Evening star., 1961-06-07

o street playhouse to launch a
type theater. His name is Lo
Cry of the Raindrop," a wor
ported to hold in high esteem.
Failing to see eye-to-eye with
Mr.. Saroyan is no new Sensa-
ton, so once more won't matter.
1t is easy to see, though, why
"Cry Of the Raindrop" would
appeal to him. There is much
about it that is Saroyanesque.
There is some imagination in
1t, there is some poetry and
there are fleeting moments of
revelation in affecting drama.
1t also is an untidy play. In
this production directed by
Robert Paschall. at any rate,
it can't seem to make up its
mind. One moment it is sheer
fantasy, the next it is utter
realism. This sort of thing
tends to make skittiSh play
goers uneasy and it plays hob
with rapport between play
wright and audience.
=
There also is some murkiness
obscuring the message of "Cry
Of the Raindrop" and this is
the sort of play that has to
have a message or there's no
excuse at all. Mr.. Chapman
may be saying something about
the plight of the non-conform-
list, the plight of man in his
environment or the plight of
humans unable to communicate
with other humans.
There's plight here. anyhow.
But it never becomes clear
whether the playwright is for
or against anarchy and he fails
to communicate his thoughts
on the failure of communica-
tion. Maybe this is just a play
about the plight of Oklahomans
who have to breathe too much
dust.
That's what the inhabitants
Of "Cry Of the Raindrop" COM
plain most about-at least un-
til the central figure appears.
Then they complain about
MIN and the dust. He is a
young fellow fresh from reform
school and prison who con-
tends that consorting with
loose women and honky tonk
piano players and stealing
automobiles is an honorable
way Of life just so long as he
enjoys it.
He takes a turtle out of his
pocket and tells a 16-year-old
Oklahoma innocent that he is
that turtle and Saroyan must
have been bowled over right
there. Anyhow, this carefree
visitor turns the young girls
head with fancy talk of such
things as the secrets of the
wind and what's over the hill.
His sister-in-law protests at
all this nonsense, which is
keeping the girl from her
piano lessons. So he turns his
attention to his sister-in-law
and this time draws a protest
from his brother, who catches
him in the act of ripping her
blouse while making a clumsy
pass. The plight of the non
conformist is indeed a sad one.
The Chapman play is not
helped a great deal in the
Washington Theater Club pro-
duction by playing that is de-
cidedly uneven. Each of the
four cast members operates at
his or her own private level
of intensity and rarely do any
two of them meet at the same
dramatic pitch.
Lou Antonio does a splendid
job of bringing the visiting
rakehell to life, all right. 1t is
a performance with some emo
tional range that gives the
character dimension and plaus-
ibility. Jenny Hecht is affect
ing, too, as the young girl who
discovers excitement with full
teen-age intensity. She often
does meet Mr.. Antonio at his
level.
If the above report seems a
somewhat dim view, let it be
read simply as a warning that
Mr.. Chapman's Cry of the
Raindrop" is not for general
consumption. If you've devel-
oped a special taste for the
theatrically off-beat and if you
enjoy seeing a new playwright
earn an A for effort, you'll find
this an interesting affair. And
you will hear one of the great
est conformation lines in the
history of theatrical dialogue.
1t is spoken when the carefree
vagabond rips away part of his
SiSter-ir-lau,s hlnnse at the