THE CRIMSON BOOKSHELF

Under the inclusive but indefinite title of "The Drama and the Stage" (Harcourt, Brace), Ludwig Lewisohn has collected into book form a series of random sketches and studies that first appeared in "The Nation." The diminutive essays so collected cover a wide field, include book reviews, play reviews, and by the way studies in the fundamentals in the drama and theatre. Mr. Lewisohn has recognized the difficulties that beset him, and the inevitable criticisms of a volume of sketches written for a particular occasion. "The brief essay and studies that compose this volume are desultory only in appearance" he says. "They were written on, but not for a particular day, and seek to illustrate, whatever the date or material, a theory of both the drama and the theatre that is coherent and that is profoundly implicated with permanent qualities of life and art."

It would seem almost impossible to review so many plays and books on the theatre without giving away a theory of both that is "coherent" and profoundly implicated with the permanent qualities of life and art." Such a wide range of criticism, demands as all criticism demands, that same coherency and profound implication realized by Mr. Lewisohn. But in spite of all that "The Drama and The Stage" seems very much the book of the moment. It has therefore two innately good qualities. It is a record of current tendencies in the drama, and a reminder of evening spent in the Theatre. One can read of marionettes, Arthur Hopkins the Theatre Guild, "The Green Goddess", Shaw, the French and German theatre, and plays recently seen on Broadway.

Mr. Lewisohn's essays are smoothly and interestingly written. Occasionally they are startling and surprisingly naive. He says there is not "anything so intricate to understand" in writing a play, and takes away the breath with such a statement as "A born dramatist can write drama without ever having seen a theatre." Perhaps that is sound theory but the world has never been blessed with "a born dramatist" then, for the greater dramatists have almost always been workers in the theatre. His criticisms of books on dramatic technique and on players, production and plays do not seen "desultory" because of the clear expression and lucid writing. Though they are better by far than most of their king, still they lack the permanently endearing qualities of such a book as Shaw's "Dramatic Opinions."