Evening star., 1938-01-09

enthusiasm, but without awe, and they
present it as freshly and straight
forwardly as II they did not know
that it was weighted down with aca-
demic tradition. There is fine gusto
about everything they do and they
give the impression of having real fun
as they go along. Their happiest
attribute is an ability to impart to an
audience all of the zestfulness and
high spirits that they themselves
enjoy.
The Shoemakers' Holiday" is an
amiably ribald comedy that has its
share of hapless lovers and cruel par
ents, but is chiefly concerned with
the antics of the hearty old shoe
maker who became Lord Mayor of
London and of his frolicksome jour-
neymen. The chief merit of the
work-and it is a virtue that Dekker's
contemporary, Shakespeare, was never
able to Achieves the friendly, al
most fraternal. way in which it re-
CARDS those jolly workers. Shake
speare always looked upon such low
people with fine scorn, but Decker
sees them as great, hearty, humorous
fellows, with sturdy sense of inde-
pendence and a laughing wit that
made them more than a match for
any of the arrogant lords who at
tempted to cross them. In fact, after
watching the play and comparing
these sturdy, outstanding journeymen
with the cringing, beaten serfs who
represent the working man in modern
British plays and novels. you are in
clined to wonder about the progress
of England since the days of Eliza
beth. Anyway. the great quality of
the work is that sunny picture of the
common man of ancient London. but,
in the reading at least, The Shoe
makers Holiday" is far from hilarious
ly funny. Yet when the Mercury
performers take hold of the slightly
archaic comedy of the play and
brighten it with their inventive gusto,
the whole thing somehow becomes
prodigiously comic in the healthiest
and most heart-warming fashion. All
of the players are delightful, and
Hiram Sherman. who emerges an an
ideal Elizabethan clown, is consider
ably more than that.
THE Ibsen play is, as every one
knows. one of the classic works
of the modern theater, and Nora S
rebellion against the SNUG tyranny
OF domesticity is famous in social
history. as we'll as in drama. But it
happens that the crusade which the
great Norwegian was waging in "A
Dolls House" has been, on the whole,
pretty victorious, with the cycle that
1bsen began in his drama finally re-
sulting in Miss Claire Boothe's The
Women" a work which might have
surprised the Scandinavian sage just
a bit. And as is the case with all
successful pioneering. once that VIC
tory has perched securely on the Ibsen
banner. the victor and his campaign
begin to seem outmoded This, how
ever. is not the only reason why "A
Dolls House" seems ancient today,
while THE Wild Duck" John Ga
briel Borkman," "Hedda Gabler" and
Peer Gynt" remain alive and glow
ing. 1t happens that the drama cele-
brating Nora's revolt isn't terribly
good one. Social or, as their enc
mics call them, propaganda" plays
can be successful even after their
victory, if they survive as dramatic
plays of character In "A Dolls
House" Nora and her husband are
symbols, rather than human beings,
their struggle is not a true conflict
OF character, and, now that the ex-
citement of the editorial viewpoint
has passed, the celebrated play is
chiefly interesting to students of the
theater and Of social history as a
historical document.
Mr. Harris, who is something of
revival himself, has provided the best
Ibsen production of recent years, with
Dennis King as the husband, Paul
Lukas as the dying Rank, Sam Jaffe
as the vengeful Krogstad and Miss
Margaret Waller as Nora's friend CIV
ing splendid performances in the sup
porting roles. But of Miss Ruth Cor
don, in the all-important central part
I must be less enthusiastic. Miss
Gordon is one Of our finest actresses
and her portrayal is undoubtedly both
original and impressive. Unfortu-
nately, she is likewise inclined to play
with monotony and an excess of man
nerisms and to miss out in her big