The Washington times., 1904-03-29
COUSIN KATE"
A CHARMING PLAY
Hubert Davies Comedy EX-
hilarating and Beautiful.
MISS BARRYM0RE'S TRIUMPH
Brilliant Yourg Actress Shines in De-
Iightful Role--A I.,tabIe Company.
Heard by Large Audience.

a comedy as eXhilarating and upiift-
ing as a walk over country hillside on
a spring morning was disclosed at the
National Theater last night 10 the de-
light of many simple-hearted and pure
minded Neutrality-suspicious.. 1t bore the I'll
tic of Cousin Kate" and was performed
so that al its virtues of spirit and at
mosphere were emphasizcd-by Ethel
Barrymore and half a dozen other ac-
tors of great ability. And at the close
OF the play everyone in this audience
who had ever loved a fairy tale or
known the Joy of a nursery story left
the building with a glow of cxaltatiOn
In his heart and a smile of uttle-child
happiness on his face. So immediate is
the response of human nature TO the
magic touch Of art and beauty
The author Of Cousin Kate" is HUI
bert Henry Dawes and the task he set
hiHself-or rather the field of employ
mont in which a kindly nature and gen
tie spirit found occupation-was the dis
covery OF their own hearts TO two young
people of our owe -'me and circum-
stance, and the realization that. when
all is said and done, and all the great
problems" of painting and noveI-writ-
ing have been solved. nothing in the
world is worth so much as the love of
manly man for a nObie-hearted and love
~ woman. This is an old theme It
has been treated in every language and
IL every form OF the literature of every
language. Yet. like the whispering Of
spring its beauty is ever fresh and its
reward for the artist who serves it ever
constant
Miss Barrymore's Art Widens.
For such a play Miss Barrymore s
endowment is wonderfully apt She
offers TO us today the rare union or
delicate. rose-colored girlhood and a
true and untainted art. the world being
SO constituted that actresses who pos
sess the one are almost invaria blv dc
MED the other. The illusion OF youth is
in this way bettered by the bloom of
youth itself A further interest ceuters
on Miss Barrymore in that among all
the actors who are now prominent on
our stage she IS almost the only one
VINO belongs 10 this generation, who
has made her appearances before us as
"A novice and by means of our support
and eccourag cement has risen TO sta
lion Of security and promise. So. when
an idyll like Carrots" or a pastoral
like Cousin Kate" is her Offering, the
response we make is ready and fun.
II is pleasant 10 note thar Miss Barry
more's art has been greatly advanced.
II was distinguished last night by "a
nne confidence, a clear enunCiatiOn so
controlled as TO develop every siguifi-
canoe or the text. am expression in o.
personality which Is both charming and
impressive, and thousand superficial
ties Of gesture and bearing which prom
Use n proper naturalness comparable TO
1hat OF Eleanora Duse. Her chief
strength lies In her personality; but it
is abundmntly re-enfOrced by her art
A Cast Of Seven.
The cast includes seven persons only.
thus confirming the lesson taught by
The Marriage of Kitty" that artistic
Feasibility and wit have no need Of num-
bers. These seven arc ii Wcll-bred and
gentle widow with gray hair and somber
silk gowns; a daughter on whose heart
the leaden weight Of duty lies i'm
rnovab bic. and whose nature catches the
tone OF every other nature il encount-
ers: a clergyman. Snug, ChuTChly, trans
parent and designed by Providence for
the dutiful daughter a niece who writes
cynical novels for a profession, but in
her own self is so ingenious, unselfsh,
and sympathetic that she is put 10 solv-
ing everyone else's difficulties; a young
painter. an Irishman. whose heart is
still young ct thirty or thereabouts and
whose spirit IS ebullient; and two char
acters which III ina youth Of about
fourteen and a maid-servant
All these roles are admira bly, acted
that OF the widow by Annie Adams, the
daughter by Beatrice Agnew: the
clergyman BY Grant Stewart, Cousin
Kate" by Miss Barrymore, OF course;
the Irishman by Bruce McRae. an actor
81 pronounced intelligence, aptitude. ana
earnestness; and the others by Harold
Grau and George Mendum.
The Lightning and the Spring.
Il would serve no purpose TO detail the
plot. Enough is known In this; that the
cynicism Of Cousin Kate's books van
ishes before the unfolding q her own
heart. and that the good in her nature
and that OF her sweetheart Is Dut TO
severe trial. The end is what il should
be. what il is always when the purpose
IS true. the mind pure and the choice
that Of the hearts simplicity rather
than Of the judgments calculation.
Thus the curtain falls. not on a dis
tinctiVe achievement by the actor buf
uDOn the fine issue OF the plot and tn
imprint which is deepest is that ~ Il
beautiful story. expressive of q brauil-
full thought. BY this means more lives
are brought TO See the virtue of simple
ity and genuiueness than by all tho
problem plays and studies iu vice which
the stage can hold. 10 is tho old story.
only two things can pierce 90 the heart
which rends II asunder and the warm
glow OF the spring which nurses TO- INFO
bloom. A. ID. A.