The Theater: New Play in Manhattan, Oct. 30, 1950

Burning Bright (by John Steinbeck; produced by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein 2nd) suggests that misused talent can be more distressing than none at all. In this reversible raincoat of a "play-novelette,"* Steinbeck tells of a sterile husband (Kent Smith) with a fierce yearning for parenthood. His wife (Barbara Bel Geddes), out of love for him, conspires to have a child by another man. At first crushed and incensed when he learns the truth, he is at length comforted with a transcendental sense of being the father not of one child but of all children.

Steinbeck has chosen for this theme the...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!