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— SEES, LILLIAN HELL ' HAS PLAY READ | {Dramatist Plans Only Minor, i Revisions—She Opposes / | ‘Deep Collaboration’ | ! t By ARTHUR GELE f The new play on which’ Lillian Hellman has been work- ing for two years, and which. she has re-written four times,. solely at the urging of her own artistic conscience, is finally ready for production. Kermit ~~Bjoomgarden has joined LestéPOsterman ag the play's “to-pfoducer, “and re- rsals are now set for the er@l of December, with a Broad. ¥ Opening planned for the - sycond week of February. Miss Hellman, interviawed yesterday in her duplex apart-' ment in an East Side brown-. stone, said that she considered ‘the script, which is stint - tied, mg “90 per cent finishel]."”! ° words, she intends to: make only very sight revisi¢ns from, this point on, contrary 0° collaborative re-writing, usually’ dictated by the directpr and’ producer of an incoming Broad-' roduction. * wrt doesn't mean,” she: added, with a smile, “that the, play is good. But it's the best, I can do. Any extensive re- writing out of town is not going to improve it, from my point of view,” | Miss Heilman holds the some-. what unorthodox theory | that one that counts, and profegse a gense of bewilderment at Bh willingness of a number of gon tefnporary playwrights to #ub to the sort } .ofption’—her phrase—that. is, ‘designed to produce a hit play. of “deep colab+ { Pome Collaboration Needed ; Every writer for the th tre ‘(foMaborates to a certain lex. tegt.” she continued. “This Se G06d and necessary things A end there must be felt ithe force of the 1 Ffhe deep collaboration Iking Prycticed today robs a Pp. of this sense of individual force. Thtee or four People cannot collaboratively make a serious: piece df writing. There's no such thing as art by democratic majority.” ‘ The trouble is, Miss Hellman believes, that all writers, her- Self included, are haunted by the fear of failure. “When this -ear becomes dominant, parti-’ culariy in terms of box-office, veceipts, the writer loses faith ‘n himself,” she said: “over: whelming fear of failure for a: seTious Writer {s death, “These are sad times for the’ ous writer, The theatre has’ come gs9 commercial t trything is either hit or mifs, ere is evidently a belief t ere is 3 formula for suc ' V vbiwb lila FNOM THE N.Y. _. TIMES | ~—-1/9/59 = ———_ | a | PORWANELES BY EY BIVISION EDITOR: CHARLES MERZ © RE: LILLIAN FLORENCE HELLMAN SM= Aa etait, a / VOU 277L 4 ff. NOF Pe "O" DED 184 NOV 19 195¢