The Theater: Death by Ibsenitis

For years, dedicated drama lovers have been bemoaning the decline of the U.S. theater. They have watched the number of legitimate playhouses in Manhattan drop from 75-odd (in 1929) to 32 (in 1955), and have seen the once heavy traffic in road companies dwindle to a mere trickle. Some would agree with New York Herald Tribune Drama Critic Walter Kerr's acid contention that "nobody—but nobody—is willing to subject himself to any contemporary theatrical experience he can get out of," but many may be jolted by Critic Kerr's current diagnosis of the ailment.

Not...