The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-11-12
WORLD Of THE
THEATRE

L'AigIOH: An old Romantic
Plug
L'AIGLON-a play in two acts and
two scenes, freely adapted by
Clemence Dane from the French
of Edmond Rostand, at the Brad
hurst Theatre.
Reviewed by
LEON ALEXANDER
let us first acknowledge that Miss
II lie Caffeine has fetching
pair of legs, and be done at ono
with the esthetic side Of this review.
We cannot compare them with
Maude Adams which we have not
seen. AS for the Divine Sarah, she
was an old and sick woman the last
time that she performed the role
in Paris; one of her legs, believe,
had been amputated and replaced
by wooden one; and the only hv-
ing thing that remember Of the
| performance is that most of the
audience began walking out before
the end of the second scene.
Having now paid a tribute to
tradition. history and esthetics, let
US return to Miss lie Gallienne.
She is not a great actress, some
times not even a good one. She has
obvtous mannerisms, like that
pathetic little movement of her
arm and fiuttering hand away from
the body, which she carries around
with her from play to play and has
made to mean so many different
things. But there is an affecting
earnestness about all she does; and
a sort of wide-eyed wonderment as
she walks among the theatre of the
past, rescuing this or that dust
laden play for revival. So who is
there among us to quarrel with her
too intently if the great theatrical
tradition which she is seeking to re-
create is that quickly faded one Of
bad taste, pompous rhetoric and
purple passions?
poleon's unhappy son, Miss LIE Gal
lienne is not very convincing
youth. One is not always aware of
the masquerade. One is never con-
vinced of the young manhood Of the
"eaglet." But she manages to let
drift across the footlights slightly
ambiguous and perverse charm. OF
the rest of the cast, some of whom
are familiar to the old Civic Rep
ertory audiences, of the sets and the
direction, can only say that they
are always adequate, but rarely
exciting.
And now, there remains only for
us to wonder why, in this day and
age, Miss LIE Gallienne has chosen
to trot out again this old, romantic
plug. Is she indulging in a bit Of
pro French propaganda to repay
the French government for he' red
ribbon of the Legion d'Honneur?"
Is she jealous of the now almost
forgotten fame Of Sarah Bernhard?
Elmer Rice and the Critics
FORGETTING the "Eaglet" for a
moment, I would like to take up
Mr.. Rice's recent petulant challenge
to critics which all of them have
left so carefully alone.
There can be no quarrel, of
course, with Mr.. Rice's estimate of
the reviewing fraternity. Whether
they agreed or not with the authors
theses; even if they are reactionary
enough to feel that social questions
do not belong in the theatre, we
might at least have expected from
them the acknowledgement that
Rice's last two plays are adult fare
and exciting drama.
Nevertheless, in the recent in
stance, logic Is on the side Of
Messrs. Garland, Brown ct al, and
not of the offended author. Mr.. Rice
totally misses the mark in his show
Of temper when he attacks the
critics for coming between him and
his legitimate audiences.
Between these audiences and Rice
plays there stand not the reviewers,
but Mr.. Rice himself as producer
and theatre owner. if not as a play
wright. When seats in his play
house cost upward to three dollars,
with what sort of an audience does
he expect to fill his theatre? Ger
tainly neither the workers nor the
intellectualS who are sufficiently
politicalized to be interested in $50
cial plays" can afford these prices.
AS to the Broadway carriage
trade" who can pay them, they
come to the theatre well fed and
somnolent from good living. They
demand of the theatre only that
it excite or amuse them no more
than is necessary to keep them
gently awake, while their digestion
proceeds undisturbed.
Are not the critics then logical
and fair when they warn this type
of audience away from Mr.. Rice's
plays? They would be taking an
undsrhanded advantage of their
position in the press if they used
their columns to persuade the scar
rage trade" into Mr.. Rice's theatre.
That other section for whom Mr..
Rice might provide intelligent play
going, and who in turn would give
him the appreciative audience he is
looking for, they will not stay away
if Mr.. Rice makes it financially
possible for them to attend. If it
is for them, and not for the stuffed
shirts of the orchestra that he is