Evening star., 1933-06-04

A T II o'clock last night the
~ National Players bade adieu
4 \ to the shortest season of
their career. Today they
are no except as individ-
ualS wandering off to their re-
spective homes and jobs and Won
dering If the theater will ever bob
up again. Stage hands today are
putting away the remains of isis
Hopkins" Sis was a precocious
child, brighter than audiences
who saw her had anticipated, yet
not so gaudy as to entice a public
which has been curiouSly slow in
paying attention to such things.
The sudden demise of the Ma
tional Players is sad, sad blow.
1t rips the middle right out of
what might have been the most
successful engagement this troupe
has ever known. While the first
two weeks were enough to try the
patience of a Job, nevertheless
both plays and players came bob
bing up and climbed sky high be-
fore the final curtain came down
last night.
1t must be admitted now-in
the middle of this departments
wrath at the injustice dealt these
players by the public-that this
is the sort of thing that is likely
ito make the theater here cry
"quits." Both Clifford Brooke
and Mr.. Cochran have run along
together in this game-they have
had good seasons and bad-they
Ehave had good players and bad
|playerS, but one thing they know
.now-and that is that you cannot
possibly tell what the public
wants.
The most cruel blow dealt this
company was the city'S lack OF
interest in Another Language"
perhaps for the same reason that
hnade only so people turn up at
1.-THE initial matinee of this play
when it was originally presented
at the BelaSco prompted the cool
reception of the play when it was
revived here. At any rate, it is a
fact that the Players gave one OF
the most satisfactory perform
anceS of their lives. 1t is also a
fact that the play came very near
to winning the Pulitzer Prize this
year. 1t is also a fact that it is
one of the best plays written in
itS particular vein in long, long
time. And it is also a fact that
audiences that attended this play
were shockingly small, and that
las a result the Players were
forced to die a death which audi
enceS which weren't there are
largely responsible for.
PARTICULARLY in a year which
has played the actor false is
this more than average injustice
Broadway has not been knee-deep
in fortune this year. Neither has
any town which had a stage to
support it. Try as he may, the
actor has had to smile at fate
and sing the wry song that every
one else has been singing. Never
theleSs. he has been more Of
sport about it than many another
loser. He has jumped up and
given his services for benefits"
for others when he was in need
himself, and he has travelled about
and done those little things which
he would never have thought of
doing before just to keep up what
he calls appearances"
You cannot say that isis Hop
kinS" wasn't one of the pleasant
est evenings in the theater you
have ever spent, just as Another
Language" was if you went not
expecting a murder or fire or a
bombing. Perhaps this years
plays were too gentle. Perhaps
the public is so used to you-knock-
me down and -I'll-drag-you-out
cinema contortions that it is no
longer able to sit quietly in one
place and hear nice language
spoken by nice people. Perhaps
if What Price Glory" and Lulu
Belle" had been offered, the the
ater would have been full to the
brim.
AS it is, we feel only sorrow for
what has happened. We regret
the dismissal of Leona Powers
donald Woods, Freddie Sherman
Addie Hibbard, Romaine Callen-
der, Forrest Orr and the others