Arts and Manners

On the Demise of Two Frail Turkeys

The ethics (if I’m pardoned the expression) of the trade prescribe that a critic be charitable with expired plays. But if one believes in the selfregulating forces of a live theater, the early demise of a new play would tend to prove its worthlessness; and so the critic, to do right by the stage, should pay special attention to the lessons of a failure.