| Show 01 o About Show Off The Coming Play lot oi lotI I might as well begin and say that The ShowOff Show is the best comedy which has yet been written by an American To be sure it departs de- de departs de parts quite radically in many res respects from the form which has been associated as associated as- as traditionally nally with comedy Critics who hold by old standards may point pont out that it is less lavish with ith incident than many another native play lay I in the same mood but buL they can hardly argue that human I personality has ever been made more I vivid more mol truthful and more comI complete complete com com- I in this American theatre No one can question the authenticity authenticity I of Aubrey Piper He lie moves I under his own steam from the moment moment mo mo- I ment the curtain rises At no time does one feel that the hand of the I playwright is still on the wheel di di- di acting the character to move in this thi direction or that in order to suit the exigencies of the story And it seems to me e that there is soundness in the scheme whereby the author makes makes' some one ons character a concern above that of the tale itself I am no longer drawn to the play with a big idea or the comedy constructed for the sake of a single telling scene When an author works from such a blueprint he must almost inevitably find i ij it necessary to scrunch and whittle his characters now and then to make them fit it into his plot scheme He He lie must bulldoze a little He lie must regiment regiment re re- le his flock and them But there is one more test which must be met by a play if it is to live among drama of the first order The playwright ht has done a great deal if ii he has lias been able to create a living breathing individual human being He lIe must do more At some point in the story this fictional man or woman must stand as a symbol of all man man- kind Then Ther should be in him some recognizable common factor of hu hu- manity And Ami Aubrey meets the test lie He brings to us the realization of the the- toughness of human fibre In him there glints the glorious truth that personality endures against the blows of circumstances When I was in college much was said to us about the playwrights playwright's obligation to show the development of character I hold that this Hi t-li tion is imaginary and should b lJ rally t r tally ally discarded for the sake of th thAs As a matter of fact it seems s ems to me that human beings are early and that their later history is largely large large- ly an account of the manner in which fate br breaks aks its fingernails in vain vain efforts to claw them into new habits habit of thought The Aubery Pip Piper r whom we see at the close of The Show Off is precisely the same person wh who talked in the first act He has no not changed We e know him better and more intimately because we have seen his reaction to various emotional stimuli but the development has been in the minds of the audience and no not in the soul of Aubrey And so we have it here George Georg for Aubrey Aubre builds the case Kelly Jelly up Piper by countless small strokes B D By consistency consistency consistency con con- but the very degrees he opens open of his faults colors them then with magnificence From Pr theus mankind has chosen for it Its sown down heroes men who stand pat Be De yourself yourself your your- our self Fisher cries which h hhas he has taken to heart There is no nee need Aub Aub- for anyone to say Bay is tempted for a rey lie He never moment to be anything else truthfully b be Of course it may said that Aubrey lives in a fantastic bu bue but buti hi creation m world of own Jf i c h e has har b built his world orld he stands stand more has himself God HEYWOOD DROWN |
