New-York tribune., 1905-11-05
The LAST WEEK.
~The Merchant of Venice'-Ihe
lSha5c Rlr7np pas.

l- WAS marked chiefly by the Sothern
"a ,F.rlove production of The Merchant OIL
,r.r,cep and the brief but exciting career Vi
,r.s warren's Profession" 1t is rather ply
.s., tbe production OF the latter play shouiu
ho,a been attended with SO much rumpus JuS'
:. .hie time for attention was thus drawn away
go tho shakespearian revival, and worthy
attempt at serious things was made almost uil-
~,,.,dad Mr. Sothern and Miss Marlowe nave
a, many ways. achieved the best result so Iat
!, their career as twin stars in this revival
~ sotherrl. TO be sure is not great Shyloch'
- bie friends would hardly have expected
o.. Ia would be But he comes nearer 10 the
..sc stature in this role than in any he mas
VA. ATTEMPTED He is man OF lntelllsehce'
,.cbnical skill and high purpose. ana All 'his
9, manifest in his performance. WHICH, IL !.
mayer thrills the beholder. never inspires sleN'
rnv or a great repugnance. IS yet consls'eii''
picturesque and Interesting. His shyIoch 10
nsr.oraI rather than racial, melodraTnauc rather
,har tragic-probably because Mr.. Sothern mas
not the powers TO lift the part into a trasie'
ramsi champion. But yet 1t lives through t.io
h..nf,fpl scenes Of the drama. and carries the
....-.,,- With # Miss Marlowe's Portia, Of
eour-ss. is pientifuI1y endowed by nature win
fhoee physical charms the iTnaglnauoh mas ~: ~ =,
vested the character w1thal a illtie al n "a 80
In AIR eArlv scenes little less than the IntdSui
- - the -rnercy~' speech, she is none the less q
ossr,,,ne graceful, winsome Porua, fun Oh
hugnor and resolution and !tS sTese Se,,g5t fggts
rrhe eoeu,o features of this interesting per
scruoauce are among its chief merits: Some
tf1fn1 too much blue, maybe, lies IN the venetian
t-ne.nh.,e and ON the canals; blue IS seldom
fra do1u.nart rsote IN Venice. But the numerous
soen4s are au attractive and tuxur1ous; NOR
osv., than not they reflect g. real quality OF ro-
nance OF moonlight elopements, of manoonnss ns s
.nd tenors on the canal-'Two in Gonoola-
The pity Of the performance ls inat teaecnafs
r. meet the demands of the verse They are 80
fn.deouats that one is thankful for the onls-
.1o- Of ths Immortal lines In Act V, beginning
aCrn such a night lines that as Matthew
k-nnfd .aia are saturated through ana tnrousn
x1th celtic magic. and remain, with CERTAIN
lines from Keats, at the plnnacie oi Hiis iA'A
poetry.
.s,. warrerrs Profession has been per
formed twice In pubic-once In New-Haven
once in New-York. Doubtless the programmes
Of those two performances will become valuable
8. souvenirs. the record of a curious page in
theatrical history. There have been numerous
u,sys permitted In New-York which were far
more harmful. per Sc, than Mrs. Warren's
profess,on"-the first act of "Zaza,' the kiss
in tbe first act of Iris" the D'AnnunZio
rIsys. such as 1.-The Dead City" (Which, for
tuustefy. nobody understood. could be to
the young man or woman in the audience
far more tnsidiously immoral than, by any
stretch of the Imagination. Mrs Warren's Pro-
fessfcn" can be conceived to be. They appealed
directly and with perfumed persuasion to the
senses TO the emotional Imagination. MI.
shaw's play does not appeal TO the senses at
all; Mr. Shaw is incapable of creating real emo
ton in his puppets his mouthpieces. Its appear
is entirely to the intelligence, and intelligence
never made a mans thoughts run f1ot' though
it does not always prevent. But Mr- Shaw
play was unfortunately misadVerused, ana IL
therefore attracted TO the theatre an unspeak-
able procession of sensation seekers -racetracK
touts looking for new thrill. Mrs warren
New-York cousins young men about town.
few girls who should have known better, along
with the ''chain gang" and the Shawites Mrs.
Warren's Profession is too serious soclal sore
to be probed by any such crowd as this was, ana
:he hardened ''chain gang" revolted at the slght,
told Mr. Daly So and he (helped by the police
ordersD abode by their decision. That was as
it should be- Yet It is pity the play could not
have run Its normal course and cleo naturai
death For died it would have. simply because
G. B. Shaw utterly lacks sincerity in his treat
ment of the revolving theme OF the play and.
lacking sincerity the drama Is neither interest
ing nor worth while. The average, sane au-
dience would have turned away in tired disgust
md let the play die. And what IS needed just
now are p few mere frosts for Mr.. Shaw in New
York The actual fate of this drama here has
only made a martyr Of him in the eyes OF those
who will not see him as less than q Jeremiah.