Evening star., 1938-02-13

So has your old man. According to
figures given out by theatrical pro-
ducer, there are some hundred thou
sand such plays submitted in New
York City every year. So, although
this particular young woman may have
been q veritable genius, she had not
given anybody reason to go bond for
her ability. But there she s-de.
mapding the right to work, at Govern
ment expense, at her chosen craft"
Well, you chose yourself out craft,
then. The reviewer, for one, has al
ways thought that she would like to
play a carlton. She has never done
| so. but she thinks it would be fun. But
yet no Federal project has been opened
to allow her to retain and recover"
her skill in this art. She feels mighty
sore about 1t, too.
And in the third place, the young
woman herself admits that the purpose
Of all this rehabilitation was to en-
able the recipients to return to pri-
vate employment. But note. please, how
she writes Of that little later on.
Well, the Forums little success story
next tells that the Play Bureau Of the
Federal Theater was so arranged that
If playwrights could not write plays
on Government time (sic), they could
be given duties closely allied TO play
writing, and their hours could be made
sufficiently short to leave them ample
time to devote to their own craft" And
so our heroine was taken on as a play
reader, reading, summarizing and
criticizing, on prepared forms. one
three-act play or two one-act plays .
day" 1t took her. she writes, one and
half to two hours to do this. She
continued to draw her $2386 a week
and the rest Of the "a hours was hers.
That, now. must be the origin of the
phrase, mice work If you can get it."
CHE records that. thus fed by the
ravens taxpayers), she wrote
three plays. None has been produced.
although she got a nibble on one Of
them. The reason for the -produc-
ton. she says, was that, being a pure
artist" she could not turn out COM
mercial drama, and she adds frankly,
MY commodity has no market" put
ting to this confession as one who asks,
What of it?" the proud declaration,
Il have the will to fail"
Now, what do you make Of that?
She has the will to fail and the Gov
eminent has been paying her to de-
velop and exercise it. Can 1t be that
what the Nation needs is more young
people imbued with burning willing
ness to accept pensions as failures?
What, then, of the idea originally back
Of this relief project-that it was to
"rehabilitate' workers so that they
could return to private employment?
Well, what? You will have to answer
that for yourself The reviewer has q
logical mind and, at this point, she
confesses, she got slightly dizzy. But
to continue with the success story Of
the proud Federal failure
She writes: so it has been driven
into me that mine is a talent which.
had there been no W. P. A. and no art
projects, would never have had a
chance to develop. Only a person of
Independent means can afford to cul-
tivate marketless talent. I could
have financed the writing Of one play.
but, II that had not succeeded, I should
have had to go back to a commercial
job and to continue to look on myself
as Journalist or copy writer. But
there was w. p A., and my talent
has developed, I have written not one
play, but three. That talent, brought
forth by the depression and by unem-
ployment, was nurtured to maturity BY
emergency home and work relief"
And now. arrived at maturity. is
"marketless," the reviewers own idea
Of severe anticlimax.
And what is the young woman
planning to do about it? She says that
she has been on her Government PEN
sion for two years and now is be
ginning to feel uncomfortable about
It,. I think" she writes bravely. Il
have been supported by the Govern
ment long enough. Now I ought to
begin to look around for q job in pri-
vate industry" But what?
WELL. according to her own word,
that is question. Can I be
content" she cries, with any COM
mercial job. of whatever nature, that
lasts eight hours day?" And she re-
plies splendidly, mo I can't and
won't. am playwright For
four years now have been entirely
the artist, whose time is his own, who
works when he pleases, at the job at
which he chooses to work Never
again will I consent to yield up that
time and energy to another And" she
adds, taxpayers note, there are many
thousands on these art projects who
echo my sentiments -
Rehabilitation for private industry,
your hat.
One wonders what Shakespeare
would have done; after all, he, too. was
playwright of sorts. To be sure. he
only wrote commercial plays. He had
not the slightest will in the world to
fail. And-of course-one doesn't like
to be unkind about it-but still there
it is-people would buy his work. Pro-
ducers did not tell him that he was
fine but impractical. On the contrary.
he was the most practical man alive.
He loved money and success. and it Is
hard to imagine him accepting dicta-
ton as to how many hours . day he
could work.
And Leonardo da Vinci, another
well-known artist, he was able to
yield up time and energy to another"
(accept job, If you please) and still
produce some tolerable compositions.
He worked for the government (such
as it was) to be sure, but not on two
hour day. According to one hiographer.
he used to be called away from paint I.
ing his Last Supper" to make repairs
on the palace plumbing. One wonders
what his advice to this young reliefer
would be.
Perhaps he would tell her that an
artist is pre-eminently natural worker,
ana that If his work has no place in
the natural life of the people, then