Evening star., 1934-08-05

How much pig iron was 70 De
found in "Of Thee Sing" one OF the
outstanding pieces Of recent years?
How much is to be found in "As
Thousands Cheer" in Sailor, Be-
ware!' in "She Loves Me Not9"
What trace Of any such unrefined
metallic quality was there in The
Barretts Of wimpole Street2" Or in
Mary OF Scotland" or the Pulitzer
winner. Men in White7" The de-
scriptive phrase is something less
than happy and exact.
As for "treacle and tears, i" we prefer
10 wait and see. There viii be senti-
ment, no doubt, and should be. But
no soothsayer yet discovered has been
able to forecast in August In any
deflnitive way the outlines and tex
ture of the season to come. These
are parlous times in the worlds his
tory and in a very large proportion
of everyday lives. The stage is
almost always a bit behind the march
of events. 1t reflects. as a rule, or
puts into words and visual terms
moods already become more or less
prevalent, rather THAI sets the intel
lectual and emotional pace. And we
should be surprised, indeed. II the
revolutionary questioning typical OF
the whole Western World In the last
few years doesn't find its way rather
frequently into the theaterS Of the
coming Winter.
THE free shows now being given
l. In New York under public well
fare auspices are a product Of the
depression and unemployment which
might well be made permanent. at
least in some modified form. They
have given dog-day New York q
rather jolly sort of novelty. q new
kind Of neighborhood get-together
party, which really seems worth pre-
serving.
Especially happy was the idea Of
the portable theaters, and already,
one hears, private individuals are
cunning for these ingenious caravans
with the hope Of using them COM
mercially once their welfare" func-
ton has been fulfilled. If this is
true, something new-or, at any rate,
newer to our own than to the Eng
lish countryside--will have been
added to our scheme Of things.
These portable theaters are so con-
structed that the stage itself and the
necessary sets can be transported on
the wheels Of an ordinary motor
truck. When unlimbered the stage
proper is supported by the truckbase
itself, while q sort Of ACCORDION ar
rangement extends to the rear and
on each side, so as to give room for
shifting sets and to add the neces-
sary depth. The resulting spced with
which sets are changed and the
Illusion of distance are as surprising
as they are excellent. There Is q
dressing tent In the rear, but In the
hot city nights good deal Of the
making-up takes place informally
out Of doors. The players loaf and
smoke or doze on the Unused prop
critics In more or less full view Of the
audience-the whole thing goes back
to simpler and In some ways more
picturesque day, when wagon-shows
Of all sorts were more usual.
Every weekday evening nowadays
there are half a dozen or more such
travelling companies playing at various
points In the greater city. Each cast
plays its own piece over and over
again, but the schedule is so arranged
that in each of the several parks at
least one new show Is offered on its
particular evening each week. The
entertainments make a cheerful get
together party for those living in the
immediate neighborhood and give an
interesting objective to those ad-
venturous spirits-and there are plenty
Of the latter in these days Of Summer
night motoring-who come from other
and quite different parts of town.
| ~
ICENSoRSHIP Of any art is more OF
less intolerable, and we are op-
posed to 1t; but in the discussions, pre-
and con, Of the recent drive against
so-called indecent films little seems
to be said of a fundamental difficulty
which must exist so long as the pres
ent nass-production method prevails
1t must be obvious that it is all but