The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-11-23
The World of
the Theatre
BY HAROLD EDGAR
Controversies

The outbreak of controversy shortly
after this department had been in
itiated in the Daily Worker we
refer, of course, to our polemic with
Nathaniel BuchWald last week - is
a sign of life. Of cultural vitality
and interest. In nearly all such con-
troversies many extraneous con-
siderations are apt to enter as con-
fusing elements. Yet even with these
disadvantages, such controversies are
more creative than none at all. And
it is one of the symptoms Of the al
most complete inanition of the
Broadway theatre that controversies
Of this kind hardly ever occur.
The reason for this absence of con-
troversy on Broadway is not far to
seek. Business knows lawsuits, COM
petition, various brands Of sabotage,
but controversy in the theoretic
sense has no practical value for it
And the theatre Of Broadway, despite
all its sincere and talented crafts
men, is primarily business. To
analyze the elements of o popular
success in a way that might be in
terprated as derogatory is to damage
its commercial chances, to point out
the new reactionary tendencies of a
playwright like ONeill. or to Sug-
gest that an actress like Katherine
Cornell has something to learn about
her art, is to lack respect for honored
institutions: to debate the program
e = oRrsn ic tA
its possible success.
The reviewers will frown on cur
rent show (when it is the product
of an influential writer or manager,
however, they tend to express them
selves very mildly but very rarely
indeed will freelance article be per-
mitted to appear on the candied
falseness of a play like Green Pas
lures" or on the cheap magazine
fiction quality of play like Grand
Hotel" Let the reviewers "razz"
play like E. E. Cummings Him" "a
play meriting severe criticism, but
still far more significant than shows
ike animal Kingdom') and no ar
ticle or letter will be published in
The same pages to show that the re-
viewers have missed the point Let
the reviewers agree that Jed Harris
is an extraordinary man Of the the
atre, and you will see no word COM
menting on the paltry standards by
which such judgments are passed.
After all, Green Pastures" Grand
Hotel" and animal Kingdom" were
money makers, which Cummings
Him" only drew a small audience
of intellectuals down in Greenwich
Village. To question these values
would be to fly in the face Of all
American business tactics.
On Oct. 9th, the New York Times
published an unusually long article
by Elmer Rice, purporting to be
Plan for a Theatre of the People.
This article was compact with good
intentions high hopes, liberal dreams
and a whole tissue Of theatrical
errors. It's intrinsic vagueness was
attested by its failure to compare
and contrast the new project with
the attempts Of already existing Or
carnations moving in the same gen.
eral direction. But we do not mean
to discuss Mr.. Rice's article here,
only to point out that part Of its
vagueness was due to Mr.. Rice's fear
Of criticizing anybody else-for then
he might himself be criticized-and
that this article controversial in es-
sence, met with no response either
from the public or from any Of the
reviewers throughout the town.
The value of controversy Is not
that it provides occasion for fight,
but the opposition of opinions forces
upon each side the obligations of
greater deflniteness, clarity, f1rmness.
In short, from policy of intelligent
argument a concrete, healthy point
of view may be arrived at. The Rus
sian Theatre has always thrived on
continuous and massive controver-
sizes. And from the controversies of
the early years of the theatre in
the Soviet Union, the synthesis of
a clear and balanced program of &C.
tivity may be read in all accounts
Of the recent Soviet theatre.
The latest number Of The Inter
national Theatre Organ Of the In
ternational Union of Revolutionary
Theatres) gives evidence Of this syn
thesis. The magazine itself has i'm
proved greatly since its first appear
ance, and now it may be said without
exaggeration that it not only Is the
finest publication devoted to the
revolutionary theatre, but one of the
best theatre magazines of any kind.
It's leading articles, such as Lunar
charsky's paper on problems of
Style in Socialist Art" are meaty and
important-the only articles of this
kind to be read anywhere in English.
Reports Of The Jewish Theatre in
the u. s. s. r., the Moscow Region
Trade Unions Council Theatre, the
Moscow Central Workers Youth
Theatre, are all extremely instruc-
tive and should be studied by every
one engaged in the building Of revo-
lutionary theatre groups in this
country.