Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-23

and managers We're looking for
a Stiffness in the ouse. com
Il parative to that described in the
old nursery poem. 1t was the
week when box offices ordinarily yawn in
apathy and when the ghost walks If at
all on crutChcs But in Washing on the
Iters the unexpected happened. The pub
iC despite the pressure of holiday shop
Ding was willing To be amused. 1t looked
with approval on Annie Russell in her
prettily grotesque Interpretation of Puck.
paid its compliments to Nat Goodwin in a
way that fully proved that past favors in
the way of entertainment had not been
forgotten. and accorded welcome to the
Yiddish players which was far beyond ex-
pectations.
The Yidd.sh players illustrate the affec-
tion with which man Cltngs to his native
tongue. The rapt attention with which
audiences follow these sometimes crude but
always powerful dramatic representation
admits the mind to a comprehension OF
the patriotic determination of small Euro
pean nations to brave even the death strug-
gle with superior power, rather than aban-
don the dialect in which they have wooed
their women reared their children and
uttered their prayers for generations. The
WOIh Ol NlltSc pldStlS - dISlliS uISltu ny titi
emotional power which is more than
technique. 1t does not depend on artificial
effects. BIT on emotional grasp and an in
tense determination to reach the sympa-
thies. 1t is nearer inspiration than art;
nearer genius than talent.
Miss Russell is now the proud possessor
If an ambition gratiied. She, like others
IF her eminent dramatic sisterhOod, has
appeared with distinguished success in
fairy play, the most noted fairy play ever
written. Pepys makes casual allusion to
L visit to the theater at which this piece
was the attraction, and unhesita tingly stig
matizes il as a monument of stupidity, or
words to that effect. There are many mod
ern playgoers who share this somewhat
cranky chronicler's views on his particular
subject That the play is most uneven in
character and quality cannot be denied.
The thistledown and cobweb texture of the
plot as 1t relates to the lovers and the fairy
folk IS out of all harmony with the rough
and tumble fun of the yOkels, who essay
the higher drama for the entertainment of
the duke Mr. John Bunny and his asso-
ciates are not In the least hampered by
shakespearean dignity. The only thing
that is the least suggestive of classic stage
Bunny's voice. Considering these incidents
as mere laugh-provolling material, and it is
difficult to conceive of any other purpose
for them, the work of Mr.. Bunny and his
associates is well done. They spare no
buffoonery; no circus clown was ever more
disregardful of life and limb in his athletic
efforts to amuse the multitude. The pro-
duction fulills its object. Miss Russell
has asked the public If 1t still believes in
fairies and the public, with most courteous
enthusiasm, has answered that it does.
Nat C. Goodwin presented new play as
one Of the three of his weeks engagement,
What Would a Gentleman Dog? 1t is
much of the same type as those which have
previously proved successful in the hands
Of this actor, such as THE Gilded Fool
and when We Were Twenty One" Mr..
Goodwin has the usual rough-dlamond char
acter with the trace of native refinement
which no outward crudities can over
balance, and an Unsuitable appetite for
self-sacrihce. His role in this play is that
Of an Englishman-and the Londoners who
object to the American accent on the stage
should hear his cockney drawl-who has
plenty of cash, some social ambition and
1 good heart, the last mentioned seeing him
safely through to happiness and the hand
Of the heroine.
1t is considered a sacrilege to refer to the
days when Mr.. Goodwin, always reluctant
ly 1t is said, appeared in limitations of ia
nous actor and disported himself with roll
licking abandon as Prof. Pygmalion Whit
1es in the screaming absurdities of Hob
bies." To refer to those lower rungs of
the hstrionic ladder over which this star
tripped so gleesomely is almost as much
Of an affront TO managerial feelings as to
say Willie instead of William Collier"
Mr.. Goodwin has been so thoroughly ironed
and creased that the suit case drama is
MS legitimate sphere; yet in The Genius"
there We're glmpses of his old time self;
bits Of broad humor flung in 8 if ex-
temEore that often proved the salvation OF
scene Indeed in nearly all his plays these
touches Of travesty come with the eff
lcacy OF saving grace.
PHILANDER JOHNSON
A VERSATILE PLAYER - Richard