The Playgoer

"The Green Pastures" has come out of retirement, after almost 19 years, and this production makes one wonder why New Yorkers let it leave Broadway in the first place. It is comic, dramatic, compassionate, and sometimes tragic. And it is something more. Perhaps that is why playwright Marc Connelly calls it a "fable," rather than a play.

The fable is of the Negro fundamentalist view of the Universe--angels at a fish-fry, Gabriel with a shiny French horn that he's itching to blow, and God in a black suit and string tie. This treatment is excellent comedy, but after a few scenes it is evident that Mr. Connelly has also achieved a meaning and honesty that is extraordinary. In his program note he writes that "The Green Pastures" is concerned with "Man's long, weary seeking for the Divine in himself." It is enough to say that Connelly has fully succeeded in expressing this search.

The current production is a tribute to a great many people, apart from the author. It is a tribute to producer Dwight Deere Wiman, who did not live to see it on the stage. Robert Edmond Jones, who designed the original production, has proved that he still has a powerful command of light and form and color. He has mounted "The Green Pastures" in simple, direct colors as warm as the fable itself. He is frank to admit that his sets are made of painted canvas, and the result is completely disarming.

"The Green Pastures" contains some of the best ensemble acting in years, and credit for this goes to Connelly, who directed, as well as to the talent of the cast. Some of the individual performances are little less than perfect. William Marshall, as De Lawd, has immense awe-inspiring dignity. And when Ossie Davis, as Gabriel, cries out "Gangway! Gangway for de Lawd God Jehovah! you almost expect Him to step out of the wings. Noah becomes a wonderful comic creation in the hands of Alonzo Bosan. The list of fine performances in "The Green Pastures" is a long one.

The Hall Johnson Choir is an important part of the production, because it bridges the intervals between scenes with spirituals. Their singing, like everything else about this memorable production, is inspired.