Evening star., 1947-12-07
By Joy Cormody
Drama Editor of The Star


Drama Editor OF The Star
playwright nor the offended public
to forget. 1t is this that makes Mr.
Nathan good reading and always
good for the theater.
An equivalenny continuous inter
est attaches to the works of a few
others among writer's on the drama.
One OF the great chairside books of
every one identified with the theater
1or great many years has been
Barrett Clarks European Theories
OF the Drama" 1t Is one Of the few
exciting encyclopedias in any field,
the sort of indispe ensable book to
everyman's education in the theater.
An Encyclopedia
OF the Drama
The news of European Theories
or the Drama" and news it is, is
that it has been revised. Where
once 1t ran from Aristotle to Shaw,
IL now Is expanded to include Max
well Anderson. John Mason Brown.
Eugene O'Neill and several other
Americans. Their theories of the
drama, not all of which are sound
perhaps, are nevertheless quite read
able and make Clarks book a bet
ter one
Another persistent claimant to
place on the drama book shelf is
burns Nantes Best Plays" of the
year. MIR. Mantle retired some years
ago from the arduous task OF daily
drama criticism, but he continues
with his major project as historian
OF the theater. He remains a spir-
lted analyst of the drama, quite
Wlulng now as in the more energetic
days OF his youth, to disagree with
his colleagues on the merit of the
drama. When, as this season, he
hnds 1t necessary to include among
his best plays one which closed the
first or second Saturday night, he
chooses it. Such a play is Mary
Suratt," mere wisp for endurance
OF run on Broadway. But there it
is among such other and vigorously
successful (at the box ofice) bests
as Joan of Lorraine" AL MY
Sons" "Brigadoon," Another Part
OF the Forest" and The Iceman
Cometh"
1t is in the nature of the senti-
mental heart which the drama
seems always ready to oppose to
the coldly gifted mind that the
theater library of any year shall
be filled with books of sweet memory.
The mood of revery and reminiscence
is never far from any articulate
human in show business. After
years OF smoothing his anecdotes in
endless tete-a-tete, he Is as likely
as not to retire for while and turn
them into a book.
Kindly Books That
Are Wise and Piquant
These are kindly books, and some
times wise ones as well as piQuant
ones such as this years These
Things Are Nine" by George Mid
dleton; Lady Gregory's Letters by
Lenox Robinson, or Letters of
James M. Barrie The people of the
theater are great letter writer's, and
not, as many a cynic has observed,
when they can't find a ready listen
er. by Heaven, they'll write" They
may lack the majesty of such auto
biogra phical volume as Sean
O'Casey's Drums Under the Win
dow" a brilliant addition to last
years list OF books, but they each
have their lesser appeal. After all,
the species production of O'Caseys
and Shaws is spectacularly limited.
Studious books, which categorize
drably, in year-end surveys, fall
always from the printing presses
An excellent one of these is Edith
j. R. Isaacs' THE Negro in the
American Theater," a properly ad-
miring and affectionate treatment
of a fascinating theme.
Another piquant contribution is