The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-22
yIss UlCNERLY N IRIsn pl4rs.
W. ". Yeats Interpreted by an Actress OF
Great Poetic Charm.

Mr. Bayard WELLER earned the gratitude
Of an audience Of considerable size anc
unusual intelligence Yesterday afternoon
at the Hudson Theatre by presenting
Miss Margaret Wycherly the leading Eng.
hsh dramatic representative Of the new
Irish literary movement. in three of the
plays Of William Butler Yeats. Not since
Miss Wynne Matthison swan into our ker
in -Everyman' have those who cared for
drama which il also poetry enjoyed 70 ex-
quisite and delicious a combination Of play
and player.
Miss Wycherly. in spite 81 her recent
illness. looks vigorous and wholesome
and has u face and form at once girlisn
aad womanly. II Madonnas were nova.
dlysmore in style as staple OF comparison
one would be tempted TO confess that she
seemed like u real canvas from the time
before Raphsel-a very different thing
from n preraphaelite canvas that by some
magic had been endowed with life and mo-
ton. Her masque has an elemental sim
plicity and purity, without a suggestion
of the anPmia Of Rossetti and Bune Jon ~.
Her forehead il broad and low. and beneath
it the glory OF midni ght eyes beaning
with ne starlight OF dreams. Her voice
is soft and low. accurately modulated
and with the sivery warmth Of summer
moonlight
For the plays Of Mr. Yeats zee confess
to n modified admnat ton They are OF no
great substance, either dramatic or intel
lectual, being the product OF n movement
which is fragmentary and resctionery.
IA Their than vitality wholesome and progress
sive. A William Archer once expressed
it. they appeal to those who prefer
the con vcnticlc of art to the cathedral -
end, even in the shadow OF Broadway, the
drama Of the many seems far better thing
than the drama Of the few. Yet they are
the work Of a man OF rare poetic gifts, who
is, within the narrow field he prescribes fer
himself. en- accomplished playwright.
Their appeal such as il is. ia unmis kable
and PERHAPS the best proof Of it is the ia ct
thct they gain immeasurably in the hands
of capable interpreters.
The pieces of Yesterday afternoon nre
already familiar to the devotecs Of the
modern movement in the theatre and in
the printed page. In Tho Lanobof Heart 8
D sire Miss Wycherly was Mare, the
young wife in love with mystic lore, whose
soul is spirited away from her husband
and the priest by the fairy child in green,
to dwell in pagan JOY and freedom on the
mountain tops Ct the morning. 1t was
here that her spiritual beauty Of mind and
Of person me de itself most potently felt.
In aCath leon nj HoolihGn' she was the old
wan beg In whom Yeats has typifed tho
soul of Irish patriotism. Youth seldom or
never succeeds, on the stage. in stimulating
the ma jesty and the decrepluGe CT age
But what could be done Miss Wycherlv
did and gR We the climax, in which she IN =
spires . young bridegroom TO leave his
bride in tho service of his country, a note
Of real heroism.
In The Hour Glass she essaycd the part
Of Teigse the begRar fool Here she had
TO contend against her sex and moreover,
the memory of William H. Owens in the
same part. II must oe confessed that she
came OF second best Whether the old
man is nearer 20 the conception Of the poet
than the radiant youth OF Miss Wycherly
II is not possible 10 shy. But il Ia certain
that Mr. Owens succeeded in suggesting
fuller measure OF the wise, childike mys-
ticism Of Teioge the beggar and threw IL
into a firmer contrast with his no less wise
and childlika shrcwdness in the matter Of
pennies He had measure Of melowness
and JUNCTION quite beyond Miss Wycherly' S
power. in spit, OF her simplicity and charm.
The supporting company mey be justly
dcsoribed by that much abused term ade-
uuate. They lack the stage presence and
the assurance Of the trained and experienced
actor. but possess the simplicity and sin
cerity,that because Of IN sir rarity perhaps
seem generous compensation for them.
There will be another matinee on Friday,
and We arc promised further represen-
tations in March. A great vogue may be
predicted for Miss Wycherly Certainly no
one who cares for the more exquisite. in
elligent and poetic manifestations of the
drama can afford TO miss her.