Evening star., 1934-10-16


the Civil War apart, giving you
not have heard before, and ens
drama that is, to say the least
After having concocted one of the
most distinguished first acts on record
we suspect that their play rattles
pretty definitely downhill. While 1t
may be presumptuous for US to say so,
It seems that even q brilliant novelist
may have his shortcomings so far as
the theater is concerned and might do
well to take unto himself q master
craftsman who could show him what
he lacks in the dramatic arts.
"Jayhawker" at the moment is not
q good play. It Is, however, q stirring
study Of an interesting man ("Ace"
Burdette). When the collaborators
have put their shoulders once more to
the wheel, have yanked out that GLORY
Hole" scene, which neither helps the
play or the performers one little bit,
and have tried to bring the last two
acts up to the level of the first-then
all may be well and the authors may
kick up their heels and 60 back to their
other labors with well-earned smiles
and prosperity.
N IMPORTANT audience went to
"A the National last night, not only
in high hopes of witnessing q first
Sinclair Lewis play, but also to carry
on with one of its favorite performers
In q new role and new medium.
Fred Stones debut III 1t may be
called that last night as q dramatic
actor was something that all will
remember. Speaking one Of the
longest monologues since Arthur Sin
clair ripped out that George Bernard
Shaw speech in "Too True to Be
Good" Mr.. Stone was welcomed into
Q more serious angle of the drama
with wild applause and unstinted
good cheer. He was given q major
hand at the end Of his first speech
and indicated not only that Mr..
Lewis had been wise in bringing him
realms of music and dancing, but
that perhaps this should have been
done long time ago.
Mr.. Stone played Ace" right up
to the hilt. Although once or twice
you might have thought that he was
going to break into a song and dance,
you could never admit that he was
more of a musical comedy star than
he Is straight actor, and there were
times when you could even imagine
that he was very much like his good
friend, Will Rogers. Mr.. Stone, at
any rate, should be congratulated
for everything he did in this play
and it is due to his excellence that
'Jawhawker" should get on In the
world.
REFORE Mr.. Stones arrival last
night on the stage, the playmakers
showed us an outdoor camp meeting
ground In Kansas and Rev. Peavie
leading his flock along with hymns
and prayer. Here "Ace" Burdette
was branded as an irresponsible
good-for- nothing, whose best friend
would do well not to talk to him and
whose daughter should be sorry that
she ever had such q father. All, in
fact, was going along nicely at Aces
expense when he happened to drop
by, happened to wander up onto the
platform, happened to begin talking
and before you knew it had spoken
such oratory as had these Kansas set
tiers bristling with unrestrained ad-
miration for the man they had con-
demned only a minute before
The Messrs. Lewis are at their best
in this scene. Mr.. Stones speech is
an exciting adventure in the theater.
And, If you will pardon us, you can
walk out soon after and feel that you
have seen the best there is to see.
The troubel afterward Is not in
Mr.. Stones acting, or in the acting
Of the handsomest of his daughters
(Carol Stone), but in the manner in
which the material at hand Is dis
tributed between the players. While
the first scene in Senator Burdette,s
Washington home is shrewdly done,
and the strife of the Civil War is pre-.
sented to you in new and original
form, the dramatic value of the piece
for some reason seems to lose itself
from there on.
How do the authors benefit their
play, for instance, by having all those
men killed at Chickahominy? It has
been done . hundred times In the
theater-and done q hundred times
better. If 1t is to acquaint us with
the fact that Yankee and Confederate
soldiers exchanged chewing tobacco
between them and that friendliness
prevailed even in strife, then we may
be grateful for this little interlude.
But if it Is meant to stir on the audi