Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-21
s one Of the more earnest mis-
sionaries Of the theater, John
"A Drinkwater has been willing
crusader in its behalf. His de-

s one of the more earnest mis-
~ sionarieS of the theater, John
IA Drinkwater has been willing
\ crusader in its behalf. His de-
votion to the cause has been
knightly, manifesting itself in numerous
helpful ways. No modern Improvement
in the drama has occurred without his
assistance. All the whilom artistic
activities Of the British stage have had
the advantage of his advocacy as soap
boxer, playwright, producer or critic.
But in his new comedy, Bird In
Hand" Mr.. Drinkwater shows symptoms
of disbursement. After several years
as an apostle he finds that it is a
"lonely thing to be champion" De-
serted by such pals as Lady Gregory,
Gordon Craig, the Granville Bankers,
the Fays, Miss Hartman, William Peel,
Iden Payne, Yeats and Lord Dunsany,
he decides reluctantly to abandon the
meager theater of intelligence and to
join the fatter playhouses of emotion.
Or to straddle the two, with one leg
on the side of art and the other on the
side of entertainment.
It is my suspicion that Mr.. Drink
water began Bird in Hand" with the
intention of making it dramatic tract.
| To contrast the widowed sex CONVEX
sions of the passing generation with the
fresh and salubrious habits of today's
boys and girls, Thomas Greenleaf, a
midasb-aged English innkeeper, IS an
old-fashioned bigot in his views OF the
I contacts between the genders. When
Joan. his pretty daughter. goes auto
mobiling with Gerald, her superior in
station, he writhes in doubt. He is
further agonized by the fact that the
companionship of his lowly daughter
with the son of an aristocrat is an
abrasion Of the rules of caste.
X \ \ X
MIR. DRINKWATER, in his charming
4VA book entitled 1.-THE Art of Theater-
going" (Houghton- Mifflin), writes sadly
Of the ups and downs of the dramas
boy scouts: After years of fire.
kindling he finds himself fearing that
relatively few people want an intelli-
gent theater." His hope that the stage
been realized. Its crusades have not
occupied the promised land. Their
dream was in any case fantastic" and
his Is years attempt to make 1t an art
worthy of the name has been practically
futile.
His purposes thus blighted, Mr.
Drinkwater turns Bird In Hand" into
a prosperous medley of precious ambi-
tions and cheap results. Dimly in the
foreground his aim may be diScerned
cluttered over with the tawdry COM
merce of what he calls "the theater OF
entertainment" To make his sermon
salable he sugars 1t with comedy
easily within the reach of the average
playgoer's mental pocketbook. When,
| for instance, Mr.. Banquet, the timid
sardine salesman, covers his night
/ shirt with morning cutaway, you know
| that he does not do so from character
| istic motives of modesty, but from a
showman's gaudy determination to be
/ funny at any cost. When Mr.. Drink
water puts Cyril Beverly. a buffoon
iincloyable. to bed in the same chamber
/ with Ambrose Godolphin, q fuSsy K. c.,
you might expect the situation to pro-
duce intelligent amusement. But Mr..
Drinkwater has so sullenly abandoned
| the better things of the stage that he
/ forces his actors In this pregnant scene
| to resort to the silliest type of Glowing.
| None of their long and obvious antics
with the quilts, sheets and pillows be-
longs In play by the John Drinkwater
Of abraham Lincoln" Robert e. Lee"
and the lecture rostrums Of the culture
clubs and drama leagues.
hope that in the fiscal success OF
/ BIRD In Hand Mr.. Drinkwater will
find the same definite consolation for
/ his sacrifices that. another preacher,
1 William Archer. did when he received