Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-12-25

/ When, for instance, he says that
lone should never fail to see a play
by Shakespeare that one has never seen
before believe that he commits an
error. He is perhaps guilty of the
harmful delusion that Shakespeare il
always Shakespeare, and that no mat
| ter now Shodolly his dramas are pre-
Sented they are masterpieces that must
be Worshlped. 1t Is my impression, and
pass it on to DR.. Phelps for what 1t
may be worth. that the works of him
Of Avon should be sacred and protected
from the sacrilegious defllement of I'M
couth. llllterate, misunderstanding and
! expedlent interpreters. I ask him to
exert his influence as our first play
goer to prevent such blasphemies rather
than to encourage them. and that after
he has accomplished that reform he
take up the periodical ordinations Of
! Gilbert and Sullivan operas and insist
that they, too, be well done or not
| at all.
lust as DR.. Phelps is almost persuad-
ing me to turn square and begin
| life anew as constructive" reviewer
! he is interrupted by a paragraph in
Booth Tarkington'S novel about the
stage Presenting Lily Mars" Mr..
Harrington. when he was a dramatist,
was a little sensitive concerning de-
structive criticism, although, being of
| forebearing disposition. he seldom lost
his temper. But he felt that a critic
| should be an aid rather than adversary
to playwright. and instead of tear
ing down. should instruct an author
how to build up and improve. In Pre-
Senting Lily Mars" Broadway dram.
atist tMr. Tarkington), and his pro.
ducer George c. Tyler are to be heard
discussing the appreciative critique Of
an earnest and rectifying out-of town
reviewer. Well" Mr. Harrington
satirically writes. you put in your
whole life in the theater, work your
| heart out and your head off, night and
day over play and then an adolescent
scrlboler In newspaper Office tells you
all about 1t. He tells you what's wrong,
What you ought to have done in the
first place and what you must do to
be saved! Work hard. for We
may run into another of these fellows
in Binghamton or Easton." -
BY the foregoing authentic remarks
and many corroborating evidences one
IS convinced that reviewer should
mind his own business, which is ex-
cluslvely with theatergoers. 1t is his
Job to tell his readers what he believes
| w NC u uC dDOuL a OIdIld values as
art or entertainment, not to teach
writers how to write, actors how to
act, or producers how to produce. Even
II he should improbably happen to know
more about their several functions than
they themselves do. they would ignore
his suggestions and deride him for
making Them as Mr. Harrington aptly
does IN his vicarious memoirs.
I AURENCE RIVERS, a broker, bored
by the nonotonous severity Of life
In Wall Street, turned not long ago to
the theater as more exciting arena
His first audacious adventure was
Green Pastures" brilliant long-shot
by Marc Connolly. with whose prospects
even the most daring of the Broadway
impresarios feared to gamble. He won,
and so did all concerned, especially the
plays delighted audiences. Now, inspired
by faith in his instinct and belief that
courage is more golden than timidity.
MI. Rivers presents Red Planet" a
sober extravaganza based on what might
happen if the earth and Mars should
be enabled, by radios miracles, to 60
into conference.
~ ~
IT is the idea of the authors, John L..
Balderston and j. E. Hoare, that
Mars is superior to the earth In ma
terial development having put the COS
mic energies under control and made
them servile. However, it is tardy in
another way. since, according to the
wireless dispatches, a prophet has re-
Gently appeared. exhorting the Martians
In sermon on mount, to peace, right
eousness and humility. The news Is
disturbing to the British government
and its people. and 1t produces financial
and religious panics. All of this is dra-
matically conceived, written and man.
ipulated by fantasy and illusion. The
House Of Commons In forensic furore:
holy mob on the outskirts of Buck
ingham Palace; the laboratory of the
scientist at the moment he first com.
municanteS with Mars and other agi-
tating episodes are pictured with rela-
tive reliability. But Red Planet" Is
not for the multitude Of juvenile drama
lovers under the are of 10