Evening star., 1935-10-20

PRODUCING GROUPS INCREASE
Number of PLAYERS and Character of Productions Contrads
Accusation CAPITAL Is Cold to Theater-Handcaps Numer
Gus but None Has Proved Insuperable- Needed

seems nearer this Utopia than any Of
the others, for it has the exclusive
use Of its Guild hall at 2ll5 Fifteenth
street northwest. The money Is lack
ing to enlarge and improve the stage
to make 1t usable and the Guild Is
still producing in the church hall next
door, but at least 1t has a place Of its
own in which to rehearse, build
scenery and hold meetings and try
outs. The Montgomery Players like
wise have found q building which Is
ideal for their needs. but there again
money is lacking with which to re-
model and equip it. A number Of the
other groups are making zeal search
for buildings which they can adapt
for their own use and their technical
directors and stage crews may be
found prowling through alleys and
peering into likely looking buildings
almost any week In the year.
When a group has rented hall. re-
hearsed a cast, and built and put
up its sets, however, plenty OF diffi-
culties still remain. and Washingtcn'S
amateur producers frequently find
themselves in very tight spots.
There was the time the Blackirlars
Guild encountered the Fire Depart
ment in the person of an inspector
sent out to Wardman Park Theater TO
make sure that the sets for Peter
Flies High" were fireproof. The group
had constructed the sets with great
care, for this production was to be
the high point Of the years schedule.
but nobody had thought to fireproof
them. So when the inspector touched
a match to one of the fats" as the
acid test, it began to burn merrily.
The fire was put out quickly. but the
inspector would not permit the play
to 60 on that evening unless the sets
were fireproofed. So the stage crew
Communicated a number of Wald-
man Park Hotel employees and hired
them. at union wages, to help spray
the fats with the chemical mixture
which makes them fireproof. When
the spraying process was finished the
sets were as fireproof as asbestos, but
the lovely maroon walls Of the draw
ing room required for the first act had
turned to a horrible mixture OF red
and pink streaks. They were still vet
with the chemical spray when the
curtain rose that night, and when the
first act set was hauled up to make
way for the second act the players
found themselves working under flats
that still dripped maroon -colored
liquid.
EIRE figured in dilemma which
confronted the Columbia Players
back in the days when Paul Mallon,
who has since become famous ss
columnist, was an ardent little theater
worker and a member of this group.
Mr.. Mallon rushed home from work
one evening to get the elaborate cos
tunes and properties for the produc-
ton in which he was to appear that
night to find that his apartment house
was on fire and Gordon of police re-
fused to let him enter the building.
The curtain rose on the play at soue-
thing after instead of the scheduled
8 o'clock.
The stage at Pierce Hall is small, so
the Columbia Players had designed
the set for "Moonshine and Honey
suckle" 50 that it rested fiat again1t
the back wall and left no room for a
person to cross from stage left to stage
right behind the set So it Is easy
to imagine their CONSERVATION when
they found that the curtain had gone
up with leading player and all the
guns needed during the act on the
wrong side of the stage. But some
one thought Of the window on the
other side of the stage, and, seizing a
stepladder from the work shop, stage
hand rushed outside and around the
building and boosted guns and player
through the window in time for en-
trance from the other side of the
stage.
The Roadside Theater's stage crew
had bad moment last Summer when
the ceiling Of the "Trilby" set COL
lapsed shortly before curtain time.
But Karl Gay. who is an old hand 1T
setting things to rights backstage,
climbed up on ladder and with a
few well-placed screws fastened the
ceiling back where it belonged so
swiftly that the delay was not noticed
by the audience,
The Washington Community Play
ers, who, under the direction of Bess
Davis Schreiner, produce on a grand
scale at the Sylvan Theater during the
Summer, have the weather to contend
with. One night last June an audi
ence of several thousand had gathered
on the slope southeast of the Wash
ington Monument to watch a produc-
tion which was just getting under way,
when with some suddenness the rains
descended and the foods came. As
one man, the audience rose, gathered
up the blankets and pillows 1t had
been sitting on and rushed for its au-
tomobiles. The actors stuck to their
posts until they saw that they had
been entirely deserted, then they, too,
made for shelter. Later in the sea-
son Miss Schreiner tried in vain to
find date TO present her production
Of Romeo and Juliet" but time after
time inclement weather prevented the
use of the Sylvan Theater, and the
project finally had to be abandoned
entirely.
However, those who work in Wash
ington's n-professional theater are
not easily discouraged, and the plays
are improving in quality, quantity and
workmanship. Last year the Colum-
bia Players. who are incorporating the
repertory theater idea into their sched-
ule. tried a season Of six plays and
found it financial and artistic sue
cess. This year they will do five new
plays and win repeat Checkov's Uncle
Vanya," last years outstanding sue.
cess, which they have kept in produc-
ton as the nucleus of the new roper
toire. The Drama Guild and the
Pierce Hall Players will also do six