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Wine of Choice: Guild Theatre,
February 21, 1938
New York Times,
February 22, 1938
S. N. Behrman's 'Wine of Choice'
Arrives Under the Theatre Guild Auspices
By BROOKS ATKINSON
Following two months of doctoring and plastic
surgery on the road, S. N. Behrman's "Wine of
Choice" arrived at the Guild Theatre 1ast evening.
From all accounts it was a shambles when it went out
in search of theatregoers. But now Mr. Behrman has
rewritten it so extensively and Herman Shun has
redirected it so keenly that it has risen from
negative to neutral. Excepting some passionate and
courageous speaking about things that matter in the
last act it doses agreeably in a state of suspended
animation. For Mr. Behrman’s Long Island set is more
futile than the cultured worldlings he usually spins
into the gossamer web of conversation piece. If
there is little to blame at this stage in his
comedy's fortunes there is little to praise beyond a
taut and sparkling performance by a band of
first-rate professional actors with the portly
Alexander Woollcott tossed in with groaningly full
measure. The Town Crier is steadily improving; he is
on his feet and his mettle most of the evening now.
* *
*
In the guest cottage of an affluent estate on
Long Island Mr. Behrman has collected some idlers, a
pair of gilded youths in search of useful careers
and a laconical Communist. One Binkie Niebuhr, a
talented meddler, uses his host's background to
promote the careers of his favorites. At present he
is concentrating his gifts on Wilda Doran, a
footless young woman with charm and a talent for
indecision. He makes her into a glamorous screen
star; her rich backer falls in love with her, and a
liberal Senator from New Mexico is already at her
feet. But she is perverse enough to throw herself
into the arms of the Communist, who takes her at a
conspicuous moment of the play and then leaves her,
for he cannot carry hostages into the camp of
revolution.
* *
*
After two acts of polished manoeuvring Mr.
Behrman thus has a chance to oppose his taciturn,
hardhearted insurgent and a wealthy liberal who has
gone into politics as to a mission. They strike
sparks in the one concrete and sharply written scene
in the play; for a few moments they get down to
fundamentals. But the rest of "Wine of Choice" is an
amiable purr of inconsequentialities between
characters too colorless to be seen without the use
of playgoer's prism. Mr. Behrman is taking a
holiday; he is giving his mind a rest and he has
farmed out his wit to share-croppers for the length
of the recession.
* *
*
By way of critic's compensation this performance
is, excepting "Amphitryon," the best the Guild has
squired this season. Under Mr. Shumlin's thorough
style of direction, Claudia Morgan has turned all
the abstraction that sometimes softens her acting
into a fully molded and firmly textured portrait of
a character. Leslie Banks gives a brisk, incisive
tone to the character of the Senator. Theodore
Newton acts the part of the sullen insurgent with a
reticence that is dark with meaning. Donald Cook as
a playboy, Herbert Yost as an acidulous curmudgeon
and Paul Stewart as a studio superman play with
considerable animation.
* *
*
In "Brief Moment," which was also a Behrman
bagatelle, Mr. Woollcott lounged imposingly. His
second attack on the stage finds him treading the
boards until they creak. You will find him in his
bathrobe in the first act; this is in the Heywood
Broun tradition of crumpled elegance. His wardrobe
steadily improves for the rest of the evening.
Although his rhythms in acting have none of the
liquefaction of his Town-Crying out loud, he comes
closer to being an actor than he did in "Brief
Moment." At least he is noticeable, which is more
than you can say for long stretches of "Wine of
Choice."
Wine of Choice: Guild Theatre,
February 21, 1938 |
