Evening star., 1938-05-31


Is one Of the best ways Of looking a
think it too early to look ahead.
At the moment the air which those
interested in the Civic Theater breathe
is rife with speculation as to whether
or not F. Cowles Strickland will re-
turn in the fall to direct the group.
but the answer to that probably will
be known after the meeting of Civic
Theater members President Lee D..
Butler has called for tonight All we
have to say Is that Mr.. Strickland had
better return. Aside from any personal
feeling, and even If he were not
gentleman and scholar and all those
things, we still would insist that Mr.
Strickland has got what It takes to
put the Washington Civic Theater on
the map. W
You have but to talk to him to know
that. He has accomplished much this
first season in Washington, but it does
not take YOU long to learn the achieve
ment Of which he is proudest. This
is the spirit of unity he has developed
among the players Of the group, a
zeal for doing something for the Civic
Theater instead of for personal glory.
He is proud, too. of the fact that the
theater Is beginning to develop style
which is not d copy Of the Abbey
Players. nor the Theater Guild, nor
any one else, but is distinctively the
style Of the Washington Civic Thester.
The two combined qualities, care
fully nt1rtured and properly developed,
can build the local group into an
acting company whose reputation is
national instead Of merely local. This
business Of cooperation first was
noted back on the evening Of october
20, when during the second act Of
Excursion" 1t began to be quite evi-
dent that the boys and girls were play
Ing together. 1t probably was noted
more the next night. after Mr.. F.
(-Rake EN- Over the") Cowles Strick-
land let it be known the job at hand
was to present Excursion" and not to
stage contest in spotlight stealing.
and there the start was made. "Ex-
cursion" also brought to the attention
of the Civic Theater's followers the
fact that the group had director who
could reach into script and pull out
all the elusive qualities that were in it.
A FTER this beginning the group
came back in November to show
the getaway was not flash in the
pan, was definitely not a pace it
could not keep up. November saw
yellow jack" warm and vital play,
brought to Washington with its
warmth and vitality not only unin-
paired but elaborated by another
group concentrating together on a
drama instead Of concentrating sepa-s
rately upon various roles. Next was
the fantasy, Andre Obey's Noah"
this directed by Charles Dillon. 1t
was more OF a pageant than q play,
but still 1t was brilliant spectacle
and still 1t was marked by that same
Civic Theater style. already. taking
definite form.
Then In January came "The Distaff
Side" real test for the group and
its director, but together they con-
triyed to extract. q lot Of meat and
considerable action from play which
had q tendency just to sit before the
fire and talk things over. February
brought q breathing spell in the sea-
son, light and daffy frivolity which
we would prefer to forget, albeit those
who saw it report that George and
Margaret" was a lot Of fun. This one
was notable for proving to any one
interested that Mr.. Strickland could
act as well as tell other people how
to act and for proving in another
case that Robert Taylor in Camille"
was not the worst actor in the world.
The breathing spell came in just
the right place, too, for the next
month Mr.. Strickland and his cast
found themselves involved in some-
thing really extensive. This, Of
course, was Paul Green's Johnny
Johnson" which we still feel was the
high point of this jlst-completed sea-.
son. Here there were few big roles,
but opening night (and subsequent
nights OF the rum found players who
heretofore would have summed walk
ons out there doing their various bits
for all they were worth that the Civic
Tteater might win further honors.
Finally. month, just because he
does not like to stand still, feeling that
is going backward. Mr.. Strickland
undertook the complexities OF the
living Newspaper for the first time,
staging .. one-third of a nation
-. :" We still do not agree that "
one-third Of . nation :" was q wise
choice for presentation in Washing
ton. but that has not kept US from
finding II . rousing and exciting show
and definite triumph In production
for Mr.. Strickland.
That's cutie = record for . season
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