New-York tribune., 1903-01-01
HOLID4I PLAYS.
Iqsrrenoe HousmGR s Bethlehem
Westminster Play and FooEng.
I.ondon- necen,her %

truth that the secret of the jewelled effects of
the blends Of color or Of the mysterious grace
of RaphaeTs tender Madonnas and BotticellTs
wistfui saints has not been mastered Mr.
Lawrence Housman. after appealing 70 morbid
tendencies Of human nature and piauing curl
osity by anonymous authorship in An Eng
lishweman's Love Letters" has attempted to
write Nativity play on the lines of the
medieval Miracle or Mystery plays. but his sue
cess is as >equivocal as that of modern painters
in portraying visions of ssintliness and rapt
alteration. Modern life is the spotted snake
which has dehied and destroyed the mystical
world OF medieval piety and idealism. Even
when the Censor Of Plays prohibits the public
performance Of Bethlehem on an ordinary
stage behind a box Office. and the spectators are
driven into corner In South Kensington and.
allowed full scope for meditation in a hall COM
pletely darkened. there is a conviction of the
irnpracticability of the playwrights restoration
Of that beautiful realm. The full text of the
work when read in the secluson of the library
confirms this impression Of the artiiciaity OF
the initiative processes. Like the old Miracle
plays. il is written in rhyme of various metres,
and is opened and closed with expesitory pas
sages from the chorus. and the story of the
shepherds and the star. the stable in Bethle-
hem, the visitation Of the Magi and the fight
into Egypt is reverently told. but the homely
spirit and naive simplicity of the medieval re-
production Of sacred scenes for the comfort and
instruction of pious believers are lacking.
The audience certainly was not touched by
the verse the music or the symbolism of the
Nativity play. Purely conventional was the pas
tcraI song of the shepherds. which preceded the
entrance OF Gabriel TO announce the wondrous
Birth. and the angelic refrain from unseen
singers reminiscent of oratorio and as futile
as the dHaperies in the dim background in sug-
costing the inscrutahle mystery of the glorious
night at Bethlehem A shaft Of light directed
with uncertainty and lack of skill, was substi-
tuted for the star. and the Magi arrayed in
gorgeous pomp were addressed by Gabriel
masqueradng shepherd and conducted to
The stable The veiled Virgin was the medieval
Queen OF Heaven, and a blue light was thrown
upon her she sat by a messy couch, with
The aderiRg shepherds and kings around her;
but not even the most cre5ulous worshippers of
the Norman period could have accepted the
crude realism of stable and manger. When the
gifts had been presented with snatehes OF
mournful music. Gabriel's warning Joseph
vas delivered and the mother and child disap-
peared behind the curtains in the imaginary
flight 10 Egyrt- While there was no lack of rev.
erenoe in the play, and while Scriptural phras-
ing had been closely followed in the text, 1t was
not impressive performance II enforced the
moral that while there may be utility in the re-
vival Of old religious pieces. such as Every
man. illustrations either Of the historic
origin Of the English drama or Of the hemely
method of giving instruction in times when
audiences were unlettered and could not read
the evangelists' story, modern imitation OF the
processes Of medieval playwrights is inevitably
Improbable and inartistic- The old wine can
not be poured into new bottles
81. Peters College fauliliarlE known as West
minister School. being royal institution. has
l,een overshad dowed by the sorrows Of the court
for several years and has been denied the solace
and excitement OF its holiday Terence. The old
dernitory Of the forty probationers has been
closed in Christmas week year after year out of
respect fer the memory of Queen Victoria, the
Duke of Saxe-Coburg and the Empress Fred
eTiek; but this season IL has been reopened in
fitness Of joy after the coronation Of the mon
srchs and the restora ton Of peace in South
Africa and Terence's comic spirit has again en-
livened three indulgent audiences. The first is
always the ladies' night when the mothers and
sisters Of the Westminster boys are allowed full
possession Of the house. Next comes the deans
night when the clergy and the Civil Service are
prominently represented; and the third per-
T rnsace is for the benefit OF the old West
minister bows. who reassemble in their play
house and feel anew the glow OF youthful en-
thusiasm as they greet one another, hear the
elegant lines CT the Latin PLAYWRIGHT and watch
the deliberate movement Of a plot borrowed
handed down from generation to generation for
novelties and experiments meet with stern dis
approssi IL quaint and MISTY Westminster; and
the cues and bits of stage business are hallowed
nv traditionA and every old Westminster boy
worth bis Attic salt knows where the laugh
comes in "Phcrmio'' is the play this season. for
,shf. IA rehesrsafs have been in progress for
-nanv weeks; and l. is favorite among Ter
encs's ,Tnedies in consequence of the facility
with which the superstructure of the epilogue
can be reared .pon the classic scaffolding- The
sr,ilosre is indeed the crowning work OF holi-
dsv u,erriment in Westminster, for it enables
,ba rerforrners who have been supporting Ia
to-iouslv he dignity Of the classic theatre 10
disnort themselves IN racer and more intelligi-
lle Latin. and TO convert current events into
Christmas crackers.
The epilogue this year was pretty play OF
academic Wit and drolery. Phsedria was trans
formed into q candidate for scholarship play
ing ming pong with Davus. an official poet untii
interrupted by Gets. the proctor, with stern de-
,nands for the examination papers DaFus was
suo,ved TO mount a hobbyhorse and TO recite
sesne of his patriotic verses, but with erlects 80
,5,ssstrous that the steed was drawn off with
coil OF red tape and sold TO the War once as d
,s,,o,nt Nausistrata. masquerading as fond
American mother, intervened with an inspection
f the university rooms which she pronounced
,.ss,- and unfit fer the virgin purity Of her son
Jonathan. and catching sight Of bust OF
s,s,,es-,eare she boldly questioned the validity
% the T,oet,s claims and overwhelmed the proc
,ov zxstb evidence Of the truth of the Bacnnian
,tr,,e- She was followed by PhoTmio. million
aire who offered TO purchase the university by
fora.inz an American trust; by three Boer gen
.~s1s hes.eing far subscriptions by Chrenes ana