Evening star., 1933-01-01

dAI Lue SQOLIlSdyeIS are ask
"a ing one another: What is the
wv matter with Miss Katherine
Cornell's presentation of
'Iucrece?" According to
the printed testimony, 1t has all the
elements essential to success, yet it fails
to satisfy the drama fanciers pathetic
yearning to be pleased. The loveliest
Of the first actresses is present in all her
quiet glory and so are Shakespeare and
Thornton Wilder, both of them authors
whose works enjoy an extensive pop
ularity. The theme, as DR.. Phelps might
say, Is provocative, and 1t is illustrated
in all except the minutest details with
spectacular delicacy. But only in the
scene where Tarquin invades Lucrece's
chamber, and there, as some one has
aptly put 1t. achieves his purposes, does
it arouse the necessary excitement.
After that the audience seems to sink
away as Tarquin did.
My guess Is that 'sLucrece" is COM
pound of too many discordant styles
and that therefore 1t bewilders rather
than fascinates the playgoer. It Is a
potpourri of almost everything in show
business from pantomine to elocu-
tion, with its characters now speaking
the prose Of Broadway, then singing
the music of the Bard. Here is Lucrece,
normal woman Of her time, in conflict
with Tarquin, who Is q faun with
| cloven hooves and little horns on his
i head. AS the action proceeds, Robert
Lorraine and Miss Blanche Yurka, i'm
| personating strange figures from an
outer world, moan and caterwaul, dis
| tracing attention from the real busi-
ness Of the play. Mr.. Aherne, as Tar
quin, lapses from one static Greek pose
to another in the best fashion of Mord-
kin or NijinSki. but his animal move
ments and attitudes are inharmonious
with those Of Miss Cornell and the
poem Of Shakespeare. The whole result
is confusion, perplexity and dissatisfac-
ton. John Erskine, who looks with a
sane, quizzical and fshy eye upon the
classic legends would have done a bet
ter job with 'Lucrece" than Mr.. Obey
| did. as translated by Mr.. Wilder.
y Il X
THE past week In Broadway has not
been encouraging. New plays crept
up from under the cobblestones and
| crept back again, where they belong.
A worm entitled "Anybody's Game
tried awkwardly to burlesque the ad-
vertising business. Another caterpillar,
called THE Little Black Book" exposed
/ us duJIlOE Dutne ignorance OF pOlIlCal
| life in Washington by series of pre-
| posterous and hysterical situations. OF
Honeymoon" 1t may be said that it Is
| perfunctory output of Samual Chot-
zinoff, the best Of the music critics, ex-
cepting, of course, Lawrence Gilman.
But it, too, is full of the emptiness that
makes playgoing chore instead Of a
recreation.
****
| THE least important item In the open
ing of Radio City's Music Hall
was the show itself, long program OF
song. dance and tomfoolery presented
| in the spacious manner of Mr.. Roxy
the director general It has been said
of the new theater that it is so Won
| derful that 1t needs no performers, that
| its beauty and comforts alone are
sufficient to crafty the greediest of
the playgoers. But they have added a
stage entertainment to the other bene-
fits Of the institution, and II it suffers
| by comparison with its surroundings
| art should be blamed, not big busi-
ness. AS was to be expected, the noun
tain labored and gave forth mouse.
However, 1t was very large and mag
nificent mouse, sumptuously dressed
and trained to do amusing tricks. 1t
was vaudeville in its most luxurious
aspect, slow and lazy. Since 1t was still