THE M1C iI A DAiii roadway And London Stars High-Light 10th Drama Se. ason _ , i Arbor Won. Special Rdease r Carrol's The White Steed5 n local audiences witness "The Steed" during the 1939 Dra- Season, they will be unwitting to one of the most unusual in the theatre-release of a ful Broadway hit while it is inning in New York. It was 'cause of the interest of Eddie g, the producer, and Paul Vin- "arroll, the author, in non- ional University theatres that cial permissio:i wa-s procured. ill not be the first, time such nt has occurred here, how- Noel Coward twice gave Robert 'son, founder of the Season,' sion to use his plays while aere current. Both "Private and "Design for Living" were while still running. Deval's ich" also came here through White Steed," latest of the was termed by George Jean i"the season's best play." 'lls the story of a querulous, ty paralytic with a sense of a taste for the foibles of his oners and a gourmet's appre- oWar In Troy -'s Airerican Premiere Listed For May 15 An outstanding feature of the 1939 Dramatic Season will be the open- ing presentation-the American pre- miere of Jean Girdaudoux's "No War in Troy!" A stellar cast that includes Philip Merivale in the starring role of Hec- tor, Dennis Hoey and Doris Dalton has been provided for the play, which previousLy had a successful debut in Paris and Budapest. Dealing with the problems of war and peace, "No'War in Troy!" has been termed "witty and yet intense.", Its mythologyical personages are treated with little reverence but deft characterization by the playwright makes them seem typically human. One unusual thing about the play will be the settings, which represent the ramparts of Troy. Fifty color- ful costumes have been designed for the presentation. o Critics applauded "the clever meth- od in which application to modern situations is made through the use of allegory." The play will open Monday, May 15. Shows Attract Wide Interest Announcement Of Season Wins Press Notice In the years since it was established in 1930, the Ann Arbor Dramatic season has won national acclaim in theatrical circles as one of the out- standing little theatre festivals in the country. When announcement of the season was made this year it won mention in publications in all parts of the United States. So important do dra- matic critics of Detroit papers con- sider the presentations that they come here in person to review them. Audiences for the Season are drawn from miles around although students, faculty and townspeople compose by far the bulk of those in attendance. One New York critic termed the local season "one of the most unusual and praise-worthy of non-metropoli- tan theatrical institutions." "It bodes well for the future of a theatre when such institutions present such a cali- ber of productions," he said. WHITFORD KANE ciation of food rare and excellent. Critics called it "singularly tren- chant,", praising Whitford Kane. f Counter Sale ,Stake G reais Harwse (atut e Festivals Iere By STAN M. SWINTON On Monday, May 15, a first-night audience will stream down the Lydia Mendelssohn aisles, the lights will dim, the curtain will be drawn, and the latest of 10 Dramatic Seasons which have brought some of the brightest stars ofrthe American the- atre to Ann' Arbor will be underway. Since the day in 1930 when Robert Henderson, son of Prof.-Emeritus William D. Henderson, director- emeritus of the University Extension Service and a Michigan graduate who was active in theatrical affairs, first conceived the idea of the Sea- sons their growth has been steady with progressively more important celebrities signed to.appear. Famed Stars Appear A survey of programs of earlier sea- sons reveals names which have been featured on marquees on theatres throughout the world-Nazimova, the great actress who returned to the legitimate stage after an abortive mo- tion picture career; Violet Kemble Cooper; Jane Cowl; Pauline Lord; Blanche Yurka, whose brilliant per- formance in the movie version of "A Tale of Two Cities" won her critical acclaim; Mme. Leontovich; Aline MacMahon; Margalo Gillmore; Effie Shannon; Margaret Anglin; Violet Heming; Helen Chandler and Doris Dalton. Famed actors yvho have appeared on the Season programs are a legion: Bramwell Fletcher; Romney Brent; Tom Powers;,Walter Slezak; McKay Morris; Russell Hardie; Geoffrey Kerr; Otto Hulett; Whitford Kane; Carl Benton Reid; William Post, Jr. and Judson Laire. Henderson On Broadway But Robert Henderson, who is now applying the experience gained in Ann Arbor as a Broadway producer, observed the theatrical axiom that "the play's the thing." That aware- ness that the vehicle must be of quality-observed by Miss Helen Ar- thur when she directed her first sea- son last year-has brought the works of such playwrights as Shakespeare, Euripides, Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekov, Shaw, Molnar, Wilde, Coward, How- ard, Philip Barry, Behrman, Keith Winter, Sherwood, Novello, Van Dru- ten, Paul Osborn, Ben Levy and Du Maurier to the Mendelssohn stage. Through the cooperation of Cow- ard, Ann Arbor saw his "Private Lives" and "Tonight at 8:30" while -they were still Broadway successes. Other playwrights have also shown their interest in the season through< releasing their works especially forI local audiences.- So when' the curtain goes up May 15, it won't be just another show-~E it will be the renewal of one of Michi-t ga"'s newest traditions. Vaudeville Troopers Feature Barry Play Add one dwarf, one magician, a ventriloquist complete with dummy, a hoofer and you've got some of the elements which go to make Philip Barry's new play, "Here Come the Clowns," one of the most unusualI ever presented on a local stage. The1 drama will show here as the fourtha production of the Dramatic Season.c The strange characters make up a typical vaudville troup. The playj deals chiefly with the magician (ors "Illusionist") who goes to work to discover the material of which the vaudevillians' dreams are made. GLADYS COOPER 26,492 Drama Tickets Worry Publicity Head From the midst of 26,492 blue, pink, yellow, white and purple pieces of paste-board, Mrs. Lucille M. Walz, publicity director of the 1939 Drama- tic Season, yesterday announced that over-the-counter sale of tickets for the five-week festival will open to- morrow at the Garden Room of the League. Mail order sale has been of un- precedented volume, Mrs. Walz re- ports. Within one hour three orders for a total of 92 season tickets were received. Orders have come from Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Florida and Hollywood. Single tickets, she said, go on sale a week from tomorrow. Rice Revives 'Ghost' Device DMATIC SEASON TICKETS Sign Philip Merivale And Gladys Cooper Across-Counter Ticket Sale Will' Open Tomorrow At League Garden Room Philip Merivale, Harry Irvine Gladys Cooper, Whitford Kane, James Bell, Dorothy Sands and other stars of Broadway and London stages will high-light the 10th anniversary pre- sentations of the Dramatic Season. Over-the-counter sale of tickets for the five-week program, which runs May 15, through June 17, opens. to- morrow morning at the Garden Room of the League. The first presentation is the Ameri- can debut of is Jean Giraudoux's "No War in Troy!" starring Philip Meri- vales Hector. The play, which is re- ported to "occupy the same position in the peace drama of our day that The Trojan Women and Lysistrata did in the days of Euripides and 4ristophanes, has a supporting cast which includes Dennis Hoey, Doris Dalton, Wesley Addy, Dorothy Sands, Staats Cotsworth, Mary Morris, Har- ry Irvine, Philip Tonge and Edgar Kent. 'American Landscape' Coming Elmer Rice's new play, "American Landscape" opens Tuesday, May 23. Harry Irvine, who two years ago played Thomas a Becket in the New York production of T. S. Elliott's "Murder in the Cathedral," has the starring role with Dorothy Sands and Doris Dalton featured. The play was produced last season by a group of five playwright going under the name of "The Playwrights' Com- pany." It deals with the conflibt of the older and younger generations in American life. The supporting cast includes Ethel Morrison, Dennis Hoey, Wesley Addy, Con Macunday, Joanna Roos, Esther Mitchell and James Bell. Whitford Kane, a familiar figure to local audiences, returns the third week of the season to star in "The White Steed," Paul Vincent Carroll's current Broadway success. Termed "the season's best play" by George Jean Nathan, it will be brought to Ann Arbor with such featured play- ers as Philip Tonge, who just finished a run in "Bachelor Born," Joanna Roos, Wesley Addy, John Carmody, Clancy Cooper, Esther Mitchell and Ethel Morrison. Bell Will Star James Bell, who gained acclaim when he played in "Tobacco Road," stars in the fourth production, Philip Barry's "Here Come the Clowns." Opening Tuesday, June 6, with a sup- porting cast that includes Ralph Bunker, of the original company, Jo- anna Roos, Hathaway Kale, a dwarf and'a magician. The play deals with the folk of vaudville. The season's climax comes Com- mencement Week with Gladys Coop- er, the noted English actress, starring in the little-known Shavian comedy, "Captain Brassbound's Conversion." A veteran of Shaw plays-she made one of her biggest hits in "Man and Superman"-Miss Cooper will have' a supporting cast including ,Dennis Hoey, Philip Tonge, Edgar Kent, Emmett Rogers, Cornel Wilde and Staats Cotsworth. Agnes Morgan is again stage direc- tor for the Season with Helen Arthur re-signed as Executive Director. It is sponsored by a Civic Committee of which Daniel L. Quirk, jr., is chair- man and Dean of Students Joseph A. Bursley, acting treasurer. 4 O)Pens Tomorrow at ro a. m. Garden Room, Michigan League 'American Landscape' Humorous, Timely Is * 5 GREAT PLAYS "No War in Troy!" A throw-back to an earlier era of the theatre is the presence of ghosts on a stage which is at the same time peopled by moderns is a high-light of "American Landscape," second production of the 1939 Dramatic Sea- son. Tickets for the series go on sale tomorrow. Hariret Beecher Stowe, the Moll Flanders publicized by Daniel De- Foe and the astral bodies of three captains are introduced into the play. Despite that fact, Elmer Rice's new- est contribution to the American the- atre deals with the people of the United States as they live today. Describing the conflict of the older and younger generations in an Ameri- can family, the play poses the typical problems of today-the question of isolation and collective security; of marriage and divorce, of labor and capital. Described as a "well-in- formed study of the maladies and dangers of the American system" which allows the ancestors to look over the shoulders of their descen- dents, the play is also reported to be spiced with humor "American Landscape" "The White Steed" 'BROADWAY STARS "Here Come the Clowns" "Captain Brassbound's Conversion" Philip Merivale Gladys Cooper Whitford Kane James Bell Doris Dalton Dorothy Sands Rich Background Of Players Insures Another Successful Dramatic Season and others Years of theatrical experience, ap- pearances with the greatest stars of the legitimate stage, and roles in plays by famous writers have provid- ed the actors who appear in the 1939 Dramatic Season with the back- ground essential to mature perfor- mances. The Season, which runs for five- weeks, opens May 15. Over-the- counter sale of tickets starts to- f MAY15- JUNE 17 morrow at the Garden Room of the League. Philip Merivale has one of the most remarkable records of those listed to appear. He has played with Helen Hayes, Jane Cowl, Gladys Cooper-- who is his wife-and other famed ac- tresses. His vehicles have included "Call It A Day," "Macbeth," "Othel- lo," "Valley Forge," "Mary of Scot- land," "Cynara," "Road to, Rome," "Death Takes a Holiday," "The Scarlet Pimpernel," "Pygmalion" and "As You Like It." Mrs. Merivale-Gladys Cooper- played with her husband in a num- ber of plays. Without him, she took part in "The Shining Hour," which was seen by Dramatic Season sub- scribers several years ago with Violet Heming in a leading role. This sea- son Gladys Cooper played in "Spring Meeting." Other vehicles in which she has appeared are "The Impor- tance of Being Earnest," "Man and Superman," "The Pigeon," "Mile- stnesgt nd "Peter Pan." have included "Blow Ye Winds," "Sweet Aloes," "Tomorrow's A Holi- day," "Life's Too Short," "Petticoat Fever," in which she was seen with Dennis King, and The Curtain Rises." One of the veterans of the coming season is Mary Morris. Her vehicles and the actors with whom she has appeared read like a who's who of the theatre. She played with Elissa Lan- di (an Ann Arbor visitor last year) and Glenn Hunter in "Empress of Destiny"; with Walter Huston in "De- sire Under the Elms," with Katherine Emery and Russel Hardie (who ap peared in last year's~ Season) in "Be- hind the Red Lights"; in "The Great God Brown," "The Sea Gull," "Lysis- trata" and "The House of Connelly." Joanna Roos appeared in "Grand Street Follies," "Holiday," "Uncle Vanya," "Elizabeth the Queen," "Little Women" and "Daughters of Atreus," a play which has been seen here. Doris Dalton SEASON TICKETS. . .. 6.60 4.80 3.60 2.50 A season ticket saves you 20% of the cost.