Evening star., 1938-10-04

to the author and Mr.. Massey, the
lesser ones aggregate a sufficient num-
Der to give the Playwrights' Producing
Co. assurance that it is off to an excel
lent start on its season of five plays.
In creating his magnificently dra-
matte portrait of the gangling Hamlet
of the prairie, Mr.. Sherwood adds to
his stature as a playwright who re-
fuses to be fooled by any of the people
any OF the time His Lincoln is no
heavenly visitor in the murk Of NOR
tality. He is q mortal man, though
one more highly endowed than most
for beating his soul to death against
ence. He is shown to be as weak as
he is strong, as cruel as he is COM
passionate, as earthly as he is spiritual;
a man tormented to the point of mad
ness by the conflict within him.
These contrasts are revealed in the
eloquent Sherwood drama through that
episode technique which has not been
employed SO expertly since Housman's
queen Victoria" enjoyed an equally
brilliant opening in the same theater.
u X X
IF THIS treatment imposed an ex-
cessively heavy burden upon Mr..
Massey, he bore it to that much great
er triumph. He is q more than &C
ceptable Lincoln in his every facial
expression and his every infection of
the harsh speech of the frontier. 1t
is an inspired performance that he
gives in a role so exacting that it is
difficult to remember there were times
when he groped for the right word
among the multitude written to reveal
the heights and depths of the char
acter he portrayed.
Mr.. Sherwood bothers himself not
at all about the Lincoln who was a
little boy in log cabin nor grave
man in the White House. He holds
to that part of Lincolns career which
is defined in the plays title, those
experiences in Illinois which nodded
the Civil War President
The play begins with a scene in
the home Of Mentor Graham, where
an ambitious Lincoln is graphing with
the mysteries Of grammar 1t moves
from there to tender, crushingly tragic
interlude of his humble love for Ann
Rutledge, her death and the first ap-
pearance of the suicidal impulse in
Lincoln's life. The Lincoln of this,
the New Salem episode, is revealed as
= lad Of extraordinary loneliness, of
despair in his ability to accomplish
anything, of longing to retreat to the
farthest fringes of life in the undevel-
oped West.
Destiny's ruthlessness and Lincolns
helplessness are emphasized in the
second act, a five-scene affair which
covers the period of the 184Os. Here
he has moved on to the beginnings Of
his legal career, during which he Is
pictured as humorous, still bewil-
dered, less uncouth fellow; q man
capable Of inspiring and returning deep
affection. but one completely lost in
his effort to reduce life to the nor
mality which those Of lesser genius
so easily achieve. AS they did earlier
IN his career, his friends and associates
see IN Lincoln the greatness which is
manacled only by his own disbelief
in himself, and in everything else. The
result Of their goading, the chief goader
appearing in the form OF Mary Todd, is
to drive Lincoln back to the wilderness
from which he came, making him for
two years an aimless wanderer.
The poignant tone Of this section
OF MIR. Sherwood's drama has been
counterpointed with some excellent
comedy, especially in the scene pre-
ceding his acceptance by the calcu-
lating Miss Todd. OF her, in the pre-
vlous episode, Mr. Lincoln observes
dryly that the extra ID" on the name
seems to be bit overdone in view
OF the fact that God found one
enough"
The wanderer returns at the end
OF the act to the inescapable destiny
which is symbolized in the Mary Todd
played so deftly by Muriel Kirkland.
HE third act reveals the more
y familiar Lincoln, the passionate
follower OF principle, in a brilliantly
played scene portraying the debates
with Douglas. The timelessness of the
inspiration which fired the two is
caught so expertly by Mr.. Sherwood
and Massey that last nights applaud
Ing audience might have been so many
persons listening to the original argu-
ment on the Illinois prairie. The play
touches one of the highest points in
It's remarkable eloquence in this scene.
curing which Albert Phillips, playing
Douglas, gives a superb performance.
subsequent scenes in the final act
illuminate the character of Lincoln
and that of the by now shrewish Mary
curing the period when he is being
drafted and elected by his party
The play reaches its deeply affecting
endlng in scene in which Lincoln
conscious still of the shadow of death
which he always feared, bids a grave
farewell to his friends and neighbors
as he leaves for Washington.
F THERE is dramatic value which
Mr.. Sherwood overlooked in his
Hamlet-like portrait of Lincoln it
was not visible to the eyes of a great
many persons who were alert enough
to detect, yet grateful enough to for
get, those minor mishaps which so