The Wilmington morning star., 1940-10-28
Man About
Manhattan
BY GEORGE TUCKER

NEW YORK, Oct. 27.-Two
years ago a play called Family
Portrait came to Broadway, Fl
nancially, it wasn't very success
full. This was a great pity. In many
ways it was the most distinguished
drama we have had in a long time.
The idea back of Family Por-
trait was to present Jesus as He
appeared through the eyes of His
own family. You never saw Jesus
himself. You saw only His mother
Mary, and His brothers, James,
Joseph, Simon, Judah, and their
wives, You saw His little nephew
who sometimes wonderingly' in
CURED What has Uncle Jesus
done now?" You saw the family,
and the friends of the family, and
those people who ere His friends
until they turned against Him.
One of this plays finest scenes
took place in a distant inn, where
Mary had gone because she knew
Jesus had taken a room there. She
hadn't seen Him in a long time.
Jesus was always going off on His
preaching expeditions, and H
brothers were furious. Usually He
left them with all the work to do.
At this inn she met up with a
strange young man who said, yes,
he knew Jesus quite well. When
he spoke of Jesus a sort Of fire
came into his eyes. For me-" he
said, HE is the beginning and
the end. I would die for Him"
Just then three of Jesus broth
ers come in. Mary is anxious to
introduce them to this young man
who speaks so f~ervently and elo-
quently of Jesus. She attempts to
make this introduc lion, but pauses
helplessly, realizing sh doesn't
know his name. Taking his cue
the young man gets to his feet
and bows. Judas. I am Judas Is
CARROT" he says.
Here was a situation that drip
ped with dramatic interest. I was
thinking of that scene last night
as I watched a scene in another
play, based on an incident in the
life of Jesus.
in no way are these dramas
similar. Journey to jerusalem"
is the story of a Journey Jesus
made to Jerusalem with His fam
lily when He was only IL years old.
The idea of the journey was to
the Passover. 1t was on
this journey that this 12-year-old
boy came into the reali7 ion that
he was to be the Messiah.
There is n scene in this play
that deals with the awful meta
morphosis that takes place in His
mind when He realizes that His
is to be no triumphal procession,
no shining armor, no crown OF
gems. The picture is one of a tor
mented little boy whose childish
fancies have been crushed a n d
who realizes that He is to be sac
rificei, that He is to be misunder-
stood and reviled, and that in
stead of the glorious death His is
to be an ignoble one
1t seems to me that this is one
of the really superior moments of
the theater. Such moments alone
may justify a production. I do not
know how successful, or vice YER
sa, this play by Maxwell Ander-
son will be. Unfortunately, many
shy away from a play that
has a b significance. 1t
seems to me that in doing so these
unconsciously confess to
imaginations.
This play has no doth thous
and thees". 1t is colloquial. 1t
draws perhaps a fine parallel be-
tween the intolerance of 1000
years ago and the same sort of in
clearance and its implications of
Journey to Jerusalem" is no
Ho, Silver for action. 1t is, Il
a magnificent excursion
into the realm of sober reflection.