Evening star., 1938-02-13


~ NE Of the most fascinating
things about the theater is its
perversity. firm believer
in the ancient adage about it
always being darkest just before dawn,
1t Is never SO happy as when coming
enthusiastically to life. while the pes
simists are shaking their heads over
what they take to be its corpse. This,
according to reports. is the most dis
NAL Of dramatic seasons, winding its
unhappy way to a melancholy con-
clusion and sadly conceding the i'm
minent and final triumphal entrance
Of the Hollywood Mussolini into the
Adds Ababa that was Broadway.
Whereupon four plays-"Shadow and
Substance" Bachelor Born" "On
Borrowed Time" and "Our Town
arrive within q fortnight. and all of
them show emphatic signs Of becom-
ing resounding hits, although Bach
elor Born" is approaching its success
over my PROSTATE and protesting body.
What I am concerned with at the
moment. however. is the case of "On
Borrowed Time" and Our Town."
which can be grouped in one discus
sion not only because they reached
Broadway in the same week and are
among the important works of the
season but also because both of them
are. concerned with philosophical con-
ceptions of death.
II put "On Borrowed Time first
it is both because it arrived before
"Our Town" and because it strikes
me as being the more satisfying of
the two. Not that it Is the more dis
tinguished play or that the pair of
them, despite their preoccupation with
the matter of morality. have any
great similarity about them. But
while "Our Town." which is essen
tally q simple and poignant chron-
icle of New England life, gives an
impression of pretension and inef-
fectualness when it broods on death,
"On Borrowed Time" manages its
grim topic with ease, grace and ef-
fectiveness, thus seeming in the end
more successful emotionally. Despite
its excellence and its generally provoc-
ative quality, "Our Town" often
proves exasperating in its efforts to
capture for itself a cosmic philosophy.
ION Borrowed Tine" which is satisfied
to be merely good, heart-warming
and humorous Broadway show despite
its dealings with high matters of life
and death, is never pretentious and is
always delight. Anyway both Of
them, while lacking the lofty distinc-
tion of Shadow and Substance" are
admirable contributions to the Ameri-
can drama, giving 1t additional vigor
and humanity and adding cubits to the
stature of the theatrical season.
IT is difficult to express the quality
of "On Borrowed Time" and indi-
cate to q playgoer how delightful an
entertainment it really is. For = IS a
fantasy about death, and such works
are almost invariably morbid, un-
healthy and something to be ned from
by reasonably normal followers of the
theater. It Is the story Of old Cramps,
who, when death came for him In the
person Of . businesslike fellow called
Mr.. Brink, chased Mr.. Brink up an
apple tree and kept him there, since
Cramps had to stay on earth and pro-
tect his little grandson from 4 wicked
aunt. Dramatized by the expert Paul
Osborn, 1t is based on . novel by Law
renee Edward Watktn, . book that /,
for one, kept away from after reading
Clifton Fadiman's devastating review
Of it. ;. I cannot, therefore, tell you
how closely the dramatization follows
the r:ginal. but do know that by CIV
ing his play rich, salty humor and q
group OF hearty and amusing charac-
tiers lie has taken the curse of morbid
ity from 1t and made it into a vivid and
absorbing comedy drsma. But plays
that regard death humorously are
likely to be as offensive as those that
regard it with an unhealthy sentiment
tality, and 1t is one of the authors
great achievements that he has avoid
ed that danger, too. His humor. though
racy and outspoken, Is 20 skillfully
(see WATTS, Page F-2)