The Daily Worker Newspaper, February 19, 1927, Page 12

“In Abraham’s Bosom,” With Soft Surface, Falls Short of Greatness. AUL Green’s first long play, pre- sented by the Provincetown Play- house, under the direction of Jasper Deeter, at the Garrick Theatre, doesn’t quite arrive. It has two great scenes, but it drops into polemic, lifts orations from Booker T. Washing- ton’s “Up From Slavery,” and steals its climax from “Emperor Jones.” Reviewed by HARBOR ALLEN. | \ Still, “In Abraham’s Bosom” has its virtues. It deals with real Ne- groes. It has a feeling for their lan- guage, en understanding for their as- pirations—even if somewhat conde- scending, and”an apologetic affection for their masters. In the hands of an experienced playwright this stuff might have been whipped into a rugged, fierce, enduring play: For his job Paul Green is yet too soft. In my opinion Barrett H. Clark is all off when he says: “Paul Green never poetizes his characters; ‘he is about as sentimental as Hardy.” Never poetizes? He fairly swaddles them in poetry. Their ruggedness is drapped in words, He caresses their speeches. He lets them stray into lng prayers ard longer sermons. He dvtes on their localisms. You can almest see him stand aside, mutter- ing: “There, isnt that quaint?” At bettom his material is simple, ele- mentary, strong. But the surface sags. And for all his sympathy, I sus-} pect that Paul Green is at bottom a professional Southerner. Enlight- ened, of course—‘the new Southern~- er’—but professional none the less. Sure, the Negro is musical. Sure, he needs education. Sure, he is op- pressed. Give-him a bath, teach him to read, to plow his land, to shovel coal, But keep him in his place. The white man belongs on top. “I do not say we are equal to the whites,” cries Abraham before his fall, “we are not ready for that yet.” This is no Ne- gro speaking. This is Paul Green of North Carolina, Yet Paul Green has the makings of a great playwright. His -people are simple. His action is unclzttéred, di- rect. He discards “plots.” He makes no compromise with the allgebraic formulas “which equal drama. But he has yet to learn that words are. knives, not baby-ribbons, And before he can write a great Ne- gro play, he has yet to become some- thing les of a professional South- erner. BROADWAY BRIEFS At the Bronx Opera House, Mon- day evening, Brock Pemberton will present “Loose Ankles,” the Sam Janney comedy, recently seen at the Biltmore. The cast includes Ellen Dorr, Reed Brown, Jr., Charles D. Brown, Frank Lyon, Joseph Bell, Carlotta Irwin, Clifford Dempsey, Ethel Martin, Lavinia Shannon, Jeanne De Me and Maxwell Sholes. Louis Mann and Clara Lipman in “The Woman in the House,” will come to the Bronx Opera House, Feb. 28, prior to the Broadway showing. a Frank Craven will be featured in his newest comedy, “Money from Home,” which comes to the Fulton Theatre Monday evening, February 28. Others in the company will be Roberta Arnold, Leo Donnelly, Fred Graham, Camilla Dalberg, Adora An- drews, John Ravold and John Diggs, William M. Crimans has joined the cast of “Lady Alone,” at the Forrest. pA Hilda Spong will play in “The Ad- venturer,” in which Lionel Atwill is! to be starred. rf Broadway | MAYO METHOT Will play the leading feminine role in “What Anne Brought Home,” Larry E. Johnson’s new comedy, which opens Monday night at Wal- lack’s Theatre. L. Lawrence Weber’s next produc- tion, “Romanein’ Around,” by Con- rad Westervelt, will have Lillian Fos- ter as the featured player. Josephine’ Hutchinson, who plays one of the chief roles in “Cradle Song,” undertakes an important part in Susan Glaspell’s “Inheritors,” which the Civic Repertory Theatre will present. on March 7 at the 14th Street Playhouse. Agnes Lumbard, Romney Brent, Bernard Gottlieb and Isobel Stahl are rehearsing under the direction of Harry Wagstaff Gribble for impor- tant roles in “Loud Speaker,” by John Howard Lawson, which the New Playwrights Theatre will present at the 52nd Street Theatre, March 2. x METROPOLITAN OPERA “The King’s Henchman” will have its second performance Monday eve- ning with Easton, Alcock, Johnson and Tibbett, “Tl Trovatore” will be given as a holiday matinee on Tuesday, sung by Peralta, Branzell and Martinelli, Bas- iola. Other operas of the week: “Pellans et Melisande,” Wednesday evening, with Bori, Howard and Johnson, Whitehill. “Rheingold,” Thursday afternoon, with Larsen-Todsen, Mueller, Kirch- hoff, Bohnen. “Boheme,” Thursday evening, with Alda, Guilford and Chamlee, Scotti. “Andrea Chenier,” Friday evening, with Easten, Bourskaya and Martin- elli, DeLuca, “The Bartered Bride,” Saturday matinee, with Mueller, Telva and Laubenthal, Bohnen, ~ “Rigoletto,” Saturday night, with Talley, Alcock and Chamlee, DeLuca. NEW YORK SYMPHONY The New York Symphony Orches- tra, under Otto Klemperer, will give a concert tomorrow afternoon in Mecca Auditorium, with Alexander Brailowsky as soloist, who will play Liszt's Concerto in E-flat. The other numbers on the program are Beeth- oven’s Symphony No. 7, in A, and Gluck’s Overture to “Iphigenia in Aulis.” Thursday afternoon in Carnegie Cen SVUCLY —— a ae CIVIC REPERTORY CORNER 6 AVE. AND 14 ST, TELEPHONE WATKINS 7767, MATINEES WED. AND SAT. PRICES 50c, $1.10, $1.65. EVA LeGALLIENNE WEEK OF FED, 21 i Sat. Mat., Feb. 19...“Pwelfth Night” Sat. Eve., Feb. 19..... “Cradle Song” Mo®. Eve., Feb. 21..“Master Builder” Tues. Mat., Feb. 22..“Master Builder” Tues. Eve., Feb: 22....“Cradle Song” Wed. Mat., Feb. .. “Cradle Song” Wed. Eve., Feb. 23 La Locandiera” Thur. Eve., Feb. 24...“Three Sisters” Wri. Eve., Feb, 25....“Cradle Song” Sat. Mat, Feb. 26....“Cradle Song” Sat. Eve., Feb. 26, “John Gabriel Borkman” WINTHROP AMES’ GILBERT & SULLIVAN OPERA CO. All performances exc. Thurs. Eves. PIRATES of PENZANCE THURSDAY EVENINGS ONLY IOLANTHE West 45th Street. PLYMOUTH Evenings, 8:30. Mats. Thurs. & Sat., 2:30, EXTRA MATINEE Washington's Birthday (Tuesday, Feb. 32). pe story of a Neighborhood Playhouse 466 Grand St. Drydock 7516 Tonight and Every Eve, (Except Mon.) Matinee Saturday “THE DY BBU kK” Last Performances—Thro’ Feb. 23 “PINWHEEL”—Resumes Feb. 24, An @ MERICAN » TH TRAGEDY MONTH : Longacre Ws ‘and Sa’ Sam. ‘THEA. West 42nd St. H. HARRIS THE Daily,@:30 & 8:30 WHAT PRICE GLORY Mats. (exc. Sat.) 50c-$1. Eves. 50c-$2 y Bronx Opera House peg te Pop. Prices, Mats. Wed. & Sat,’.— “THE LITTLE SPITFIRE” Beginning Monday—“Loose Ankles” “SINNER ~WEEK OF FEB. 28 Mon. Eve., Feb 28..... “Cradle Song” Tues. Eve., Mar. 1...“fwelfth Night” Wed. Mat., March 2, “John Gabriel Borkman” Wed. Eve., Mar. 2...... “Cradle Song” Spec. Mt. Thurs., Mar. 3, “Cradle Song” Thurs. Eve., Mar. 3..“La Lacondiera” Fri. Eve., March 4....“Cradle Song” Sat. Mt., Mar. 5, “The Master Builder” Sat. Eve, Mar. 5, “The Three Sisters” B.P. A play you won't forget ee | LADDER By J. FRANK DAVIS Thea,, 50th Street, WALDORF East of Broadway. Eve. 8:30. Mats. Tues. & Sat. SPECIAL MATINEE Washington's Birthday (Tuesday, Feb. 22). ae With ALLAN DINEHART. & CLAIBORNE FOSTER girl who dares to live as she thinks .... . KLAW THEATRE, West 45th St., Evs.,. 8:30 Mats. Tues, (Washington’s B'day), Thurs. & Sat. Seats on sale at box-office 8 weeks in advance. Thea., 48 St., W. of B’y. Eves. 8:30 Matinees WED. -and SAT., 2:30 * BONNnIc Musical Bon Bon with: Dorothy Baorgess, Louis Simon, Wm. Frawley, George Sweet. EARL CARROLL 2,424,752 7th Ave. 50th St. EARL CARROLL VANITIES some Ch a rlot’s R evue Moran& Mack JuliusTannen soenensispitaladintvtinise—- isting Theatre Guild Acting Company in PYGMALION Week Feb. 28—Brothers Karamazov THEA., W. 52 St. Evs. 8:15 Mats. Tues., Thu. & Sat. 2:15 NED McCOBB’S DAUGHTER Week Feb. 28—rhe Silver Cord John Golden h.,58, Bot B’y |Circle Mts.Tue.Thu.&Sat.| 5678¢ BRO M4482. bes WAY 830 Mets Wed Sab 230 Xtra Mats. Feb. 22, 23, 24 and 26 cen. ~ Sa MUSIC AND CONCERTS PHILHARMONIC FURTWAENGLER, conauctor at CARNEGIE HALL THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON at 3:00 Soloist: PAUL KOCHANSKI, Violinist Berlioz—Brahms—Strauss Thurs. Eve, Feb. 24, 8:30; Fri. Aft., . b. 25, 2:30 Hindemith, Sibelius, Beethoven, Mendelssohn Arthur Judson, Mgr. (Steinway Piano) The CINCINNATI _ Symphony Orchestra FRITZ REINER Conductor Stravinsky-Cusella-Smetana (Steinway) FRANCIS Violinist MACMILLEN Carnegie Hall, Wed. Eve., Feb. 23,.8:15 Ottorino at the piano for the performance his Aw N. Y. SYMPHONY K L-EMPERER, Guest MECCA AUDITORIUM, ag Att. Feb 30 SOLOIST, J ALEXANDER BRAILOWSKY GLUCK, Overture Iphigenia in Aulis; LISZT, Concerto for Piano in B flat major; BEETHOVEN, Symphony No, 7 in A, Mecca tickets at Symphony office, Steinway Hal, 113 W. 57th St. George Engles, Mgr. Steinway Piano. AEOLIAN HALL Sat. Aft., Feb, 26, at 3 SECOND PIANO RECITAL DANIEL MAYER, Inc., Mgrs, Steinway Piano. GUILD THEATRE Sunday rv'g, Feb. 27, at 8:30 DANCE RECITAL MARTHA GRAH “Poema ’ Haensel & Jones, Mgrs, Baldwin Piano | with LOUIS HORST, Pianist (Steinway) _—_—_ Hall, Joseph Szigeti will be the solo- Get Another Subscriber for ist. The program: Overture, “Eg- (Continued on page 7) Your DAILY WORKER. —gQ— ‘ . 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