New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-12-10
SHAW's NEW PLAY

On November Is Shaw's latest plav. .NTa,o, ~.
bara," was produced in London, with Miss AMI.
Russell in the title part. The London rsvfsuv...
with one accord pronounce the play totally ",
dramatic and too long drawn out so that # 60,
70 be amusing after the second act. Shaw hIrna.Is
forestailed them In this latter criticism BY iabst
1t a discussion" Miss Russell. and also her bnS.
Danc. Oswald Yorke. are praised for their actIns
as are all the cast, though Miss Russell Is svi-
GENTLY not the surprise she once was in To,5o
The Tines begins its long review as follows.
In the current 'Deux Mondes'' M Ars,.+t, Ne,
says the right thing about Mr.. Bernard sbs 5Sa
Shaw has become the fashion and i bssorSi ~ ~
Iasnion ne has given way to the besettIng sin - -
caprice. unto himself He eTaggerates 6 Sr rather
versities, revels in his own weaknesses ~
ehdsd of What ter 1 SO 5 naye 9 dP lon E
, pom Roon ma am look at your child there loH
iiHg on the carpet. He shows much that we concssi
put In perfect Innocence my dear rna'ann IN oeTS!
nn9cence In perfect innocence Mr.. Shaw puts Fs
a.PoIogy into the mouth of one OF the peonTs h
for making speeches. and Andrew Teb I l9 place
no other way OF expressing myself Exaotvi ETsr
Is dTaInatiSt who knows no other way az sTn-sSs
ing himself IN drama than the essenfiaIiv 1ipSss
matte way Of speechmadng He never tna giiES-
oSner way; but in his earlier plays ne dd T1aka ~
enort TO conceal the fact In his earlier psg 15sr
was some Pretence Of dramatic form unity eobar
ence. In Major Barbara" there is none His His
t aa43, Is t1at or his own Andrew Undershaft-
ULasnamed. And the worst OF It IS this inno-
cShc t OF ar. ShaWs, the shameless Innocence
9I the child, is more effective than the wis
dom of the serpent. ''FaibIesss ouf est ms
AOICey as PROFESSOR Belac Of soInefhfney eIs
All the tlTne the innocent MIR. Shaw is tajing a
mean advantage OF playwTights far less guIleess
tnah hInseIt. Many Of our playwrights have sJSiII
one or TIVE have even thoughts but unfortunately
tneH skill Is wasted on rubbish and their thoughfs
are never concerned with things worth thinSi1S
about now, Mr.. Shaw has no dramatic skill has
apparently no dramatic instinct but he ia a think
eE VINO from first to last deals with things worth
LuI0nlhng ABOUT And so turn with relief nav
WIN positive JOY, from the intellectual Common.
RttSgS OF the average English playwright to Tia
nteiIectual eccentricity of Mr.. Shaw We do h
against our own better judgment We feel that
tue orsLIlalc medium is being wasted and mis-
usHd we soTroTfully recognize that Mr.. Shaw
VIII never recognize what Pater called the resDoB.
sibility of the artist to his material T2,it r.,
the other people who do possess this sense Of re-
sponsloiity, are so mediOcrei And Mr. Shaw d
SO AMUSING! dramatist ne Is not but he is
Splendd pleasure monger That Is why ha ~
become the fashion in a pleasure seekins, world
But We venture to addres to him one word 81
warning. he must not abuse his vogue Amusing
as ne is, ne is not amusing for quite SO long as s
supposes- The truth is. he doesn't know when 10
STOP ne lapses into Iongueurs. Before the end
u aaJor E3aroara' was reached we caught our
sseNeS yaWnlng. There IS professor Of Greek IN
Jne play who might quote TO Mr.. Shaw a familiar
i iLIIs aDoqI that "A yaTn, says EUripides, 81
lently rehukes the garfulous poet