The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-09-25
7 he w orld
of the Theatre
Broadway and the Soviet
Theatre.
By HAROLD EDGAR

-. BY HAROLD EDGAR .--s
Broadway and the Soviet
Theatre.
The Forthcoming issue of the
Journal of the U. S. S. R. Society
for Cultural Relations with For
eign Countries (Voks) will be de-
voted to the Soviet Theatre. Com
rade Apletin, the General Secre-
tary of Voks has sent out a letter
requesting the opinion of foreign
theatrical workers who have either
visited the Soviet Union or learned
about the Soviet Theatre from its
performances abroad.
The present writer has not as
yet visited the Soviet Union and
has seen only the work of the
Moscow Art Theatre whose pro-
auctions outside Russia were not
representative of it's latest ten
denotes, the Moscow Kamerny
Theatre which, during its first for
eign tours, also presented only the
efforts of its personal---very.
days and "The Dybbuk" as pro-
duced by the Habima Theatre.
This is hardly sufficient by it
self to permit one an opinion of
the Soviet Theatre. But there are
other ways of becoming acquainted
with the Soviet Theatre though, to
be sure, less satisfactory ones
than the actual witnessing of per-
formances. There are profusely
illustrated monographs in Russian,
German, French and English. There
are magazines NOTABLY the Inter-
national Theatre, organ of the In
ternational movement of worker
theatres.) And it is a sign of the
enormous vitality Of the Soviet
Theatre that even an acquaintance
with it through such indirect
sources can be of real value to the
American theatre worker, both as
inspiration for a feeling about the
theatre and as a guide in actual
theatrical technique.
That the Workers Theatre move
ment has everything to learn from
the example of the Soviet Theatre
must be clear to everyone close to
that movement, but that the Soviet
Theatre is mine of theatrical in
struction even for the professional
bourgeois theatre, is something that
hardly any of the American theatre
workers who have visited the Soviet
Union and become enthusiastic,
over its theatre seem to have
grasped" The Soviet Theatre-and
it is theatre-worker of the pro-
fessional bourgeois stage who says
this-is the greatest school of
theatrical craftsmanship that the
world possesses today. That so
many workers of. the bourgeois
theatre without having learned
some of its countless lessons, with
out having understood that they as
theatre-people could profit in their
own work by what they have seen,
is simply an indication that the
American bourgeois theatre is
mostly dead or nonresident. The
living elements in the theatre all
over the world must be galvanized
and reshaped by the actual organi-
cation and procedure of the Soviet
theatre.
True, it seems nearly impossible
to build culturally organic theatre
within the orbit of the professional
bourgeois stage in America, and
much of what has been accom-
plished by the Soviet Theatre has
been made possible by the revolu-
ton; but by courage, integrity, in
telllgence and hard work some pro-
gress may be effected even here
and now. The point is that no
individual and no theatre in West
ern Europe or in America-and
l am not forgetting Gordon Craig
whose suggestive writings and
drawings were undoubtedly an i'm
portant influence in the theatre
before 1917 can make us visualize
the goal, teach US the necessary
steps to be taken toward it, and
serve as universal theatrical
school better than the theatre of
the U. S. S. R.
What these lessons are that may
be learned from the theatre Of
Stanislavsky, Meyerhold and Vach-
tangov, from such productions as
Princess Turandot" or 1.-THE In
spector General; from such units
as the Tran theatre of the labor
lunlon), from the many national
from the more recent and
specifically post-revolutionary Or
CARNATIONS, from the new drama |
turgy, from the various studios and
schools, we shall discuss in more
detail in a later article