The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1903-09-02
Quaint Archaism: Per
vades the. Pro-: +.
duction.


WW given here for the first time
yesterday afternoon at the
80 University of California. was
at the height of its popularity, a festival
Of the market place, the common fare of
the play-lofing folk of the day. and done
by the wandering stroliers. of. the time
To-day Charles Frohman, the Napoleon
of the polite drama of this year of our
Lord 1903, presents this ancient classic,
with the best dramatic material of the
hour and TO the intellectual: elite among
audiences. So the world ways And one
wonders, in face of this moving old
drama, wherein our so vaunted dramatic
progress consists. Richard Harding DAYS.
hardly explains it with "a Tanning Of
Helen. nor yet the. fervent Rogers
Brothers in In Washington" One must
look elsewhere, and perhaps in the Wag-
ner drama, with its large humanity its
appealing symbolism, it's exalted ideals,
one finds that which. is most nearly IN
key, with the simple grandc urs of an
q" EyerYThan."
For an hour and some twenty-five min
Utes- the large audience. that greeted the
play yesterday listened and looked. with
an unswerving attention One felt i'm
mon Gymnasium-the quaint archaism of
the atmosphere. No. curtain, no foot
lights the simplest of scenic settings met
the eye. The center Of the stage rose be
hind Into a: throne, whose steps were
fanSed with solemn and. stiff little orange
trees. At either side" of the throne were
inches; like those In which rest the. great
dead in ancient abbeys, and fhe ecclesias-
teal suggestion was still further carried
out by the churchly. doorways that
thanked these. Steps led from the stage
to the auditorium, through which the
players made their quaint and serious
way to the curtained exit. A couple, of
stools, a. table with an ancient inkhorn
and pen, were the only furniture
/ Enter first two hooded monks, heads
bowed, and. feet bare: These seat them
selves gravely- at opposite. sides of the
stage, and the play begins From behind
the scenes. rises the sound of music, the
severe and pure intervals Of the thir-
teenth century psalnnody. A messenger,
black garbed and serious. who might
have been cut bodily from a Rembrandt
print, then appears and in sonorous tones
tells the purpose of the play. The cen
turtles fell back as the niessenger-Ben
Greet and the Elizabethan Society deny
Us his name. as those of all of the cast
intoned his message with grave sweet
ness 1t prepared one almost for the
Jove-lfke beard and crown then appears
on the throne.
Neither audacious nor .irreverent does
this singular experiment. appear With
profound dignity the actor who under
takes the part arraigns the erring Every
man, drowned in sin and numbered with
riches" accusing him Of having forgot
ten his maker. He summons Death, who
answers with a horn and the ominous
haa of n in
swer to the command.
A triumphant makeup is that of Death
and a singularly convincing portrayal. He
is a skeleton marvelously mimicked, with
the red velvet cap adding a shudder of
contrast, and a dry rafting voice that Is
in admirable consonance with. the part.
Not once even here, nor elsewhere
throughout the play, was the perfection
Of the atmosphere disturbed. Death re-
ceived the Lords command. to summon
Everyman from his sins. and in a solemn
hush obeys the command, to the tune of
an actual shiver of sympathy in the audi
dience. ais the pretty roysterer, lutte in
hand appears to. answer the summons.
In the actress who interprets Every
man, the cast Is singularly fortunate. The
nameless young woman has a delicately
ascetc profile, a grace of carriage. a
purity Of diction, vocal beauty, a refined
intelligence, that insure the best for the
role. Particularly admirable is the young
woman's facial expression. The progress
from the gay/worldling to the sincere
penitent is most impressively painted. AS
Everyman, repentant, on his way to the
tomb, in his difficult professional through
the audience, the actress achieved a spirit
uality of expression almost inspired. In
all phases Of the role, indeed, she shows
herself effective.
First to Everymah comes Fellowship.
after he has felt the awakening horror of
Deaths message Fellowship will surely
not Desert Everyman, who has been so
long his friend. Fellowship. by the wav
is not so well in the picture as the rest
Of the cast spelling too modern note not