Evening star., 1955-11-08

She Is at 1t again in -
playwright, Carolyn Green, '
Theater q center Of mirth for
the next fortnight.
The quick Judgment of it all
is that dalliance has not been
so amusing around the Ma
tional's sedate premises since
Miss SULLIVAN indulged 1t in
THE Voice of the Turtle" /" Now
this is not to imply that Janus.
is the same highly polished sort
Of arnorous adventure as John
Van Druten's comedy. It does.
however. have the same theme
and the same star whose gentle
glow can set on such innocently
surprising explosions involving
Robert Preston and Claude
Dauphin.
In producing Miss Green's
play, which should make her the
talk of Scranton where she lives,
and make Scranton the talk of
Sardi's, Alfred De Liagre. jr.
is exercising q sound judg-
nent. His play win win no
prizes, indeed might not even
earn its author passing grade.
in q stiff playwriting course. but
1t inspires laughter in great
rocking gusts.
Whatever she lacks, Miss Green
can devise boisterously absurd
situations and write the happy
dialogue accompaniment. AS for,
the former, the best Of them In
Janus Is one which involves
the Internal Revenue Bureau in
Miss Sullavanss affair, INFINITELY
more to its embarrassment than
hers.
Any attractive woman who
can bring this agency to its
knees is the heroine for which
the country has been waiting.
Miss SULLIVAN Is she.
Ak
Janus bears q resemblance
to q great many plays. as one
adultery almost invariably does
to another. II is not precisely
the same as any Of these. how
ever, in that it provides glintsI
Of immediate reality that are
ridiculous when YOU. or Miss
Green, come right down to them.
To be specific, Miss Sullavan's
heroine is q type theatergoersI
have every right to meet at long
last. She is the female half Of
Q writing team that produces
historical novels with the con-
viction that history Is made In
bed.
Her collaboration. with whom
she spends the summers In e.
washington Square apartment
is q scholarly poetic type who
needs an attra active. lively
woman to bring out the most
astonishing in him. Such as. for
instance, finding himself Cos
author, under their joint PEN
name Of Janus. OF Book-of- the
Month selection.
All this is happening when the
heroine's real husband. q Ship
ping tycoon from Seattle, drops
in on the washington Square
menage to spoil the writing pairs
seventh, and most promising,
summer. Every sinner especially
and really anyone who has ever
read q popular novel. has q sound
enough working knowledge Of
how this would eventuake.
The difference here is that
Miss Sullavan's author. q good
wife and Den-Mother back In.
Seattle, Is b woman with q truly
devastating lack Of logic. Acting
on d conviction that he Is merely
one more "unfaithful faithful"
wife and paran1our. she assumes
such command Of the situation
that her real husband Is likely TO
60 to Jail for her unpaid In
come taxes.
4&b
Reginald Denhan in his direc-
tiun Of Janus has made no ef-
fort to conceal the fact that the
comedy at hand Is thin and Mt
fully written. ne has gone forth-
rightly about the task Of filling
the gaps as best an experienced
hand at this sort Of thing might,
including such an unabashed
eirnmick as having the pretty
authors collaboration come and
60 BY the dumb-Waiter.
The two also indulge routine
called suitcase driil and treating
their fantastic earnings as so
much chaff to be tossed into