The Daily Worker Newspaper, January 21, 1928, Page 6

is I ret very much that my review he International” did not please nd regret even more that you sent us a Ictier with the request that it be published. I regret the public- ation of your leiter, not because you cast aspersions on my talents as a dramatic reviewer, but because you foree me io divulge a few of my real thoughts about Lawson’s play and aboui the policy of the New Playwrights Theatre toward reviews in The DAILY WORKER. In general, it seems to be the policy of your theatre that merely because you announce yourself as a labor theatre or advertise one of your plays as.a Communist play, that therefore Gommaunists are under a strict moral ee Bi to like everything you pro- ice. This policy of yours is to me “the most “revolutionary” aspect of your organization, because it departs from every principle of criticism in bourgeois, liberal, and Communist groups. Because a theatre calls it- self bourgeois or patriotic or liberal doés not render it immune to the criticism of Joseph Wood Krutch, Woolcott or George Jean Nathan. And this holds true of every intellec- tual or artistic expression in every class of society. Tf there were times that the Polit- buro of the Russian Communist Par- ty could atford to criticize some of the policies of its leading members who were tried and proved Commun- ists, certainly a DAILY WORKER reviewer can reserve to himself the right to criticize a play which its advertising man labels as Communist. You may be surprised that I raise the whole question of Communism in connection with Lawson’s play. ~ You apparently keep a double sys- tem of bookkeeping. If we criticize a play on account of your ideas you Say we are too rigid: we should not expect a play to be a Communist thesis. But if we shut our eyes to certain obvious nonsense in the pl. from our point of view, and criticize \itfor its technical confusion, you say — we don’t. know any hing about tech- nique—we are “careless,” “half- hearted,” and» then ask us to support the play for its “Communist” con- tent. “I suppose that by “expert” drama- tie reviewers you mean people who like the play, because I notice that gentlemen esteemed as expert critics for the bo eois press took an awful whack at the play for its technical Weaknesses. In fact, to judge by your direnlar issued today, the only expert matie yeviewer writing in New fork is the gentleman who writes r the “Morning Teiegraph,” since alone furnished you a quotable sen- nce. It s»«ms to me that if a re- porter for a racing sheet can like ur play, that a reporter for The JAILY WORKER can dislike it; and -you have anything against my chnique, I can then resort to your wn form of apology and beg you to ive me on the ground that I am a labor reviewer. TI like your theatre. I have great ‘ith in it and in its ability to grow @ mass theatre, even a labor e, even a revolutionary theatre. am more irterested in what the ew Playweigh ts are doing than in 3 of any other theatre in tates. But your group y political, social or econ- lt can grow only thru ic group. @ healthy regard for the criticism the audience it appeals to. For us, especiaily, intentions and past ices are of secondary importance. act and every piece of work be judged on its own merits and must be defended on the basis of its mal logic and not by pointing to ind stripes, croix de guerres, or we for the working class. » My review did not indicate my feal feeling (and, incidentally, that @f some other people). It is that the Play is based on msconceptions of the nature of the world revolution and of the key-figures who dominate its operations. Many of the scenes in the play which I liked best seemed Re me irrelevant. You say, “obviously our theatre is Rot Communist or definitely tied up with any section of the labor move- ment.” At the time I wrote my re- ¥iew, you attempted to create the ly opposite impression. You Y advertisements in The DAILY 7PLIES TO DOS PASSOS “INTERNATIONAL” j DEAR JOHN DOS PASSOS: WORKER, announcing “The Interna- tional” as the “first Communist play to be produced in an American the- atre.” Besides, if, as you now assert, the play is burlesque, I then suggest that you had better get actors who speak their lines with less passionate earnestness. Towever, I see that you want to have it coming and going. The play/ is supposed to be not only a bur- lesque and melodrama and a broad cartoon but “a very personal and subjective emotional outburst expres- sing one man’s feelings under the impact of our world today.” In which ease why don’t you permit another one man to try to.express a few impersonal, objective, and unemo- tional observations about something rather a little smaller than the whole world today? Granted that the technique in “The International” is interesting and sig- nificant, what would you have me do if I am convinced that Lawson has employed it poorly in this particular play? (The opposite, incidentally, | was true in his “Processional” and “Loud Speaker.”) Your remark that I seem “to imply | that the New Playwrights’ Theatre is a bogus enterprise,” is certainly not justified by anything I said in my review. Now, if you had advertised the piay as a fantasy by John Howard Lawson, all right! But if you are at liberty to advertise it as a Communist play, then I am at liberty to dis- agree. Besides, tho I am only a newspaperman I know enough of the history of dramatic criticism to know that every serious playwright from Aeschylus to Eugene O'Neill has his plays criticized on the basis of his ideas. If John Howard Law- son wishes to be exempt from this criterion, I wish he would announce it publicly, in which case I will at- tend his future plays in the same spirit in which I attended Edna Fer- ber’s musical play, “The Show Boat.” —SENDER GARLIN. Actors’ Company Union| Contract Is Exposed Exposure of a contract recently ne- gotiated between the Hollywood mo- | tion picture producers and the actors’ section of the Academy of Motion Pic- ture Arts and Sciences, a company union, is made in the curren: issue of Equity, organ of the Actors’ Equity Association, the actors’ bona fide union. The council of the Actors’ Equity Association dissolved the Los Angeles executive commitiee of the Equi-y last December for permitting its members | to negotiate with the producers thru the company union rather than thru vhe Equity. The new contract does not provide | for compulsory arbitation between the producers and actors and permits the producer to dismiss actors for petty reasons, according to Equity. It also permi.s the producer “to demand 24 hours a day for 6 days, or a maxi-} mum of 240 hours of labor for one; week’s pay,” Equity charges. Pacifist Is Silenced On College Campus | CORNWALLIS,*Ore., Jan. Methodist Church of Cornwallis re- cently was thrown open to Kirby Page, pacifist, after faculty pressure | t had been brought to bear resulting in the cancellation of his engagements to speak on the campus of the Oregon State Agricultural College, according to information sent the American Civil Liberties Union by Roswell P. Barnes of the committee on militarism in education. Two professors who had planned to have Mr. Page address their classes were advised to eancel the arrange- ments. They complied, as did also a committee composed of the Y. M C. A. secretary, the Y. W. C. A. secre- and two student pastors, who tary, had ‘arranged for the meeting on the| campus. Many students attended the meeting in the church. It is charged that persons connected with the college not only secured can- cellation of Mr. Page’s engagements to speak but made every attempt to suppress news as to how and why the cancellation took place. —_——. aa will play the leading roles. Flora Sheffield in the cast. Trowbridge in the cast. cast. RS _-Walter Kingsford. “THE MYSTERY MAN,” The New Plays. “DER LEBENDE LEICHMAN” (The Living Corpse) by Tolstoy will be put on Monday night at the Cosmopolitan Theatre, as the final production of the Reinhardt season. . Moissi and Helene Thimig “CARRY ON,” a new play by Owen Davis, will open at the Theatre ' Masque on Monday, with Berton Churchill, Beatrice Terry and WE NEVER LEARN,” by Daisy Wolf, at the Eltinge Theatre Mon- day night, with Estatelle Winwood, Elizabeth Risdon and Charles _“CAPONSACCHI,” by Arthur Goodrich and Rose A. Palmer will be revived by Walter Hampden Tuesday night at Hampden’s Theatre. “THE QUEEN’S HUSBAND,” a comedy by Robert E. Sherwood at the Playhouse Wednesday night with Roland Young heading the § “so AM I,” a comedy by C. M. Selling, from the Italian by Camillo Scolari, will open Thursday night at the Comedy Theatre, cast includes: Betty Linley, Vernon Steele, Louise Carter and The ; a melodrama by Morris Ankrum and Vin- "cent Duffy at the Bayes Thursday night. 7 BOWERY,” by Edward Locke, Thursday night at Wallack’s 20.—The | Arliss as the Jew of Venice Superb Performance of One of Most Difficult of Shakespearean Roles T has been said that Hamlet is ac- tor-proof; even the worst actor can get something out of the melancholy Dane. But Shylock, next to Kine Lear, is the most z i | | | difficult part : sy], written by the American Opera Will rte a Wa Present Cadman’s “Sun- most resourceful set Trail” This Tuesday and technically | trained histrion’ Charles Wakefield Cadman’s “Sun- j artist ought to set Trail” will be given its local |aseny the role. premiere by the American Opera Conji- The number of nany Tuesday evening, on a double first rate Shy- hill with Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci.” ‘ . ue locks of the past o The same bill will be repeated, with century can be several changes in cast, on Thursday | {counted on the ond Saturday evenings. Mozart's oe of one “Marriage of Figaro” will open the | hand—with some tveek Monday evening and be repeated |to spare. Booth n Wednesday evening and on Satur- | Irving, Mansfield have stood alone as successful must |Shylocks — unti] George Arliss Monday night George Arliss unques- tionably took his place with them. His performance was vastly super- ior to the recent performance of David Warfield, whose Shylock never seemed to rise above a caricature of | an East Side pawn broker, and far transcends the performances of E. H. Southern or Robert B. Mantell. pues Jeet J Of the Shylocks of Booth and Irv- ing this reviewer can rely only upon the reports of their contemporaries. Of the great Shylocks only the per- formance of Richard Mansfield—sar- donic, cynical, scholarly, technically master!y—is within our memory. afternoon. Gounod’s “Faust” vill be given Wednesday matinee and , on Friday evening. Frank St. Leger and Eugene Goossens will conduct: next week. “The Sunset Trail” was given its first operatic presentation in Roches- ter last December under the direction of Vladimir. Rosing. The text is by Gilbert Moyle and has altogether to | do with redskins, Clifford Newdall, | George Fleming Houston, John Gil-! bert and Frederik J. Roberts are the frincipal singers. PHILHARMONIC. Bernardino Molinari conducts the Philharmonic Orchestra for the last | jtime Sunday afternoon at Carnegie |Hall and turns over the baton to! Arturo Toscanini who will direct In the scene where the Jew de-|through the remainder of the seaso nounces the Christians as slave hold- ; Which ends on April 1. Mr, Molinari ers and hypocrites, Arliss was remin- | Progtam consists of Rossini’s Over- iseont of Mansfield, while his utter |‘tre to “Tancredi,” Beethoven’s Fifth | dejection at the close of the trial seene |Symphony, Corelli's Suite, opus 5, | before Portia sounded a note of des-|Martucci’s Novelletta, — Debussy’s pair that cannot be surpassed. Most | \L’Isle Soyeuse, Verdi’s Overture to “I es i” and Wagner’s actors overdo this scene and have re- ‘ course to grotesque wailing or rant-|“Tannhauser” Overture. Toscanini opens his season at Car- ing. No such note marred the per- i 4 e formance of Arliss, pahes Hall Thualay sights with we The achievement. is. particularly | PlOws Program: Qvertare to © noteworthy inasmuch as it is the first fee bean ae Sinizaglia; Sy on Shakesnearean role Arliss ever acted pane and Pacific aI Hokeweens and since he became a star, although he * rea & had long years of Shakespearean 2p eee ‘training in British companies before he first came to America as leading {man for Mrs, Fiske in a series of | SHIRLEY VERNON. |Ibsen plays. i a ee The play itself is of historical in- terest, because it is one of the few} | well-known plays written by Shakes- | peare that has for its chief roles! characters other than royalty or no- bility. The loan-monger is depicted | as an unscrupulous, revengeful crea- ture, while the merchants are por- trayed as of a higher calibre, although | / \they are berated for their slave-hold- | jing practices in satiric lines placed! {in the mouth of the Jew. Shakes-| |peare, the feudal dramatist, takes as | | his theme a struggle between the. |merchant capitalists and the loan-| | i mongers—both a part of the rising | | hourgeoisie—and makes a play of it. | Piays au, ‘ au “Good His sarcastic references to each of | News” at Chanin’s 46th. ‘Street The- these new classes reveals the con- | atre. The nowu sate «sun to conduct the Philharmonic, opening his season with the orchestra Thursday night at Carnegie Hall. — ——————————— ward Elgar. The program will be lrepeated on Friday afternoon at Car- inegie Hall. Sunday afternoon, January 29, the ‘orchestra, under Toscanini, will ‘play ,at the Shoat Academy of Music. NEW YORK SYMPHONY. Oxsip Gabrilowitsch will make his second and final appearance as guest conductor of the New York Symphony } Orchestra this Sunday afternoon in} ;Mecea Auditorium, ‘lowing, the orchestra will start on a} two weeks’ tour under the direction ‘of Walter Damrosch. Sunday’s pro- |gram will include: Symphony in C major, Haydn; Third Symphony in C ‘minor (The Divine Poem), Scriabin; Nocturnes, Debussy; Overture, Aca- demic Festival, Brahms. John Erskine will appear with the New York Symphony as soloist at two of its tour concerts. The tour will take in twelve cities: Northampton, | Schenectady, Utica, Rochester, Pitts- burgh, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Ann Arbor, Buffalo, Balti- imore and Wilmington. The next con- cert in New York will be in Carnegie Hall Friday, February 10, with Wal- iter Damrosch beginning his four weeks’ period as guest conductor. ===Music Note—== Mildred Dilling, harpist, will giv-} her recital at Steinway Hall, Tue evening. | This Sunday evening, at the Gallo Theatre, the Fay Foster Trio wi'l give a concert of costumed songs and bal- lads, assisted by the Harry Fagin String Quartette. Leon Goossens will make his debut in an Oboe recital at the Guild The- atre this Sunday afternoon. _Szigeti will give his violin recital Monday night in Carnegie Hall, The program includes: Sonata in A Ma- jor, Tartini; Sonata No. 11, Albert Russel; Sonata in C Major, Bach; a group of Roumanian folk dances and a composition by Paganini and Mil- hand. The Stringwood Ensemble will give its only local recital at Town Hall | Tuesday evening. It will present the | Beethoven clarinet trio in B flat ma- jor, the Taneiew string quartet No. , the Goossens suite, impressions by Mitja Stillman and Prokofieff’s {sketch on Two Jewish Themes. |tempt in which tradesmen and money | |lenders were held by the declining no- | bility of the feudal system. } LECTURES A ND FORUMS - Usually “The Merchant of Venice” jis a dull play because df the inability of modern performers to handle it. In the hands of George Arliss and | his company, however, it is one of the best productions now on Broad- | way, Next to the performance of Atliss | was that of his leading lady, Peggy Wood, only reéently a mus’ comedy | {star. Her interpretation of Portia | wonepa’, Janeane’ 20% | placed her, at one stroke, in the front al ranks of American actresses. Always | HARDING an excellent actress, the role of Por- | a Setentitie opamp clei tia gives her an opportunity to dis. Asoo play some of her remarkable talents | to better advantage than heretofore. As Antonio, Leonard Willey, was {rather stilted and seemed somewhat | uncomfortable in Shakespearean re- | galia, while the Bassanio of Murray |Kendall was far from convincing, probably also owing to his unfamil- | \iarity with Shakespearean roles.! | Also effective was the work of Hope |Cary as Jessica, the daughter of Shy- | lock. | The weak points in the prcsenta- tion at the Broadhurst Theatre are | conspicuous because of the igh stan- ldard of the cast in general, Arliss is not one of those stars who ‘sur- rounds himself with fourth-raters in jorder that he may shine more bril- | | AT COOPER UNION | Muh (8th ST. and ASTOR PLACE) At 8 o'Clock SUNDAY, JANUARY 22nd MR. JOHN COWPER POWYS “The Soul of Man in 1927.” | FRIDAY, JANUARY 27th | Mr. EVERETT DEAN MARTIN |The Psychology of the American Public—“The Psychology of the | | | ||) Generation Which Made Barnum un Possible.” | Siok. | ADMISSION FREE. Open Foram Discussion. idomorrow Night 8 o'clock H. M. WICKS will speak on “THE PAN-AMERICAN CONFERENCE” A study of American Imperialiem in Latin America; the political scene in Havana; and the purposes of the Wall Street delegation to the Pan- American hic ears 4 A WORKERS SCHOOL FORUM 108 East 14th Street Admission 26e. NEXT SUNDAY: Herbert Zam will speak on "When War Comes.” liantly, but has always appeared with the most competent support avail- able. His “Merchant of Venice” is no | exception to his practice, —H. M. Ww. The noted Scotch comedian, Harry Lauder, begins an engagement at the |Knickerbocker Theatre on Monday | \night, January 80. This is again to | |be his farewell tour. 14th Street & LABOR TEMPLE Second Ave. SUNDAY, JANUARY 22nd er —Lecture . F. Beck—“ ‘Elmer Gantry,’ 5P. i Ors hinclair Lew The Shuberts will bring Mitzi back | Pa iy aay tnt. bute |to Brondway during the week of Jan- | Dr. E. B. Cunttee—*Doen ctvitian- |uary 30, in her musical comedy, “The ||} ¢-30 See Nee eer |Madcap,” which has been on tour} John Haynes Holmes on “Gandh! since April. Maurie Rubens wrote the ae eer eer Sitendon ‘fs music. wy - THE PEOPLE’S INSTITUTE Muhlenberg Branch Library (209 WEST 23rd STREET) At 8 o’Clock MONDAY, JANUARY 25rd Dr. HELEN D. LOCKWOOD Tools and the Man—*The American Pioneer: Whitman and Mark Twain.” WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26th Dr. SCOTT BUCHANAN Mathematical Thovght -—- “Algebra: | From Measurements to Equations.” | THURSDAY, JANUARY 26th DR. E. G. SPAULDING Questions People Expect a Philoso- pher to Answer—-“Are {ndividuality and Personality the Same?” SATURDAY, JANUARY 28th Dr. RICHARD P. McKEON Some Questions for Pilate—“The | Captivity of thix Body: How Is Thinking Relevantt” 4 Tomorrow night at 8:30 sharp | E. JACOBSON | will speak of “Modern Literature as an Anti-Revolutionary Force” BRONX OPEN FORUM 2075 Clinton Ave. (near E. 180 St.) NEXT SUNDAY—A. Bittelman will compare “Moscow and Geneva.” Under the auspices of the BRONX WORKERS’ SCHOOL. oe “Interference” at the Empire Thea- | ~ tre passed its hundredth performance this week, The English melodrama will continue at the Empire until January 30, when it moves to the Ly- jceum Theatre to make way for Paul- | Tues. & Fri. Bye ine Lord in “Salvation.” Immediately fol- | == SSS Theatre Guild Presents = | =PORCY A FOLK PLAY BY DUBOSE AND DOROTHY HEYWARD Evs, 8:40 THEA,, West 42nd St. REPUBLIC jratinces’ Wed. and’ Sat, 2:40 BEGINNING MO? THEATRE GUILD ACTING CO. EUGENE’ ONBILL'S MARCO MILLIONS Week of Jan. 30: “THE Week of Keb. 6 GUILD THEATRE METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE SUrspax Bvexine RUDOLPH H. WUNLITZER Presents PROFESSOR LEO -THEREMIN In His First American Concert Demonstration of “MUSIC FROM THE ETHER” The music is produced by free movements of the hands, without touching an instrument. Tickets on Sale st Box Office RECITAL MGT. ARTUR JUDSON Steinway Hall treet, N. ¥. City Tickets on Sale Now at Daily Worker, 108 E. 14th St.—10” Discount. THE INTERNATIONAL BY JOHN HOWARD LAWSON oo. Author of “Processional” Struggle for Wealth — Oil — War — Love Revolution — Adventure IN ‘il New York — Moscow — Paris — China DON’T MISS IT—GET TICKETS NOW! The New Playwrights Theatre 36 COMMERCE ST.—PHONE WALKER 5851. 3 Blocks South on 7th Ave. Subway from Sheridan Sq. os Eves. 8:20. Mats. Winter Garden ‘thurs, & Sat, 2:30. WORLD'S LAUGH SENSATION! Artists Models pay ‘Theatre, 41 St. way National PSt¥'Sy site Wed. @Sat2:30 “The Trial of Mary Dugan” By Bayard Veiller, with Rex Cherryman ES MOSS THEATRES M4 ; STEER’ we WILLS OWN TITLES / JOHN GOLDEN 72 Wind sat. Bas NE LOUISE FAZENDA LAST ALSO OTHER. seman Bs WEEK WALLS ' “ae Dartare Py 28h _ Boston, Feb. 26—Phila.. March 5 PIELEN Gr: Roy’ penn ‘ WINTHROP AMES presents 4 JOHN GALSWORTHY'S IES CAP E “nowt” | BOOTH ee Ww. He a Fig FS ng Broadhurst ysis we crorce A R L 1 S S in THE MERCHANT OF VENICE ANTI-WAR The ENEMY ASTOR ERLANGER’ § Thea. W.44 Sen Mats. Wed. & ea Theatre, B'way at 45th St. Twice Daily, 2:30-8: fal DRAce. s way, 46 St. Evs. 8.30 with GEORGE M. COHAN “BETTER THAN THE BAT” ps aS —— | Music and Concerts N.Y. Symphony Ossip Gabrilowitech yk hit Si en A AUDITORIUM rivbiaeboee (Sunday) Aft, at 3 Mf ce open il PHU HARMONIS OLINARY, Guest Conductor, laa Hoil, Thin Sun. Aft, af 3:00 Rossini—-Béethoven—Corelli Martucei—D: Tina aah erdi—W agner. TOSCANINI, conductor. Carneste HAN, Thars, Ev., Jan.26 Friday Afternoon, Jan, 27, at SINIGAGLIA--BRAHMS HONEGGER—ELGAR Bae Judson, ABE (oteinway) nn: uM, re ademic Festi- erture, Tickets at Hall, 113 GLE 5 /4sth STREET THE: ATRE, Jan, 22, at 9 Robenne Assisted by ANATOLE VILTZAK NICOLAS KOPE!KINE at the Piano (Steinway) Concert peeent Daniel Mayer, Inc. aphony Office, Steinway Sith St. GHORGE ENe (Steinway, Pi Town Hall, Tues. BvgaJan, 24. TRINGWOOD ENSEMBLE Concert Met. Dan'l Mayer, Inc. Steinway Piano. Mar. Carnegte Hall, Mon, Evg., Jan, 23, 8:30 | SZIGETI Only N.Y. sare | ‘iad Season. (Baldwin) # Carnegie Hall, Tues. Evg., Jan. 24, 8:30 Sun. Eves ' om beatera Pianist, Only N.Y. Recital. (Steinway) | j Meese Aaa ile PTs Sa AB Wh i MUSIC AND CONCERTS _ AMERICAN OPERA COMPANY ist N. Y. SEASON, SUNG IN ENGLISH GALLO THEA, Evgx. 8:20, Mnts, 2:20, 54th, W. of Bway, PHONE COL. 1140. Mon., Wed. Eve., Sat. Mat., Faust Wed. Mat., Marriage Mme. Butterfly Anna Robenne, the Russian dancer, will give a program of variety at the 48th Street Theatre this Sunday eve ning. She will be assisted by Ana-, tole Viltzak, former dancer and Nicolas Kopeikine, pianist. of Figaro Thurs, & Sat. Eve., % 2 # a {