Dynamo

Dynamo (1929), a play by Eugene O'Neill. [Martin Beck Theatre, 50 perf.] The Reverend Light ( George Gaul), a devout but somewhat arrogant Christian, and Ramsay Fife ( Dudley Digges), an atheist, are unfriendly neighbors. When the minister's son, Reuben ( Glenn Anders), falls in love with Fife's daughter, the teasing Ada ( Claudette Colbert), father and son have a falling out. Reuben denounces religion and goes in search of truth. He returns years later, having made science his god, but when he is seduced by Ada he kills her and then electrocutes himself by throwing himself on the dynamo. Although Brooks Atkinson observed, “Writing on the most essential theme of modern life, Mr. O'Neill has strength and breadth, and a lashing poetry,” the play, which O'Neill planned as the first of a trilogy, failed to run. For some critics Lee Simonson's brilliant second‐act setting, showing the interior of a hydro‐electric plant, was the most memorable feature of the Theatre Guild production.