Evening star., 1953-12-01

WA4lt VIC dOO4IOIO VI U11C I1C
Proposals" is a return to de-
cency in international rela-
tionS, an exploration of areas in
which Nations agree rather than
disagree, and an armiStice in
suspicion and threats.
With this idea and the spirit
behind it. no one short of a
Savage could cavil. But whether
the two blend into satisfactory
play is quite another matter. In
a climate that seems to demand
of the drama an order and vital
ity that exist nowhere else. "The
Prescott Proposals" is elusive
and diffused as often as it is
eloquent and moving.
Patiently it could not ask a
more gracious spokeswoman
than Miss Cornell. She is the
Mrs. Prescott who makes the
proposals as the American rep
resentative to the United Ma
tions and no country, or play,
could have chosen more wisely
The fact remains that interna-
tional relations are chaotic and
the effort to bring them within
the discipline of play form is
not workable either.
+ \ y \
AS a brave try. no less so on
the part of Miss Cornell than
that of the playWrightS. '"The
Prescott Proposals. is not with
out flashes of fascination.
The play attempts to cut away
the excesses of contemporary
politics to get down to the hu-
man beings who work in the
seething center Of controversy.
the United Nations. In the
hearts of these, the playwrights
suggest, the seed of hope might
be found
Accordingly, the representa-
tives of five major (if not
"greatO powers are involved in
q very human situation. The rep
resentative of one of these.
Czechoslovakia, dies of a heart
attack in the apartment of Mrs.
Prescott. This is a circumstance,
satellites and Russians being
what they are, that is fraught
with the direst of political con-
sequences. Nor are these all.
There is also the possibility that
It will become known that Mrs.
Prescott and the dead man were
youthful lovers back in the in
nocent pre-totalitarian days. The
publicity potential in this OBJ
-viously could scuttle the Pre-
scott proposals faster than Rus
sia could veto them.
In manipulating the tricky
political and personal stands of
their narrative. the Messrs. Lind
say and Grouse practice the de-
cency they preach. Their pity
for tragically involved and tor,
tured humans extends even to
the representatives of the Iron
Curtain countries. No matter
how difficult it may have been
Tor such gifted satirists to avoid
the temptation, their Russian
and Czech characters are not
comic caricatures.
:. These provide the play with
Its highest comedy touches but
the latter are untinged with
malice Indeed. they are real
tFagi-comic victims of the poll
tical primitivism against which
the play protests.
* x x
An interesting facet of "The
Prescott Proposals" is that Miss |
Cornell as its star plays a
character whose political stature |
is greater than her personal one. |
Her romance with a renowned |
radio commentator. running con-
currently with her U. N. work. |
is dramatically subordinate to it.
THAT this is so teStifies to the
integrity of the play at the Ma
tional, which for all its repeti-
tive aspects, is best in its U. N.
committee meeting scenes Here
with compulsive realism, the au-
dience is given a glimpse of hui
manity'S small, human repre-
sentatives at grips with the grue-
some politics of the cold war.
1t is an evocation of a dra-
matte atmosphere which provides
a sometimes too huge frame for
Miss Cornell's portrait of vi
brant, wise and warm woman
whose central faith is that hu- |
mans cannot be dehumapiZed.
Helping her to fill it are numer- /
Gus others selected with Director |
LindSay's unfailing taste. Among !
these are Felix Aylmer' as an |
English ambassador who has an I
urbane skepticism about the
human race; Ben Astar as a
Russian U. N. mission head !
whose honicidal diplomacy is !