More than 3,000 persons crowded into Temple Emmanu-El last night to hear Israel Zangwill who lectured on the drama under the auspices of the New York Section of the Council of Jewish Women. Mrs. Irving Lehman presided.
The drama, Zangwill said, was one of the most difficult of the arts, from the author’s viewpoint. He had tried every branch of literature with the exception of epic poetry, he declared, and he had found the drama by far the “toughest”.
The fault with the drama today, if it might be termed a fault, he said, was the tendency of managers to hitch their plays to theatrical stars.
“The great need of America today is a national theatre. Not a Shakespeare Memorial Theatre which I understand is projected, but an inspirational theatre, where art may receive its fullest expression.”
So far as the American stage is concerned, Zangwill said, he discerned a great improvement since his last visit here. The screen especially had a great opportunity, although as yet it had not attained its fullest development. It has many advantages over the speaking stage, especially in its ability to reproduce elaborate and identical scenic settings, he declared.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
