small orchestra. Only three percussionists are visible; they are standing at the back of the orchestra, the left-most human figures. There appear to be three timpani in front of them. The woodwind and brass players are not entirely visible. Herrmann's body is facing the orchestra, and his hands are raised as if prompting a cue. However, his head and face are turned toward the actor at the microphone. Herrmann's pose is a key source that suggests three possible moments at which the picture was taken: Slightly before the first music cue (in the play: "Even a few old men are dancing") At the conclusion of the first music cue (in the play: "That's odd! The music has stopped") Just before the second and final music cue (in the play: "The city has fallen") The third option can be discarded since there would be no need for so many actors to be holding scripts if the play was seconds from being over. If Herrmann was waiting for the cue to end, his right arm would be in motion and blurred. So it can be presumed that this photograph was taken during the Announcer's speech, shortly before the first music cue. Reception The Columbia Workshop premiere of The Fall of the City was selected by The New York Times as one of the outstanding broadcasts of 1937. In reviewing the play in print (it was published shortly after the broadcast), critic and poet Louis Untermeyer wrote: "An examination of the printed work confirms the first impression. Here are all the technical excellences: the alternating shifts in accent; the adroit juxtaposition of oratory and plain speech; the variations of rhyme, assonance, and dissonance; above all, the atmosphere of suspense which this poet can communicate so well. The play is one mounting tension, thrilling in its evocation of terror and fatality. The reader is convinced that these are events, not images, that "the people invent their oppressors," and that, with the fall of the city, "the long labor of liberty" is ended." In describing the idiomatic use of radio, Untermeyer continued: The effectiveness of this verse play is increased by Mr. MacLeish's recognition of the resources of the radio and his employment of the Announcer as a combination of Greek Chorus and casual commentator. Writing for the radio, he has indicated a new power for poetry in the use of the word in action,