ABSTRACT
By one who is not a memberIt seems to me that the WTM may be reflecting the whole transition stage of the movement towards united-front work, towards closer and unbreakable relations with the masses. This means that the WTM is coming through its infancy, but has not yet discovered how to advance to a more mature stage.The solution lies in at once relaxing and strengthening the ‘Agit-Prop’ character of the WTM. This may sound strange, but I will explain what I mean. I mean that on the one side the WTM must relax its artificial limitations. It is not yet by any means a true ‘Agit-Prop* vehicle. It is rather a development of what is called ‘expressionism’, and ‘expressionism’ is less a type of revolutionary and proletarian drama, than a type of decadent and pessimistic bourgeois drama. Expressionism tickles the palates of the bourgeoisie and helps them to escape the painful force of the representational and personal drama, when this latter deals with certain subjects painful to the bourgeoisie, i.e., with the class struggle and with the forcible ending of the present property relationships.So let us visualize on the one hand a return to very simple realism, and on the other hand an expansion of the ‘Agit-Prop’ idea into fresh channels and with fresh inspiration behind it. I will deal with these two aspects separately.1 Return to realism and representationism on a simple basis. We find that there are a fairly large number of working-class dramatic organizations in the country associated with the Labour party, Coop, etc., as well as a number of semi-working-class and petit-bourgeois groups, amateur dramatic associations, and so forth. Even when these groups are middle-class in composition, they sometimes contain, or are capable of being captured by, radical thinking persons of semi-revolutionary or advanced views. Naturally most of the plays they select are fairly realistic and straightforward. Yet many are waiting, even if unconsciously, for a new
168 The debate on naturalism: Documents lead. Many would welcome plays expressing a definite anti-war, anti-Fascist, socialistic point of view. Any organization that could bring such plays to their notice would gain a reputation. Also, it would be beneficial to the broad Movement that such plays should be put about and performed by amateur societies of ability.How then to set about it? We have first to consider whether such plays exist already. Probably there are a few; and it would be as well to think in terms mostly of one-acters at this stage. Then we must consider the large number of writers of reputation that have associated themselves with the anti-war movement, the German Relief Committee, etc. Correct approach to these might in time achieve unexpectedly good results. It is even possible for us to think in terms of getting a sympathetic publisher to put out a series of new one-acters, etc., called ‘Plays for the Moment’, or something of that kind. It has not, I think, been tried. I do not suggest that it can be done in a moment, but it will enable the WTM to influence certain writers towards us and to have a fine basis for approaching and forming a united front with any kind of amateur dramatic groups that might come under our influence.In my opinion the WTM should itself consider working up a certain number of simple realistic sketches. In these the central figure would be a worker, etc. who is not so much a typical ‘symbol’ of the working class as an actual worker with whom any member of the audience can emotionally identify himself. The drama would consist of a real problem put to that worker, as, t g., something about a strike or war; and it would be necessary to observe him in mental conflict, so that the audience would feel its own mental conflicts being worked out in that man on the stage. The plays would, of course, be short and in ordinary clothes without properties (or, anyhow, the minimum of properties). The audience could be shown a young worker invited to join the army and see his emotional conflict in his argument with the recruiting agent. He will waver to and fro and the audience will be emotionally stirred with a feverish interest in him, until finally his revolutionary consciousness wakes up to the full and he sees his way clear and expresses himself in definite terms to his ‘tempter’. Many such simple scenes could be worked out; but one must note that they would need to be carefully acted by workers who took the trouble to study the parts carefully, so as to get the maximum effect across. Little scenes with two, three or four characters would
be quite enough. I feel certain that if the WTM could get together a small experimental group for this purpose and consider carefully one or two such sketches, the result would be most successful.2 Fresh advances along the ‘Agit-Prop* lines. I would like to note that as a movement grows to maturity, so it becomes on the one side more sober and painstaking and on the other side more daring and dramatic. Think what the German workers, for example, achieved in daring dramatic effects in the last years of legality - the ‘tapping’ of Hindenburg’s wireless speech is a good instance. Another striking example in this country is the way in which a little group of workers splashed Hitler’s waxwork figure with red paint. These incidents are staggering; they get into all the papers, they are widely discussed. They are the dramatic aspect of the broad ‘Agit-Prop’ work of the Movement.To invent and carry out these ideas into effect is not the task of the WTM. But it is the task of the WTM to excite, shock, and impress the minds of working-class audiences by its dramatic effects and methods. The WTM must get its wits to work and contrive ever fresh dramatic effects, that will thrill its audiences and fix the incidents in the mind of every member of that audience. The WTM must get closer and closer to its audiences.It has already achieved something in this way, of course, but more can be done. For example, plays should start directly from the audience. The special WTM kit should be used but sparingly and only in street work, where it is necessary to attract attention and draw a crowd. Indoors ordinary clothes should be used. Everything possible should be done to surprise the audience (within limits of course). For example, one member of the cast, dressed as a burlesque Fascist, could be dragged in by others with much shouting, and a trial could then take place, in which the audience is the jury. I stress the word ‘burlesque’ because there must be no practical jokes on the audience. The audience must be surprised and excited, but not alarmed and not feel that it has been hoaxed. Another idea is appropriate for week-end schools, etc. The members of the school would be attracted by the spectacle of some workers apparently digging a trench or the like in a neighbouring field; and when their attention has been attracted, the men in question would suddenly down tools and go on strike, hold a strike meeting, etc. The audience would rapidly grasp that it was
a bit of drama, but (if it were well done) would enter into the thrill of the idea.It is my belief that scores of such effects could be contrived and that they would have great ‘Agit-Prop’ value when well carried out.3 I will add further points that occur to me. I do not think the WTM makes enough use of humour. In this we must remember that the typical humour of the workers is often shown on the music halls. I think that much could be done by having simple back-chat comedians, two only, coming on with a series of comic comments on the political happenings of the day. Of course for this we require those who can both write and do the comic turns. Nevertheless, if we could do it, it would be exceedingly popular. Why not ask Bejay to write a comic back-chat turn of this kind? We must look out for humorists - men who can make the workers laugh at the reformists in a mild but destructive way. We take ourselves too seriously. Most of the WTM humour so far has been all on the anti-religious lines, and this is bad in my opinion. It is infantile.I think that many of the WTM shows I have seen suffer from being overburdened. Too much is got in to any one sketch. It seems as though the writers were dreadfully afraid of leaving out any aspect of the class struggles and therefore all had to come in. Some propagandists are like that on the platform.I should like to mention the idea of parodies of music hall songs popular at the moment. These should be real parodies, capable of being picked up and sung by every worker on the streets. In this they cease in a sense to be merely ‘parodies’ and become an effort to give the workers our words in place of the words he learns from the music hall and the song sheets. Especially should we achieve a success if we could get the children of a district singing our words in place of the words of the bourgeois song.(Source: WTM Bulletin, September-October 1933, pp. 19-23)
The N ew Stage Group (1933) We now give the extremely important resolution on the question of the group set up to give short and full-length plays in the ordinary style with curtains, lights, etc. The opening remarks are written by Tom Thomas, the national organizer. In the first discussions which took place on the return of the Olympiad delegation, one fact soon became exceedingly clear: that there was no clearness whatever about the delegation as to the future work of the WTM and how the lessons of the Olympiad should be applied.The only idea expressed was that the line of the WTM had to be changed, but why or how did not seem to be generally known. Those comrades who permitted themselves to be a little more explicit spoke of changing the open-platform work which had been carried on for three years and of the Movement reverting to the stage dramatic group.This was all the more surprising in view of the fact that those performances at the Olympiad of which a coherent report was given - and most of the reports at the London discussion meeting were anything but coherent, though some were excellent - these performances were open-platform performances of an extremely high level of effectiveness.These excellent shows were not, however, to be taken as our aim, but, on the contrary, the naturalistic play as typified only by the very poor Norwegian group, and, of course, by the Soviet theatres with all the advantages which the Revolution has won for them. A rather strange conclusion to draw!I think it is probable that the explanation will be found in a misunderstanding of the many criticisms levelled against the open-platform groups at the Olympiad on the ground of ‘schematism’, lack of convincing characters, etc. These seem to have been taken as a criticism of the form itself, rather than the way it was being handled by many of the groups (ourselves included.)A very full discussion took place at the London meeting when the delegates reported (or didn’t, as the case may be). I pointed
172 The debate on naturalism: Documents out that to abandon the street performance and the shows at meetings would be to abandon the greater part cf our attempts to get to the mass of the workers, which had been strikingly successful in the past.After an excellent discussion, the following resolution was proposed and carried unanimously. It was afterwards discussed by the London groups and carried by the Central Committee: Resolution - 2 July 19331 In accordance with our conference decisions and the decisions of the 1st Congress of IURT,* we reiterate our conviction that the chief work of the WTM in Britain at the present time must be the development of groups of worker-players who will perform to the workers wherever the workers may be, and will use for this purpose the most effective method, the open-platform method.We realize that this method has been handled in many instances very badly indeed, and undertake to improve the quality of the sketches and the standard of performance to make them equal to their task of winning the working masses to the support of the revolutionary line.2 The plan for developing the work within the professional theatre must be carried out, drawing those elements who are won to the revolutionary line into the work of assisting the worker-players with their technical experience. We aim at developing a ‘left’ play-producing society which will be of great value, and an important step on the road of building a mass revolutionary permanent theatre when the time is ripe for such a step.3 In order to utilize the services of workers who will not take part in ‘open-platform’ work, to win workers from other dramatic organizations and in some cases the organizations themselves, and as a further step in the development of a revolutionary theatre, it is necessary, when the possibility arises (in the opinion of the Central Committee) to develop groups * International Union of Revolutionary Theatres, set up in Moscow in the early 1930s. It organized an Olympiad in Moscow in August 1933 which was attended by a group from Britain. It published the magazine International Theatre.
