tinuouS hours when it was first pre-
scented in Paris.
Then there is George Bernard
Shaw's Back to Methusaleh, which
was written to be presented on five
different evenings, but which the
Theatre Guild, its producers, event.
ually persuaded the author to trim
down so that spectator could view
it all in three evenings.
Even then it would run from z
until after IL O'clock total of
twelve and half hours of perform
ance time for the whole play. Even
with the name of Shaw on it as a
label, this play did not succeed.
And so Strange Interlude" seems
to be the first very lengthy play in
our dramatic history to make so
enormous a success of itself. 1t has
had success which seems now,
with its first tour, to have just be-
gun-the prophets of the theatrical
world declaring that it will be an
other ben Hur" or Mrs. Wigs of
the Cabbage Patch" in this respect
at least; that it will be a-touring
up and down the land for half
dozen years to come, at least.
Indianapolis is quite fortunate in
having an opportunity to see the
play so soon, being the seventh city
to have the play outside of New
York.
Miss Lord and her company are
scheduled to go all the way to Cali
fornia in the play this season-and
such cities as Chicago and Cleveland
viii not have Strange Interlude"
until next season.