Evening star., 1943-09-12
So Into the Twilight
Bp Jay Gar,n ody

II the present trend in the art
Of play writing continues. 1t Is not
inconceivable that a course In the
science Of obstetrics win have to
-lbe added to college drama courses.
Clearly, today's dramatists have told
themselves, and are telling the pub
lie with varying degrees OF success.
that childbirth Is dramatic thing. /
It Is not In the old hackneyed sense
they are speaking, the one In which
the tottering marriage Is saved by
the advent Of helpless, new life.
That one had Its day, 80 long : one.
that even the playwright became
bored with 1t. The current attitude
Is that childbirth Is comedy stlb-
ject, . thing to be treated with lev-s
ity II 1t is to be contemplated at all.
But even the license Of the author
Of comedy does not justify an igno-
rance Of the rudiments Of his SUBJ.
ject, hence the not improbable reed
Of. = general course In the sciences
Of obstetrics.
The fascination Of the dramatist
with the subject was emphasized
anew Ut the National last week in
Elmer Rice's IA New Life" Mr..
Rice Is = significant playwright and
the Playwright's Company, which
produces his dramatic literature, Is
even more significant. II they are
going to add their joint weight to
giving the theme standing, heaven
knows where 1t all Will end. It.
might even grow to . stature. that
reviewers, stealing the terse lingo
Of birth notice reporters, will dash
of their findings in . sentence
such as:
Born to John Golden, three-act
comedy at the National.
Wards Of Playwrights.
That would be q pleasant escape,
indeed, for in writing for family
| journals, critics lack the freedom Of
speech which is given to playwrights
when they deal with subjects Of
such delicacy or indelicacy.
Mr.. Rice's play, laid daringly in
a maternity hospital, is the third
Of recent cycle dealing with the
subject. The first was Mr.. Golden's
'Three's 4 Family" which earlier
had been titled such things as
Three -Cornered Pants" and "The
Home Front" under which 1t played
here last spring. After that, just
a week ago, came THE Shark Is q
Boojum." = stillborn sort of thing
from the pen Of Owen Davis.
Three Of anything makes trend
| in the theater and this trend hap
pens To be one nicely calculated to
create CONSERVATION among those
who review plays for living.
Why CONSERVATION?
To answer that in terms of Mr.
Rices play, the one most intimately
concerned with the science Of OBJ
stetrics, the reviewer Is at COM
plete loss to estimate the authen-
ticity Of such scenes as that laid in
what is called in the program "the
twilight room"
1t is very arresting scene, Of
course, from which one gathers
that the dialogue which goes on
there is a perfect blending Of the
painful and the hilarious. Miss
Betty Field, who plays 1t on a
sepulche-ally darkened stage, does
1t superbly so far as one can esti-
mate her work. But Is 1t typical
talk? Does Mr.. Rice, who became
father about = year ago, have
experience beyond that of average
/ mem in the dialogue OF such clois-
tered sprecincts? Is he reporting
faithfully what he knows. or what
he has heard of such moments in
the livess of those who haye
fingered in twilight rooms? ss t)fuo
The Matrons Protest.
This reviewer-who once waited
/ through rs tired cigarettes from a
tired delicatessen near such a
hospital-thought he had nicely
evaded any possible condemnation
i by writing around the scene and
its relation to accuracy. He still
thinks so, but that is more than do
several feminine readers who ap-
parently know more about it.
Dutifully, and disconcertingly, they
called to comment on the play and
the review that women don't talk
like that"
To the defense that Mr.. Rice was
well within his dramatists license
in saying they did, they just said
BAIL" politely and hung UP.
That sort of thing leaves the
commentator on spot. 81. +,
He would not mind that so much,