GUIDANCE THROUGH DRAMA

Six plays by Dr. Weiss who has done extensive work with such organizations as the New York City Board of Education and Teachers College at Columbia University, have for their purpose the presentation of problems for discussion with parent, teacher and child study groups. Each has been previously published and tried before such a group, and as experiments they seem worth their salt. The common characteristics of each are a family problem and an indefinite ending that leaves the solution or possible alternatives up to the audience. Here are three of the plays and their plots: ""Parents are People"" asks what to do when an irresponsible daughter of 20 runs out on a baby sitting job. ""The Actor"" shows the bad effects of the stifling of a son's talents because of financial straits- and is more of a puzzler than the first play. A third ""Greetings-From"" examines the pros and cons of army enlistment and leaves the decision to the boy in question. In all, the scope of the problem is more than one-sided, characterizations are true, and though their value needs further testing at group level they strike important chords.