Word: hellman
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...Lillian Hellman, discussing the narrowing appeal of drama in this country, observed: "The educated, or semi-educated Americans have lost their interest in the theater, and I can't blame them It's less interesting...
...critics, Elliot Norton of the Boston Record, and Walter Kerr of the New York Herald Tribune, accepted Miss Hellman's evaluation of the theater's present stature, but thought they saw signs of improvement. Norton took heart from the State Department's sponsorship of a Theater Guild troupe presently touring Europe...
Both Miss Hellman and William Alfred, professor of English, challenged such optimism. Alfred, who advocated federal subsidies, went on to warn against such aid when extended "with strings attached." Miss Hellman felt that the plays chosen for the current tour had been handpicked "for their 'safe' qualities." She likened this to Broadway's gearing all its productions toward critical acclaim...
Federal aid, according to Alfred and Miss Hellman, would lead to a general reduction of ticket prices, a rebirth of community theater, and a saner attitude toward financial success. Kerr, however, cited an experiment in which a New York producer raised the price of back-row seats and immediately found them in demand. "We can always sell the orchestra," he shrugged, "it's more than a question of price...
Somehow Miss Hellman's tone was anything but bitter, and frequent smiles punctuated her narrative. She concluded by reading a scene from Autumn Garden, her "most painful failure," but stressed a speech in which Benjamin Briggs realizes that a man is nothing more or less than what he accomplishes