Evening star., 1942-09-13

has long been a favorite:
with the eminent George Jean
Nathan and he has implored Broad
way producers to put it in produc-
ton.
Now Mr.. Nathan is a man of firm
and fixed opinion. He is generally
supposed to be an iconoclast. lone
wolf, the enemy of accepted opinion,
hereto. In expressing his ludg-
ments he uses no velvet dagger or
mild anesthetic. He bludgeons.
Frequently when he has seen what
he describes as dramatic balder-
dash, Mr.. Nathan poses the ques-
ton, why don't they produce Gill
bert K Chesterton's 'Magic'?"
This is the answer to his pleading
1t is doubly interesting because the
charming blond actress, Julie Hay
don, who will play the lead, has
many times been Mr.. Nathan's seat
companion at New York's first
nights. Accordingly, if Producer
Eddie Bowling doesn't get one good
notice when his latest enterprise
moves on Broadway it will be sur
prising. From here it appears as
though Mr.. Dowling has thrown two
fast strikes that cut the heart of
the plate.
Evening of Culture.
From the preliminary bulletins
one may expect an evening of
cultural content. and, one hopes,
some fine acting. Leo Freedman,
who heralds the coming of the
Bowling Hayden players, calls the
companion piece to the Chesterton
opus, William Saroyan's Hello, Out
There" the finest American short
play. Sounds as though Mr.. Sa-
royan, who is no shrinking violet,
might have provided the descrip-
tive.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, author
of Magic" was a man with a coat
of many colors. There are many
who know him chiefly as poet.
There are thousands who respect
him as the writer of some of the
best detective fiction published in
the English language. There is
another audience, a literary audi
ence, who know G. K. Chesterton
as the author of some of the finest
biography published since the turn
of the century. His studies of Rob-
ert Browning, Charles Dickens and
the Victorian age in literature are
among the outstanding volumes in
their field.
There is another Chesterton--the
polemic journalist with a trenchant
wit which made short work of his
opponents. He was an engaging
fellow, but even his friends admitted
that he was "lovable as a person
ality and deadly as an antagonist"
Manipulation of Words.
His ability to use words with more
deadly effect than a rapier made
him leader in whatever cause hi
| championed. 1t was said of hin
that there was never a cause lost
that had Chesterton at its head.
The master of paradox" a title
which was conferred on him early
in his career, took delight in con-
founding the conventional uncon-
ventionally. 1t was a quality which
amazed and delighted America wher
he came here in 1921, and led to his
return in 1880 and again in 1881
when he lectured throughout tht
country and conducted a course al
the University of Notre Dame.
Magic" is one of the two plays
that engaged his assorted talents
1t was produced back in 1917 or
Broadway; since has been neglected
by the commercial-minded theater
Father Gilbert K. Hartke busted il
off at Catholic University some few
weeks ago and had his collegiate!
test their wings with its psychological
message.
A Play About Faith.
Magic" is play about faith
The trick that may be explained b,
mirrors or wires, Chesterton pro
poses, is termed magic" But wha
about the trick that cannot be ex
planned? Is that magic or is it
miracle? Using this idea as {
springboard, he introduces us to al
English family with Irish connec
tions, one of whom lately has re
turned from America The youn
lad believes that everything can b
rationalized. There is no trick, h