Susan and God: Reborn at The Mint

Though the name "Rachel Crothers" may not easily come to the mind of today's theatergoers, there were few seasons during the first forty years of the 20^th Century where this prolific playwright did not premiere at least one new piece in New York.  The thirty-four years from 1906 to 1940 saw no less than twenty-nine opening nights of a new Rachel Crothers Broadway play.

Crothers' play was inspired by the trendy popularity of the Oxford Group, a religious movement whose appeal among the wealthier set was all the rage during the 20's and 30's.  Their practice of evangelical soirees and social gatherings is said to have been the inspiration for Alcoholics Anonymous.

"There isn't any dogma or anything hard to believe about it  .That's why so many intelligent thinking people are interested in it," Susan explains to her American friends who are taking breaks from tennis, horseback riding and screwing up their own love lives to hear of this new group of titled friends she has made in England.  "It's thrilling and alive and fun, so people aren't ashamed to be good."

Susan's epiphany apparently came when asked to confess her sins.At first she found the suggestion impertinent, but then she sucked it in and confessed to having her hair touched up in Paris.  "And after that, you don't know the joy and peace.When I saw people staring at my hair in the sun, I didn't give a damn."