Evening star., 1932-03-06

TATE, as a rule, has such q
- Puck-like way of playing
sportive pranks with the
u affairs of mankind that one
may seldom, if ever, find him
self able to foretell what results
are likely to follow a given action.
Yet in our quaint simplicity many
of us have done seemingly fool
ish things in the hope that some
thing we longed for might be ul-
timately attained. For instance,
they used to shoot cannon
charges into the skies to make
the rain fall during a drought.
and others used to wish for
something while looking at the
new moon over their left Shoul-
der, but who, in all the world,
would have guessed that the BIZ
centennial anniversary of the
birth of George Washington
would contribute to the dignity
and the Importance of the thea
ter in Washington? And yet it
has done so, not only generously.
but in a way likely to be remem-
bered by our most knowing
youngsters long after they have
begun to be numbered among the
old-timers of the future. And
think of it, incidentally. Our
young and thoughtless irrepreS-
sibles who are SO prone to shove
their elders in the background as
being mot up with the times"
some day will find themselves
and much to their surprise-just
that kind of old timers.
HOWEVER poor in quality and
improbable in patronage the
current season in the theater may
have seemed to be in other dis
tricts of our depressed Republic,
Washington, at least, during the
few months of the new year,
really has been blessed with en-
tertainment upon its legitimate
stage such as few preceding sea-
sons will match. 1t has been ac-
corded the privilege, for instance,
of witnessing the very best of the
metropolitan musical spectacles-
one of them, by the way, at the
cost of $4.40 per seat, which the
great metropolis will enjoy at
S.. while the range of its
drama, presented by the bright
est lights of the American stage,
not to mention "the greatest play
of modern times" could not
easily be surpassed. We have the
memory still fresh of the delight
full performances given by the
Lunts, Pauline Lord, Mary Ellis,
Basil Sidney and Ethel Barry
more, truly the lady royal OF the
American theater, to mention but
a few, which are to be immedi-
ately followed by Katherine Cor
nell in THE BarrettS of Wlmpole
Street." the sensation of the year,
Washington can well afford
to fold its arms in perfect con-
tentment and face the future
without fear.
NOR should the pleasure OF all
this obscure the fact that we
are now beginning to receive the
attention in our theater which
should have been accorded before.
It may be that it marks the grad
uation of the Capital of our coun-
try from "the tank towns of the
road" to the status Of a city
whose intelligence and culture
are of quite as much Importance
20 the theater itself as may be
the boarded wealth of Washing
ton, one of the present mysteries
of a mystery-loving day. While
we do not expect to rival New
York with it's 60 or 10, maybe go,
temples of the legitimate drama
most of them dismally dark,
inasmuch as we have but two and
occasionally one or the other OF
those two without a tenant-it
should not be forgotten that the
Capital of these United States is
the one proud city of them all
that belongs to all the inhabit-
ants between the Gulf of Mexico
and Canada and between the wide
Atlantic and the wider Pacific
Ocean. Yet withal we are not
obstreperous. We shall be quite
content if the metropolitan book
ing offices will kindly remember
to keep our two theaters well
supplied, at all times, with enter
tainment such as they deem
worthy of exploitation in any Of