Evening star., 1935-07-03
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
MASKS AND MARIONETTES. BY
Joseph Spencer Kennard. New York:
Margaret Cerm0nd.


it is Psychology. 1t is theatre OF all
the people, of all arts, Of all moments
when life wings up out of drab reality.
It Is theatre Of music and dance; OF
song, colour and light; of plays on wagon
stages; of festivals in streets, in courts.
in great squares, on rivers, at weddings
and funerals and coronations; of actors
with and without masks; sometimes in
extraordinary costumes.
MANY of these actors are unknown to
fame; many more are immortal. Paint
ings, etchings and engravings have made
their faces Misunderstanding, ludicrous,
facetiouS; sometimes grimly, often gro
tesquely, the 'Commedia dell Arte' por-
trays incongruous humanity. The first
comic actor may have stood on rock,
q tree stump or by an evening fire In
front of his hut. He postured, grimaced,
gesticuiated, told funny story, cracked
a joke, sang a song, burlesqued boon
companion. The 'Commedia dell Arte'
developed through the ages and includes
such plays as Goldoni's, which will live
forever; but always the 'Commedia dels
Arte' depicts human frailties, parodies
human foibles."
In the unknown ages preceding re-
corded history lies the origin of the
comedian as an entertainer, and 1t Is
likely that no other writer has delved
SO far back into the lore of this par
ticular art as has DR.. Kennard, whose
linguistic and literary achievements have
placed him in the forefront Of authori-
ties on Italian literature and the Italian
theatre.
Tracing the history Of the "Commedia
DELI Arte" from its introduction into
Italy to the era of the great Goldofi
and Carlo Gozzi, his jealous rival, DR..
Kennard gives brief, interesting accounts
of the development of the art through
consecutive ages and of its adaptation
to and its influence upon the existing
political and social conditions. There
are chapters on the famous companies
devoted to comedy on a grand scale, on
some of the plays that these troupes
produced which have become immortal,
and upon the great actors who per-
formed them.
Three women and seven men COM
prised the cast, as rule, Of one OF
these companies, and there Is a chapter
revealing the joys and the hardships Of
these wandering actors who one day are
feasting and living in luxury and the
next day are without food or shelter.
scandalized, insulted, arrested and pun
ished for imagined offenses against the
church or the state.
Descriptions are given of the plots and
the scenarios of a number Of the famous
plays, and also of the tricks OF the
actors and the skill with which they
improvised and interpolated into any
play a collection of stock jokes and
speeches easily tranSpoSable for appli-
cation In an opportune moment. Inter-
esting stories are told Of the actors who
kept their professional names off the
stage as well as before audiences and
how they became known throughout the
areas In which they lived and performed
as the characters which for years they
represented.
The second part of the book is devoted
to the story of the origin and the
development of italian marionettes and
the influence which the wooden doll has
exerted upon public entertainment the
world over. The methods and the GUS
toms of this most ancient of actors may
vary with changing civilizations, but the
originality of the puppet show will never
lose its power of fascination.
In keeping with the nature OF the
work, the volume is presented as an art
book as well as history. 1t is printed
on q superior grade of paper, is hand
somely illustrated with reproductions Of
famous scenes and characters and is
inclosed within a rich black and gold
binding.
BRIGHT DESTINATION. BY Darwin
l.. Teilhet. New York: Doubleday,
Doran g. Co.
When an impetuouS, redheaded young
American cuts loose in France in a
frantic effort to catch up with his run
away wife, almost anything can happen
to him, and in the case OF Markham
Doughty almost everything does happen.
For there is nothing so dear to the
hearts Of Frenchmen as an "affaire, +"
and the most trivial incident may be
seized upon at any moment to start one.
Mark is innocently riding in taxi
to the hotel where his wife is supposed
to be staying when the trouble starts.
It happens that the Communists are
holding q demonstration, which means
that a riot is in the making. A brick
hurled at a traitor misses its mark and
strikes down the cab driver. Mark leaps
to his aid and is promptly seized upon
as a murderer. BY clever maneuvering
he miraculously escapes the mob, and
from that moment until the near-end OF
the story his life is long series OF
narrow escapes from one dangerous sit
uation after another.
Making his way to Paris by foot, and
mostly after dark, following his escape
from the Communists, Mark is nearly
run down on the road by young man
and young woman in cycle-car. The
couple prove to be runaways, also, fee
ing from q brutal circus manager and
endeavoring in their flight to evade the
pursuing police. The three join forces
in a dash across Southern France, during
which they encounter high adventure in
many forms. Eventually they find the
circus of Capt. Bonbardino, the goal of
the young cycle-car pair, and at various
places along the way Mark manages to
arrive at designated hotels and castles
Just after the departure of his elusive
wife.
Among the dramatic episodes into
which Mark is plunged are the robbing
of a policeman of cigarettes, a fight amid
a deluge of snails in Paris restaurant,
q remarkable flight in a glider that is
not intended to fly, an attempt by repre-
sentatives of his mother-in-law to have
him kidnapped and shipped to South
America, night of drinking with an
innkeeper, in which he unwittingly helps
his hosts daughter to elope, and always
the incongruous situations which cause
him consistently to arrive at a given