Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-21

ii tinCtlON winch COIIlSS 10 q ulSSOf-
erer. He brings to light the Eliza
Il bethan drama. True. its existence
ence was suspected. but SO. for
that matter, was the existence of America
long before Columbus accidentally STUN
bled against it when he was looking for
something else. His entertainment is a
quaint and interesting combination of the
ancient and modern, for which the very
extraordinary success enjoyed by Every
man" laid a favorable foundation. The
distinction won by Miss Edith Wynne
Matthewson in "Everyman" appears to
have been something of warning TO Mr.
Greet, for he now leaves no opportunity
for stellar conspicuousness in his cast
of characters. This slight check to indi-
Vidual actor-worship is a not altogether
unwelcOme change There IS a popular
disposition to so to extremes and to mag
Nifty proper appreciation into unrestrained
idolatry. The names of the players and
the characters portrayed are printed sep
arately and distinctly. and there is no
means of knowing accurately their CORE
spondence The gentleman who played
Macbeth on Monday night was an actor of
much merit, and the lady who assayed
the part of Lady Macbeth possessed nat
ural gifts and even more studied train
ing. But this partially anonymous method
or presenting them to the public obviates
the tendency to centralize scrutiny on
these two famous characters to the utter
subordination of Macduf, Banquo, File
ance and the rest of the stalwart roles
which make up the personages of the
drama Mr. Greet does not allow the
courage Of his convictions in favor of the
Ehzabethan method of presenting Shake
speare to carry him to the extreme of en-
ploying young men to do the feminine
characters nor to dispose with electricity
in securing stage effects The exceedingly
satisfactory manner in which Mr., Greets
productions convey to the mind the poetic
intentions of the author is a sufficient
warrant for this scantiness of embellish-
ment. II was relief not to have the mar
rative, so wildly set in motion. disturbed
by the squeak of pulleys. the shutting of
stage hands and the glaring architectural
gaps which often occur when the several
carloads Of scenery. which are the stand
ard accompaniment of every modern
classic production, do not chance to fit
the stage to which they have been con-
signed, 1t may be that the touch of nov
city adds to The charm. Certain it is that
only the playa which were written for
such conditions could be satisfactorily
presented by this method. There is no
from this experiment, of the drama being
readjusted to EIzabethan customs.
The impression Is often given in an Off
hand way that the lack of scenery of the
EIizabethan stage was due to a deficiency
of invention and pictorial sense The
suggestion that the commentators convey
and In many cases comment on that
ing opinion rather than enthusiasm for
original researches that of barrenness
and even poverty. Mr.. Greet's reproduc-
ton of an old London stage does not sus-
tain this view The accessories he en-
pIoys-and the study which he has made
entities him to rank as an authority-are
sufficient for the complete and vivid por-
trayal of every incident Instead of at
tributing the scantiness of Elizabethan
scenery to lack of resource. there is good
ground for believing that it was dictated
by taste and preference. The .theater was
the domain of the poet. Here he reigned
supreme. In the construction of his
dramas he was guided by severe classic
models from which the departure was
necessarily gradual. The spectacular dis
play which masks and revels had made so
common would have been intrusion
tation of a work which dealt with the
loves. hates, ambitions and follies of men.
The riot which might have arisen in the
ill-governed pit Of the Globe Theater, had
its OCCUPANTS caught sight of a shirt
sIeeved stage hand shutting tawdry and
unsubstantial castle into place while the
principal actor waited his turn in meek
subordiuation. is something not to be
lightly dismissed. The poet who sane
toned such vandalism would have been
lucky to escape being tossed into
blanket or submitted to some of the other
indlgnities which survive only in Lon
don's boo and which in America are
wholly extinct.
But other men brlns other manners, We
Inoderns have no court reVels TO satSIy
our love of spectacular display II mas De-
come the function Of the theater To ap-
nease this desire. and the tragic produc-
ton IS now and will continue to be meas
ured largely by the wealth Of scenery it
employs We want our books gaudily COW
cred and profusely Illustrated. and we de-
nand that our plays shall appeal brilliant
" even gaudily, to the eye, even at great
sacrifice Of tradition. Shakespeare him
self was a scaut respecter of traditions,
his story of Macbeth being at least nine
parts Of fiction to one of history. The
Flizabethan Shakespeare is good because
of it's simplicity. The modern Shakespeare
would far surpass II 1t could utilize har-
moniousIy and intelligently all the vast
possibilities which the stage presents, in
stead of being. as it usually is, distortion
in which great excellence in some parts Is
accompanied with tho most glazing de-
ficiencies.
-
II was to be regretted that the program
during the Greet plays could not have been
as appropriate in form 1t was in text.
The facts which it simply and lucidly pre-
scented were interesting and important, but
were concealed and scattered amid
mass OF commercial advice highly valu-
nhIe In its nrnner place. but annoying