Daily Worker
May 17, 1941
"SIGN OF THE TIMES" SPIRITED LABOR REVUE by Ralph Warner
SIGN OF THE TIMES, a new musical revue presented by the Almanac Singers and players at Finnish Hall.
The progressive theatre of 1941 took a long step forward at Finnish Hall on Thursday evening when the Almanac Singers and Players joined hands to present a spirited little revue called "Sign of the Times." Here at last is a theatre which expressed the real sentiments of American labor and American youth today and which goes about the business of creating an entertaining show in exactly the right way.
The Almanac Singers have been heard hereabouts ever since they came out of the hinterlands to sing songs of the people - John Doe Songs, they call their numbers. They are four solid looking American youths who not only can twang guitars and mandolins, but who can create singable harmonies. And they also know how to say the right thing with a smile. In this little show they do all of their familiar popular numbers but some new ones as well, blasting the enemies of labor and of peace and telling the story of the great strike struggles of this very year. They are especially good when they sing a number which for lack of a programmed title should be called the "Organizing Song", Here, with many a proletarian jest they explain how to win higher pay and better working conditions from the bosses, and also how to detect the various plots which are used to disrupt union drives.
Acting Company Plays Honestly
But the Almanac Singers are not the only feature of "Sign of the Times." The acting company plays honestly, offering broad satires and burlesque of current issues. A human "Puppet Show" in which a worker almost loses his girl to a villainous munitions maker is full of laughs and is excellently played by the cast of three. The "Ventriquilist" is almost a model for the caricatured skit, showing perfectly the class relations which have resulted in the present Wall Street-Washington drive to enslave the American worker by means of the "defense" propaganda campaign. "A Lesson in Economics" also has a pointed moral to teach, although it is not executed quite so successfully as the other sketches, "A Negro Youth Goes to Washington" is a dramatic monologue which adds much to the program.
What makes "Sign of the Times" such a pleasant evening's entertainment is the spirit of the company. It is a genuine collective, with a membership which is trying to express theatrically the thoughts and the aspiration of the American people - and to accomplish this needed task in entertaining fashion. A program note states that the music of the Almanac Singers comes directly from the American people. The material for the sketches rises from the experience of the workers. The scenery, a frame which encloses a small back drop, is tastefully conceived, and is easily portable so that it may be erected without difficulty in small halls.
As for the cast, the boys and girls are handsome, talented and sincere, They have no personal axes to grind - all they seek is to do their bit for the American people in their own way.
A Smooth Premiere
Thursday evening's performance was a premiere, but it suffered little from the usual roughness of such events. Instead the program moved smoothly. If any criticism may be offered it can only be given in a spirit of helpfulness. More variety in the character of the sketches will vary the program somewhat. And the Almanac boys, who act as a singing accompaniment, might well be used more onstage in ensemble numbers and even in sketches. I am sure that with the passing of time the little show will become richer in material and will gain in speed.
Certainly it cannot please any audience more than the several hundred persons who saw the premiere. They joined heartily in the mass singing with which the show concludes and they cheered lustily as the song ended.
You will not make a mistake in booking theatre parties and in engaging the cast of "Sign of the Times" for your organization affairs.