The Stage in America

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 68, 11 June 1927, Page 22 (Supplement)

The Stage in America

Hungarian Playwright and His Appreciation FAITHFUL PRODUCTIONS VAJDA, the Hungarian playwright, does not take sides in the drama. Although the following article was written by him for an American paper, its message applies to all countries. The zeal with which most Americans take sides whenever the drama is discussed interests me considerably. It interests me most, I suppose, because I find myself unable to champion any particular school of the drama. * When asked, which happens frequently, wither I favour the realistic, the expressionistic or the futuristic school, I can only reply that I favour them all. To me there is but one criterion by which any sort of play should be judged—that it is done well. To illustrate this point, I might offer my reactions to seeing Shaw’s “Saint Joan” produced in. three different manners, in three different languages and in three different countries of Europe. The first time it was presented in Berlin by a German company according to the most old-fashioned standards. The treatment, I thought, was delightful. Shortly afterward I saw Tairoff’s Russian company interpret the play in Vienna. This time it was done in the futuristic vein, with stairways taking the place of scenery. Although I could not understand the Russian language, I again thought the presentation was admirable. ALL BEAUTIFUL A few months* later I saw “Saint Joan” again—this time in Paris, Pitoeff’s French company gave the play an extremely expressionistic treatment. Once again I /as most enthusiastic. All three of the productions were sincerely and beautifully done. What difference did it make which medium was employed?

To return to the attitude of most Americans toward the drama, I am both amused and amazed at the way they generally regard the American stage. They are constantly asking, ••What is wrong with American drama?” and looking to the European stage as a criterion. To me there is no comparison between American and European drama —the American is far superior. In this country there is far greater attention to detail, American productions are infinitely more exact. Nothing is slighted. And often in Europe we see great actors in very bad plays. In the United States, on the contrary, the best actors invariably are found in the best plays. When the Theatre Guild sought to produce “Fata Morgana” in the United States I thought they were mad—l could not believe they could transplant my drama. I was amazed when I saw the production. Not a sentence was c hanged. It was presented exactly as it was abroad, with the Hungarian atmosphere intact.

ESSENTIAL STIMULATION Americans, I believe, should offer more encouragement to native plays by native playwrights rather than to European influences. As for myself, I find it difficult to express my admiration for Eugene O’Neill, to name but one of your dramatists. He is so typically American (I don’t mean in the “go-getter” sense), so much like Walt Whitman and Edgar Allen Poe. So many Americans, I find, go to the theatre either to be amused or to be instructed. The theatre I regard in a different light—neither as a dance club, where one is offered erotic excitement, nor as a school where one is taught a lesson. We should go to the theatre because it offers essential stimulation. Stimulation unlike any other sort, for is not an audience upon entering a theatre under the spell of an atmosphere entirely different from that of ordinary existence? One fault I find with the American attitude is that is tends to idealise historical figures excessively. This tendency, I am interested to note, seems already to be changing. “The Private Life of Helen of Troy” and “The Road to Rome” are indications of this in two different fields. In a lesser degree I have tried to express this same true interpretation of history in “The Crown Prince.” Some day, however, I hope to achieve the one ambition that I have felt since my arrival in America—to write an American historical play from an American viewpoint.