The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-09

cACehlenCe. ono uOes nOt, IL " true, CiaihA
to have a stock company; but there is wis
dom in this. a. well as truth. Did Augusttn
DAILY at his most admirable ever have more
b a star in repertory? Probably not.
Why. then, with all these advantages. are
the results of Miss Robson's experiments
comparatively nugatoryI
The plays the thing. That is quite the
wisest saw that Shakespeare ever uttered
without intending it. To the Ideal OF a STOCK
company and a repertory. as It is realized
in the subventioned theatres OF the Conti-
nent, DAILY was neve true. From time to
time he lapsed, not unpleasantly. into light
German farce and solid English melodrama.
And such classical comedies as he did pro-
duce he distorted without conscience Tor
the sake Of throwing his star into the centre.
or Of otherwise satisfying the fancy OF the
actress and the public. Quite the most
perverse. though perhaps the most charming
passage in Mrs. Gilbert's memoir Is that in
which she pokes fun at those who objected
to Mr.. DAILY because he made Shakespeare
amusing" And DAILY pursued the long
run as keenly and as b~reathlessly as any OF
the bold. bad. commercial managers OF
this degenerate age. But. in whatever
Kl&LthcI, NC Az a AZ hNoeA SN~ N
OF certain masterpieces Of the drama.
Very well! But have not Duse and Bern
hardt their mainly modern repertories-
vehicles built to exploit their personalities?
Why should not Miss Robson do likewise?
It is the voice Of the Liberty Theatre crying
in the auditorium. And no man heedeth.
The result would probably he the same II,
like the voice Of wisdom. it cried In the
streets, where there are more people. In
their youth, and even now in that Indian
summer OF stageland. the very great ones
have never soorned to take the goods the
gods provide. Their repertories are the gar
nered harvest Of a lifetime. Miss Robson
has no such harvest. Her Juliet. intelligent
always and sometimes Illuminating. was
artistically immature and Uneven. Her
Kate Hardccstle was at best negative. Only
her Merely Mary Ann has achieved a success
of any dimensions. and that, as far as the
play went, was more a success OF popularity
than Of esteem. It remains to be proved
that Miss Robson stands among the great
ones.
As yet, it IL manifest, Miss Robson's
range OF artistic possibilities is broader
than heA artistic achievement. She has
not TedCucu luhl oddg Odo AiU IA "Af~
one is able TO rely on the sort Of play that is
written TO exploit a personality, or ever a
great actress. She is still very far from
being the sort OF a star who can stand being
hitched to a wagon. But his is precisely
what her management has attempted.
In Zangwin's Nurse Marjorie" n Je-
rome's Susan in Search Of a Husband
she was merely Mary Ann. 1t Is an old
dodge. Robinson Crusoe' was followed,
even in De Foes own day, by Robinson
Crusoe a New Way and since then by scores
of Swiss Family Robinsons." But there is
a law Of diminishing returns. The harder
YOU work the old patch the less 1t pro-
duces for your labor.
In The Girl Who Has Everything"
Miss Robson's latest production, Clyde
Fitch has broken away from the slavey
who became a lady, Is from the rather
stale type OF comedy with which the
character has been associated II Miss
Robson had made the piece the first OF her
series the result of her venture might have
been somewhat different. 1t is about real
people. as are most of it's authors plays.
Here, as always, Mr.. Fitch shows keen OBJ
~servation, a power of sympathy that Is
nnerringly fine and often true and deep.
There are passages of tender sentiment,
ripe affection, gracefully poetic emotion
ami lines Of delicious wit and character.
But the fact remains that as a play it is far
from strong. Quite obviously 1t was writ
ten not because Mr.. Fitch had anything
new to say but to provide a vehicle for
Miss Robson's varied talents. Almost every
thing in it is reminiscent OF The Girl and
the Judge The Climbers Her Own
Way" and the rest. And where these
plays, though mostly vehicles, were fresh
in inspiration and technically strong, The
Girl Who Has Everything" has somehow
the SAVIOR of a.rsgo1t and a rather watery
one. The PAGES are all provided, and Miss
Robson goes through them with skill and
charm. She is h~ousewifely, motherly,
friendly. She melts into the tenderest,
frankest love and mounts to the SUBMITS
of well bred horror, scorn and rage But
the performance lacks the sustaining power
of drama, ever the interest of a well told
story, and so is writ'in water.
What an actress OF Miss Robson's calibre
and range requires is not a repertory Of
parts but a repertory Of plays. Let them
be classical il possible, but they must have
some substance of their own, both to at
tract the public and TO give any real scope
TO the actress. The time was, and not so
many years ago, when such a play was az
rare a bird as the dodO. But that time is
no more. To-day there are running on
Broadway two huge successes, The Great
Divide" and the Three OF U.s. by drama
lists who a few weeks ago were unknown.
Mr.. Broadhurst is a playwright OF expe-
rience, but his present piece is, II l am not
mistaken, his first attempt at straight
drama. Mr.. Fitch himself would probably
have written with greater freshness and
power il his contract had been for a comedy
and not for a vehicle. Incidentally, il Miss
Robson has any interest in the drama apart
from her personal success she has a chance
20 do a patriotic deed while working, in all
probability, for her " best good.
MAny one who wit hes Ill obi 20 lesson in
the sustaining power OF genuine drama
can have the best by going to the Madison
Square Theatre on a Wednesday afternoon,
when Miss Laura Nelson Hall relieves Miss
Carlotta Nilsson Of the burden Of the mid
week matinee. Miss Hall is said to be a
stranger to Broadway, though il I renem-
Der Alright I saw her four or five years ago
az Wallack's in a matinee of one OF Pail