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THOTOPLAYS BOOKS BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE PUZZLES RADIO JOHN ERSKINE RESORTS NEW YORK CITY, SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1933 B-C 7 September's First Week Brings to Broadway Vanguard of New Season's Playsl THEATERS MUSIC Problems of the Modern Playwright I AVTl MVS srOTLH.IIT Plays and Things By WILLIAM WEER- Ashley Dukes, in the Current Tssm Case of the Present Day of the Theater Arts Monthly, Takes Up Dramatist, Clarify ini His Ohjec- Left: Ara (-erald, fea- lured with Herbert Riiir-linnttn in a new play entitled "Rarket't it hit arrive fornorrmti I fretting at the lmiir-j turd Theater in Jackton Heightt. I Helotc: Minnie Dnpree, H'in if prominently east in "The trhieh tt ill hat if ftrixiiiirnv premiere on If ed nesday evening at the Theater. C.ort A Practically Disinterested Bystander at the Drama Unburdens Himself of Some Valuable Opinions on the Relationship Between Critic and Producer LOOK at me, ladies and gentlemen look at me! Do I seem like an aged gentleman suffering from indigestion, epilepsy and a cold heart? Like one who had become soured on life and bitter about It, a mixture of tastes which, no doubt, it would be hard to duplicate in nature? You know that I don't, ladies and gentlemen. You know that, as a matter of fact, I am of the sanguine, buoyant, optimistic temperament, and nobody is more certain than your obedient servant that, the very next piece, for the paper will be "the biggest story in the world." And yet I have been to see a Their Alt emlinfr Probl the author of "At Mrs. bolder perhaps because he is neither a professional critic of the stage nor oven a full-time professional playwright.

Speaking of the world imagined by the dramatist and put before the spectator, he calls it a world of "meaning without personal and he wishes Ins play to induce a certain nscious mood of mental and emo- tional response, Instead of the pas sive or hypnotic state in which hup penings on the stage become a part personal experience. Most of us would subscribe to this simple but profound statement of the writer's aim. But the wirld of "meaning without personal consequences" shapes itself first of all in an individual mind, whose outlook and approach must essentially be Impersonal. The dramatist himself is the first inter preter of this world, his spectator' only the second. And should the dramatist feel the personal oppres sion of events that for any reason at any moment become too strong 1 lor him, the doubus and tears that i exist in his mind will be doubled in ours when we come to see his play.

That Is surely what is happening to fl Njy "on. nevertheless say that say rri Vw.r:? heard about the critical tribe, whether permanent or temporary, would make your blood boil. i 1 I I 'I I s- 1 uie ran oi luuay as ne uim-ji prii aU t)le ingenuity nf tlli hand. He Is passing through two pipre of numalj distinct crises which may be called naturCi lts from on, artistic and political. Artistically he: onlytllat js bfaut of CQn uncertain of the direction to be in the character of thi taken by the theater, of whose stage! servant-girl whose agenrt he has so long been the actual ultimately the tale is told.

Thii steersman. Politically (If I may use cni(lf personage makes her modest the word in Its widest sense) he with th. a bad lilay is bad for the theater's own protection. One need not point out that a rave over a bit of moronic theater will not keep a play oing more than a few days and that unless a critic says thumbs down when the thumbs should i-irn that way, he will not be belisved when he turns them up for a good play when and if that comes along. But its is necessary, or at least desirable, to pose a complicated question to the boys of the theater.

It is this: Assuming that critics do make mistakes and that they are at times harsher than they should be. (That isn't true, you know. They cry "Bravo!" far oftener when they shouldn't than they emit unearned hisses.) And Assuming that they are at times obstinate when a kind word would save a tottering play. And Leaving out altogether the pertinent ooint that the critic's obligation not to help the producer, but to tell his readers what has been produced, WHY is it that producers so often waste time, money and reputation on so many theatrical pieces that anybody ought to know nobody but blood elutives of the author and star actor will want to see? The Producer Loses I throw out that question with no hone of an adequate reply. It Is obviously an unanswerable ques- tion.

When a critic goes wrong in 'MURDER AT Critics, it seems, are a surly lot, though powerful. They could so easily, by raising a ringer, or at least by raising one finger of each hand and lowering them upon the proper typewriter keys, do so much good in the world and they refuse. They CoTiUirBm 'Don't" It Is their innate cussedness that keeps them from it, their inexplicable and vicious evil nature. They could so easily sit down, after viewing a new play, and write that it is a delightful, humorous, superior piece, a classic, if you wish, or at least something the like of which was never seen before. They could do that and it would help the theater business.

It would bring people in droves to enjoy the culture and the uplifting influence of the legitimate stage. It would make producers sleep well o' nights. And instead, they don't. They are that low. That's the story, believe It or not, that you will hear from almost any producer, actor, playwright or theater press agent and possibly the qualifying "almost" should be omitted.

From doorman to Eugene O'Neill the people of the theatei hold to the faith that their natural foe Is the critic, a dreaded and dangerous species which it would be well to spray with arsenate of lead or plow under, under the NRA. 'Racket's End' lias Premiere 1 Hie Boulevard Theater the ems chaotic world may well stand peH plexed. Actually the dramatist sits at window, plot in head and pen nl hand, well aware that everything he writes must bear the impressioa of the times. When he hits upo4 a good domestic piece like "Th Late Christopher Bean" (to take a4 example the most successful plajt of the Loudon season) tt shapes tt? self inwardly in new forms though outwardly the contour is familiar enough. This modern three-ac play viilh a handful of character! and the same scene throughout with a plot rich in movement and suspense, with lines rich in the wii of situation rather than in verbal style the best type in a word ol theater material as the last gen.

oration has understood It Is trans? formed from within very much a it was transformed bv Trhekov at the beginning of this century, lit art consists in the avoidance ol scenes as much as in the makinf oi mem; certainly one never ha the feeling, so irksome to all our present sensibilities, that "now th big scene is coming lieauliful CI iiiracler curtain has risen, and In a flasn we know that the people and all their values are to be tested by her standard of fineness. Nor can any thing matter that hapixms to her itl the course of the action. Nobody could even hurt her much, thougn they could hurt themselves bv trying conclusions with her. Sh scarcely lives at all in the present, but In a radiant memory of somi years ago. And this woman In lov with the late artist, over whose post.

numous paintings the rest of th characters are engaging in a greedy and unseemly scramble, matters so much In herself and so little In the world where she stands that we are almost shocked to learn eventually that she was the wife and legal helresj, of the man she adored. That sort of.perlpety or dramatic upset belongs to another sort of plav, and doubtless comes Into this one because the adaptor, having before him the original or that good boulevardlan, Rene FauchoLs dared not leave it out. This piece 'is very beautifully played ln London tn Evans, who finds the best of falls in Cedric Hardwicke; but If It proves to be lint-rat theater material that is partly because It has been refashioned bv a sensitive youiid writer (Emt.vn Williams) who is alive to the times. Incidentally disposes of the notion that adap- tatlons from the French cannot sue-cessfuly bo made In English, or that the dignity of the individual dramatist Is so Important that no adaptations should be made at all. In t.i way this is as good as the adaptations made by a Wycherley or a Mohere (not to say a Plautus or Menander).

I But our dramatist seated at his window hand may want to say something more positive about ttils present world than can be said through the indirect form of the domestic comedy. He may want to write his own modern version of the "social drama'' lor drama of social Indignation) that dominated of forty ypars aK' at tnB ui iu.N'n unosts and Hauptmann's This is a noble ambition, but his new form of social drama will have to be utterly different from the old. The class-war motive is no longer glamorous since It has become a matter of realist exMrlence in whole countries. The anti-war motive, which has been so strong among the Impulses of the last decade, may give place to the fear of creeping paralysis as civilization's danger. The feminist motive led to certain results, which have brought as much frustration as fruition In their train.

The order-motive, justifying some form of dictatorship, is likely to be as strong as any in the present-day social drama; and in any ca.se the reactionaries are entitled to their dramatic say. This propagandist Held Is not perhaps the happiest for the writer to choose, mote especially if he should be a disciple of last generation's prophrts. The reaction against Shaw is likely to be the strongest of all. and then it will be left to some future generation to discover what such a man did for his theater and his time. A form much in vogue and quite Ms Parents Thought Acting a Risk, Preferring Shoe Business ties The following thoughtful and interesting essay on the problems faced bv the modern playwright is Mr.

Ashley Dukes' contribution to the current September) issue of that idealistic periodical, the Theater Arts Monthly. OT many writers for the stage are willing to declare just what they want to do when thev take pen in hand. One bolder than the rest is C. K. Munro, bor and young Nolan went ashore, made inquiries regarding the theatrical sil nation in the vicinity and was soon a member of the Dennis Players at Cape Cod.

A few months later he arrived in New York as one of the principals of the "Cape Cod Follies." Lloyd Nolan liked New York and decided to stay around Broadway and sep what might come his way. He made the rounds of the producers' offices and soon many of them came to know the stalwart young actor from the Coast. He was given a Job by Jed Harris to play the role of Kruer. the lazy reporter in "The Front Page," when It went on tour. After this came a rolp with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in "Reunion In Vienna." However, nil these jobs meant little or nothing to the Nolan family back home In San Francisco.

Here they had a prosperous shoe business and Lloyd could have fitted In so nicely instead of struggling in a profession that was a bad risk both In business and society. This season, however, the Nolans have rhanged their minds and their attitude is more sympathetic toward the son in his chosen career. And why not? MISSKY Hindu ff iiiMflK, Tem intwgurulci a new iteaum healer A iysl tJ i and of is or in is at as to to by it a ff (I mrm' vm tnm mttt mmM I. imamj tainty of repeal actuate his decision. He realizes, however, that he cannot go far in law-abiding society.

Therefore, he decides to travel a middle course a path between the upper and the underworlds. He tries to travel alone and succeeds for time in severing the ties that bind him to his past. Then a woman from Park Ave. invades his solitary sphere. She.

too, is seeking escape from a racket an empty, purposeless life. The man tries to turn her aside, but before he can do it he has fallen in love with her. so he decides to take her with him. The society that she knows attempts to bring her back. The man, in self-defcnsn, is driven back across the line to the world he ha.s wanted to leave behind.

Surrounded by these two forces they attempt to fifiht their way through. The denouement is a surprise. The play Is In three arts and six scenes conceived by Yellentl. The cast is a large one and Includes, besides Rawlinson and Miss Gerald. George McKay, Joseph King, Mary Robinson, Edward Cole brook, Charles II.

Doyle, Leslie Urbach, Phil M. Shpridan, Edwin Jerome, Oliver S. Putnam, Paul Clare and Courtney White. A. W.

Peet staged the production. Matinees will be given on Wednesday and Saturday. Burlesque emus New Season II ere The burlesque season will be officially opened In Brooklyn tomorrow (Labor Day) when Billv Min-sky's Brooklyn Theater on I'iatbush Ave. Extension reopens at 10 a.m. The opening attraction is titled "Temptations of 1933" and in it a galaxy of burlesque's foremost comedians will appear in comedy sketches, song and dance offerings.

Hinda Wausau, petite singing ingenue, who has appeared in the Publix theaters throughout the Middle West, will be presented as an added attraction In songs and specialty dances. This marks her first appearance ffcider the Minsky banner in the East. Others who will be seen in this Jwo-act production are Peaches Strange, the White Sisters. George Broadhurst, Shorty McAlister. Harry K.

Fields, Buddy Abbott, Gloria Lee, June White, Eddie Green. Don Trent. Chat Gorham and Markham and Lelong, a colored comedy team. The new revue has been staged In a lavish manner with 18 elaborate settings, costume changes and lighting effects. A new policy will be inaugurated at Min.sky's tomorrow with thp presentation of two complete shows from 10 a.m.

to 5 p.m. The usual evening performance will be given at 8:30. Every Saturday at midnight double burlesque show will be offered with a cast of 100 players. The Week's nf the same time aware that the world disorder Is spiritual as well economic, and in the midst of Its violent action he is unwilling ofier hts gesture of dramatic thought We may as well remember that, such a gesture Is likely be rewarded in many countries a long term In a concentration camp; certain actions make philosophy for the moment futile because cannot be dispassionate. So 'he dramatist looks on at the world as before, but seeing confusion Is reduced to silence or stammering.

Seers and ('onimcnti'lnrs We have to distinguish here between the seer and the commentator. The serious drama for a generation past has been written very largely by commentators, who have explained everything In heaven and earth and explained It mostly wrong. They are still explaining the world disorder In their own way, starting from moral or economic premises that prove their own lightness. They have been so prominent that they have quite overshadowed the seers, whose right ness consists In vision rather than proof derived from argument. The dramatist as seer will hardly trouble to argue any more about the condition of the world.

That condition Is such that Russian writer today will accept none of our current ideas of the theater, and will look upon much of what we call art In general as a bourgeois superstition. His own conventions are as strange to us as the conventions of the Oriental stage; and Indeed we should not he astonished if the Russians look at us very much as we look at the Chinese, or It we both together look at the German In the same way before many years are past. Some of the confusion is due to changes In the constitution of society which will be generally accepted In the course of time; a great part of It is the outcome of Indiscriminate political movements of which no The1 one can predict the course man who should dramatize this CHARMER ptationn of whiih nl Minnkr i liroohhn iomurrom. i "WOUNQ LLOYD NOLAN, who nas maoe pooa as tne leaning actor in "One Sunday After the comedy of yesteryear now playing at the Forty-eighth Street Theater, received no encouragement from his parents when he announced his intention to take up acting as a career. They did not mind his activities as an amateur while he was a student at Iceland Stanford University, but as to his becoming a professional actor, neither his father nor his mother liked the idea.

His father thought an actor a bad risk in a business way, and his mother thought of actors as bud risks socially. The senior Nolan, who had established and developed his shoe business to the point where it was one the most solvent commercial firms In San Francisco, naturally wanted his son to enter the firm and carry on the shoe business. He pointed out to young Lloyd that acting, like prize fighting, Is only profitable when the practitioners of thasp professions reach the top of the ladder. John Barrymore and Jack Dempsey (argued Mr. Nolan, senior') earn a good deal of money, but the rank and file of the prize fighters have nothing but cauliflower ears and broken noses, and the average actor hardly earns enough to eat regularly.

And Mrs. Nolan wanted her son to carry on the dynasty of the Nolans by settling down and marrying one of the pretty debutantes who belonged to the Junior League and werp prominent In San Francisco society. The way to do all that was to enter father's shoe business and give up the idea of becoming a professional actor. But that was furthest from Lloyd Nolan's mind. He knew that he had ability to art.

and he did not mind going throuu-h the strugcle and privation which every artist encounters on his way to the ultimate success in his career. He left home and joined the merchant marine In order to ship on a boat which would take him East, to New York or Boston. The ship which carried Lloyd Nolan as one of its crew entered the Boston Har- Openings "Racket's End." a modern melodrama by William A. Lipman, will be the holiday production at the Boulevard Theater, Jackson Heights, where it begins a week's engagement tomorrow (Labor Day) evening. Herbert Rawlinson and Ara Gerald head the cast.

The new piece is a timely one, havine tn do with a man who marie a fortune out of prohibition and who attempts to leave the rackets hind and find a place for him- self In the new scheme of things, Tne return 0, beer and tbe ffr. THE AMITIES Ara Gerald Admits She Once Was Mary Where did Ara Gerald get her name' More than one person has asked that question of the leading woman of "Rackets End," the new melodrama which comes to the Boulevard Theater, Jackson Heights, tomorrow night. It happened like this: Fitzgerald was the family name, but the first syllable had been last in a mld-Western town because the electricians had no letters T. for the lights. It has been Gerald on the sign ever since.

But what about Ara? Could it be a blue-penciled Arabella, Sarah, Arajacuce. Arachne. Arad. Aragon or No, it was none of these. "Ara was an Armenian prince of ancient history known as 'Ara the Beautiful'," Miss Gerald explained, "History records that an Egyptian queen fell in love with the prince, but he spurned her.

She thereupon declared war upon the Armenians and won her man." "But what has that to do with you bring named Ara?" "Nothing. The Armenian Ara has no connection with me. My parents heard of the prince. I'm Australian. I was named Mary.1 George M.

Cohan got to writing, songs about it and it got too com-: mon. So out of my own head and for no reason at all I changed Mary to Ara Thats all there is to it." BEDFORD Today. "The Stran- ger's Monday and Tues- day, "Storm at Wed- nesday and Thursday. "The Narrow i Cornpr" and "Important Witness." BROADWAY Today, "The Stranier's Rturn; Monday and! Tuesday, "Midnicht Wed-! nesday and Thursday, "Stornj at Daybreak." I Beta I.ugoni in Earl Carroll't new mutirtil play, opening Friday at the Mew Amtterdam. Take 'The Blue Widow' Thus, let us take last week's bright and shining example of the latest thing in the offerings 01 Broadway.

It was called "The Blue Widow" and, after the opening performance Wednesday night, your temporary critic retired with a few choice souls, including one or two of the theater tribe, to imbibe seltzer-and-sodas. And under the mellowing influence of the occasion, one of the theater gentlemen he might have been a press agent opened his heart on the whole subject. "This play," he said. "I guess it won't get very far. I guess the critics will kill It." "What," I asked, for I can learn things from the theater myself "what do you mean!" "A nasty gang, the critics," he said.

"Their life as critics depends on the theater, but you would never tell it from their' reviews. A sneering, wisecracking gang. You should think they were all combinations of Shakespeare, Aeschylus and O'Neill with a bit of George a. Kaufman thrown in. You put on a show like 'The Blue Widow' and If they can they'll wisecrack it to death.

They don't care about the play. It's nothing to them that an author sweated blood over it, and a producer and a director worked their heads off on It, that good money was invested in it, that a cast rehearsed and rehearsed it. All that is nothing to them. Give 'em a wisecrack and they're off." ''Mmmmmmm," said your listening critic. "Why," asked the man of the theater, "can't they give us a break?" 'Only a Rave.

"What, for Instance, would be, in a case like the present, a break?" The man of the theater pondered and decided: "I guess only a rave would do us any good. But why can't they give us a rave?" Now a rave, one may say for the benefit of the uninitiated, Is a review that speaks with unrestrained enthusiasm of the production. For instance, let us say that Mr. Weer, returning to his typewriter, had written; 'The Blue produced for the first time last night, is a colossal, stupendous, magnificent and astounding work of art. At the same time it is wise, humorous and well written.

The acting by the entire cast, from Miss Queenie Smith down to the insolent maid who says 'Yes, in a tone Intended to convey worlds of un- snnlon mnral Hicannrntml Garrick, Joseph Jefferson. Sarah i Bernhardt and John Barrymore were never like that. 'The Blue Widow' will no doubt run for years, but our advice to the wise is to go to the Morosco Theater, or the nearest ticket agency, and get tickets right away; Those who fail will have to wait a long time before they can see the play of the century." The Oilii-'g Dilemma I If Mr W. had written that, he W'OUld have written a rave. But Mr.

W. didn't. You see, he couldn't. He couldn't because the play wasn't like that. It is not necessary, for the moment, to argue that it Ls for the pmd -vf th theater that th critic.

'ith no malice in his makeup and nothing gone wrong with his dijes- his Judgment, It Is of course of a sadness, but at least it isn't tragic for the critic. He gets a black mark on his record and maybe gets a low standing in the Variety box score, but otherwise he loses nothing. The producer who makes the wrong guess as I understand it, loses substantial thoasands of dollars, yet year after year the producers kep on producing absolutely childish stuff and these producers, by their own confession, are rar smarter men than the critics. Why In the name of common sense they do it? A 300 ars It Is a proofreader, I dare say who should be blamed for the colossal error in this corner last Sunday, when Mr. Weer's piece began "I wel.

remember the theater season of 1885." Mr. Weer originally wrote that he well re- the season of 1585 a imsical attempt to re-crente the season in comparison with the present, but the proof reader thougnt that was too long ago. As a matter of fact, Mr. Weer cannot remember the season of 1885. He was an old man then with a long, white beard and he can't remember a thing about It.

WARWICK Today. "Hold Your Monday and Tuesday. "Midnight Wednesday and Thursday. "Gambling Ship" and "Black Beauty." ORIENTAL Today anfl Monday. "The Stranger's Tuesday to Thursday.

"Storm at Daybreak" and "Mama Loves Papa." PALACE Today to Tuesday. Ho'd Your Wednesday and Tnursday, "Police Call" and "Sam- aranj." I i I I1- gi i 1 1 i Tomorrow "RACKET'S END," a melodrama by William R. Lipman, produced by Frank McCoy and Morris Green. Cast includes Ara Gerald, Herbert Rawlinson. George McKay, Joseph King, Mary Robinson, Edward Colebrook and others.

At the Boulevard Theater, Jackson Heights. "CRUCIBLE," a new drama presented by Rep Huban Plays, Inc. Cast Includes Genevieve Paul, Don Costello, Robert Capron, May Gerald, Edwin Redding. Annabelle Williams, Laurie McVicker and others. At the Forrest Theater.

Wednesday "THE SELLOUT," a comedy with Jane Seymour, Frank Dae, Minnie Dupree and others in the cast. At the Cort Theater. Friday "MURDER AT THE VANITIES." Earl Carroll's new musical play. At the New Amsterdam Theater. i understandably is that of the chrouicle play about some figure or figures who are near enough to our own time to be easily understood, while they are far enough away to serve as historical parallels.

Since "Abraham Lincoln" such plays have been many, and since "The Barretts of Wimpole 'street" they have culminated in a spate of dramatic writing about Victorian worthies and geniuses, notably 'he Bronte sisters. This is one form of dramatic adaptation, and it plenty of Elizabethan authority behind it. Still jt will be stenorallv admitted that Shakespeare's best plays were those about the unknown characters of history such as Hamlet and Macbeth and the Moor of Venice mot to say Falstalf) rather than about the known characters like Julius Cae Continued on Following Page.