Evening star., 1938-04-10

oucG ana tnruStS forward Its trace OF
| social import. When it was written the
overtones, parable and import were
Russian; now they are worldwide. In
that growth Of values you will find,
not merely the emergence of Anton
Chekov as one of the major literary
| figures, but likewise an ominous hint
OF doom and destruction 1t was a
Russia inexorably approaching its
funeral pyre that found The Sea
Gull, The Cherry Orchard"
Uncle Vanya" and The Three Sis
ters'' SO right, SO prophetic, so filled
with a special symbolism for its epoch.
Today no one can say that these plays
are to us merely fascinating exotic
growths that they are simply curious
chronicles Of strange aliens in the
throes Of strange defeatism. Today
all Of them seem to have a special
message for our time, special kinship
to our troubled souls. particular ap-
plication to our harried spirits. There
is reason to shudder at the thought
that Chekov was a universal as we'll as
a Russian seer. The author Of "The
Sea Gulf was the prophet of a world
about to disappear forever. He was
the discoverer of terrible portents, and
who can say that there are not sinister
omens clustering about our heads that
fit in with those that he contem-
plated?
"The Sea Gull" is, in truth one vast.
beautiful and eloquent outpouring of
bitterness. pessimism, soul-scourging
and self-pity. We, as a people, LOOK
upon ourselves as possessing Just the
opposite qualities. We are the worlds
chief apostles of optimism. We are
by no means given to excessive soul
probing. We look upon self-pity as a
shameful and effeminate thing, some
thing to be expected only of decadent
foreigners. 1t comes, therefore, as all
the more OF shock when we discover
that such alien qualities set down in a
strange play about eccentric Slavs of
40 years ago seem SO completely ma
tural and acceptable to us that The
Sea Gull becomes truly play writ
| ten for our age. Even so. if the work
| were presented with lugubrious gravity
it would be possible for us to bring our
favorite method of escape. the much
priced and overworked American sense
OF humor, to bear on the play and
thus save ourselves by laughing at the
! excessive Slavic morbidity. But Che.
Kov has been too wise for us and has
forestalled our possible evasion of his
noCCau1 hoc =
laughed little ruefully at his charac-
ters' futility. and he has gone on to
permit them to laugh at themselves.
Immediately their similarity to us be-
comes even more pronounced and
more inescapable.
THERE are many reasons for ad-
/ miring the Theater Guilds bril-.
liant production of the play The
acting OF the cast headed by Miss
Fontanne and Mr. Lunt is excellent:
| the settings by Robert Edmond Jones
are characteristically fine. the direc-
ton by Robert Milton is sensitive and
understanding. and. in particular, the
translation by Stark Young is fresh.
vital and richly dramatic. But what
admire chiefly about the entire
presentation is the fact that it is not
afraid to emphasize that sly and some
| times biting humor of Chekov. The
tendency in most non-Russian pro-
ductions of the good doctors works
is to concentrate exclusively on their
black and brooding melancholy, as
if in fear that the humor would de-
stroy their mood and their quality
On the contrary, of course, it does
nothing of the kind Instead, it
serves to emphasize and humanize the
bitterness of the narrative by the
very force of its contrast. The guild
has wisely realized this and at times
the current version of The Sea GxlW
is shamelessly comic. The result IS
that the brooding quality not only
gains in force and dramatic import,
but keeps the spectator more COM
pletely under its spell by preventing
him from any attempt to feel that
here is play about long-dead Mus
covites, and not about himself and
the chaotic universe surrounding him.
BY giving the presentation 4 sort
Of quiet vitality the guild also serves
to remind us of the strange fact that
The Sea Gull" while it is a mighty
epic of defeatism that wallows almost
joyously in its own despair. somehow
is not defeatist play. Although its
mood is one of utter futility and It's
cry is Of the hopelessness of existence.
the spirit is too gay and vital and
eloquent, too filled with sense OF the
mystery and wonder of life even in
the midst of defeat and DEATH to
seem any such thing. This may seem
a rather fine distinction. this differ
ence between play about defeatism
and defeatist play, but I don't think
that it really is. Shakespeare's King
Richard H. is, for example a lovely
paean to the idea If defeat, 1t sings
eloquently of the beauties and even
the joys of being resoundingly van
pushed. But it expresses its sense
of the tragedy and futility of life too
superbly to be thought of as mere
beaten whine. The same thing Is true
of "The Sea Gull" 1t cries out in
| despair ana UdlllCIIlcIll, ~ 10 GllC II1OSG
eloquent of hymns to futility, and
yet it is so magnificent about it that
the bitterness of life is transformed
by the greatness of literature into the
grandeur of even embittered life. Here
is one of the true mysteries Of art.
T IFE, Chekov is telling us, Is bitter.
futile and hardly worth living.
and some of us combine sensitivity
with weakness to such an extent that
we 60 out and kill ourselves. Most of
us, though, somehow decide to 60 right
on living. and amid all our failings
we are frank and honest and out
spoken enough to face the ugliness
and absurdity of our existence, chal-
lenge it and laugh at it scornfully. It
is because THE Sea Gull" expresses
this attitude with such wisdom that
it can be honestly described as a CON-
edy Of defeat. but not defeatist tras-
edy. That makes 1t little bit more