Evening star., 1932-09-18

FTEE q term of absence from
n the theater, one returns to 1t
II with the startled sensation OF
1 \ q wayfarer stumbling onto
foreign world Having spent a
month or two In contact with nature
and its creatures, undisturbed by the
dramas violences, he has grown ac-
customed to the rhythmic serenity OF
life as 1t Is practiced by the average in
habitant OF a prosaic planet. Save for
distant rumors in the daily press he has
The persons with whom he has asso-
ciated have been normal in habit and
appearance, pursuing placid existences.
marred by no affectations OF dress or
demeanor. He may have encountered
: Sigh - even tear, cow and then,
snd perhaps beer party to heart
throb. Souls in torment may have
crossed his path, but If so, they did It
noiselessly.
If he is stunned, therefore, when re-
suming his visits to the play, he finds
it to be q region at once familiar and
unknown. The curtain rises, disclosing
to his astounded eye strange but rec
ognizable figures in distended attitudes.
Peculiar sounds vaguely reminiscent itss; 10. OF
upon his ear In speech resembling,
though different from, human utter
ance. II the scene is out Of doors the
sky is not In the least like unto Gods
canopy. nor Is the earth duplicate OF
His footstool If 1t is indoors the chairs
and divans assume outlandish postures
and are used as perches to and from
which bizarre figures fit while engaged
in phenomenal conversations. Where
am -" the dazed pilgrim inquiries, as
he endeavors to get his bearings. Am
I awakening from an amnesia, or have
I died and gone to Mars?" Bewildering
miracles of virtue and malefaction are
performed in front of him while he
pinches himself and rubs his eyes.
Soon, however, he adjusts his senses to
his distorted surroundings and realizes
that he Is merely in q theater again,
watching the dramas prestidigitators
as they direct him with their feats of
slight-of-hand. The incantations Of the
playwright and actors transform fancy
to fact, or fact to fancy. and, according
to many believers In their magic, en-
1iven and invigorate a drowsy world.
They make exciting improvements upon
the monotonous routine of creation and
decay, giving it hypodermic shots of
Stimulant and opiate. The Drama in
Lille, dS MI. Wdlklty CdlleQ IL, DuG Ii Is
life under the influence Of toxics. 1t Is
life in eruption, with the high tempera-
ture and deliriums of narcotic. It is
art in pipe shifting the in
toxicant vapors and communicating
their fumes to innocent addicts.
WHEN Miss Ruth Gordon appeared
wv the other night at Ethel Barry
more's Theater in Here Today" she
mystified and disappointed me- I had
been told that her role was founded
upon the brilliant idiosyncrasies of
Miss Dorothy Parker, the towns most
acid lady wit and that her associates
included indications of George Kauf-
man, F. p. A., Robert Benchley and
Groucho Marx. I expected to be at
home with these amusing celebrities,
and to be able to appreciate such
r1uances Of their characters as the au-
tfNr. Mr.. Oppenheirn, might obviously
adumbrate. But the play was only
silhouette and its people mere prattling
dolls, immersed in a static inactivity.
They chatted in the calculated and de-
liberate formula of the Broadway wise
crackers, tossing the hot ice of Park
Avenues amateur sophistication from
lip to lip and pose to pose. All of them
seemed to be sedulous and gifted