Evening star., 1933-04-16
Critic Notes a Dearth
Of Youngsters on Stage
And He Contemplate the Future of Profession
Which Has Ceased to Draw Youthful Talent.
Also, He Asks the Whereabouts of Censor.
By Percy Hammond.

u fairly fruitful in its good and
wv its passable plays. the har-
vest of new dramatists and
new actresses have been none
too rich. Whence. you wonder, as you
look back over your programs. whence
are coming the successors to Miss Ina
Claire, Miss Ruth Gordon. Miss Franclne
Larrimore. Miss Judith Anderson. Miss
Lenore Ulrich and Miss Fay BANTER?
Who will be ready to seize the torch
when Sidney Howard. Philip Barry.
| Elmer Rice, Marc Connolly and Eugene
| O'Neill let it fall. bent with years and
prosperity? Unless. in the next term,
some shining youngsters matriculate,
posterity may have to face famine in
| the drama The stage. it is said. is not
like the orchards Of Adonis that "one
day bloomed and ripened were the next"
but requires much time and tending
Genius is slow of growth, even as the
oak. though it may not. in cases OF the
theater, be as everlasting.
have made their debuts this year, and
by so doing have indicated postpone
ment Of the evil day when there will be
no more first-class feminine art and
glamour in the play houses Some OF
THIN. of course. have been engaged In
creations and interpretations for
months, but, it seems, behind the backs
Of the urban critics. Among those whose
performances showed the rainbow quail
| ity for the first time, SO far as the
Broadway reviewers knew, were the fol-
| lowing:
Miss Jane Yyatt. who was majestically
CAV and serious in The Mad Hopes"
and "Evensong.' both of them split milk.
Miss Dorothy Adler. combination OF
Bernhardt and Duse, retaining the best
features Of both as we'll as her own
,sthetic independence in Success Story
and "A Wild Party neither OF them
popular
Miss Elizabeth Young. who. cast in
"Firebird" and "A SATURDAY. Night" as a
vestal. kindling the fuse of sex. was re-
markably like veStal engaged in That
hazardous occupation.
Miss Peggy Conklin. once in Made
moiselle." and again in The Party's s
Over" playing subtly and explicitly an
anarchiStic ingenue who led her own
life and got away with it.
Miss Katherine Krug, who as the dis
tressed maiden in the mystery show
Criminal at Large" gave to that routine
role many fascinating lights and shadows
of technique and personality.
Miss Marguerite Churchill, as the
|
at Eight" breaking her heart for love
of q drunken apt from Hollywood, and
being, in the process. very smart. in
deed.
The list of burgeoning playwrights is
even sparser It contains only Miss Rose
Franken, author of Another Language"
Miss Gertrude Tonkonogy. who con-
trived "Three-Cornered Moon; George
Haight and Allan Scott who manufac-
tured "Good-by Again." and perhaps
Mr.. Kusell. who in The Partys Over
knits togther in bright, new patch
work the frayed fabric of a score OF
worn dramas I cannot discern in any
of their cunning achievements much
more than a vigorous germ, discouraged
bit by circumstances. but alert to any
chance for development and improve
ment I'll bet that have left out. in
this casual auditing. several deserving
players and playwrights.
X X
CURIOSITY rather than solicitude
~ for the public's morals impels me
to inquire what has become of the
censors of the theater Is it possible
that in the general unloosening of the
straps under the new deal there are