The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-11-26

NEW PLAY UPBOLDS TEE CAUSE
or THE DOELEES.

1.-THE Toy Maker Of Nuremberg u q Fan
tAstlc story for the Levers OT ChIldren
and Dolls and Fairy Tales and German
Sentiment 1t n Very We'll Told.
Last summer Austin Strong made a call
on J. M. Barrie in London. When he
entered the room he said, MIR. Barrie, l
Just passed through KensingtOn Gardens
and told a luck | was coming here 20 see
Mr.. Barrie. Barrie? Who's Barrier said
the duck. 1 thought il rather funny for
him not TO know you
What COlOr was that duckP7 said Mr..
Barrie.
And the conversation, 40 begun. con-
tinued so FOR Two hours. They talked en-
.tirely about those things which stupid.
grown up people who have forgotten, call
unreal. Perhaps they talked about Mr..
StrOng's new play. The Toy a Of
Nuremberg" which was produced Ut the
Garrick Theatre last night. FOR il belongs
to the same dear kingdom Of unreality-it
is u play MIR. Barrie would love and only a
lover OF Mr.. Barrie could have written.
And, oh, best Of ALI il champions bravely
and e~lOQuently the ancient cause of the
Dollies against those upstarts. the Teddy
Bears. IL is a plea for the sanctity Of the
toyland homel
But do not suppose that in this play the
dollies or the Teddy bears come to life and
walk about. They live, but in the sweet
soul Of the old toymaker Of Nuremberg
and in the souls Of the little children who
love him. Sitting by his high window that
looks out at the great church clock (Or.
rather. the church clock looks in. just like
n hf1 fanal - n rrapn TINT nnfRhf ha nnf Of
Hans Christian Andersen. the toymaker
has all his life made dolls and put red hearts
in them so they could love a mamma
But over in Kansas City. in America.
where the dOllies went. came a craze for
Teddy bears. &c his employer told him he
would nave to make Teddy bears or have
his salary cut in two. And he left one Of
the wild beasts for a model. And then
the toymaker addressed it. He didn't 80
much refuse to max such toys because
there was no scope for art in them as be-
cause il was all wrong for little children to
love inc cherish them more than dollies.
all wrong and against nature. He grew
eloquent about it. and the audience rose
and applauded him. A little more and
they would nave rended the Teddy bear
limb from limb. And jolly well right it
would have served him. 90
Now the toy maker had a sOn David.
who painted the eyelashes on the dollies.
and he loved the employers daughter.
But he was poor and 50 the employer would
have none Of him for a son-in-law and when
he tried TO elope discharged him and his
father too. They were about to sell their
house and set out for America with Ne
buchadnezzar. the dachshund. to make
their fortune in a year on a ranch they
took Nebuchadnezzar to herd the cattle)
when Adolph. the elder son. who had gone
TO America twenty years before. arrived in
a motor car. He was rich-not German
rich. but real American rich. he said. And
what 10 you suppose?
He made his fortune by cornering the
Teddy bear market. He was the Teddy
Bear Kingi" Thus the ends Of justice were
served. You may be sure DdUid got his
sweetheart and the old tOymaker kept his
house. And the big church clock looking
in the high window smiled a silly old smile.
Between changes Of the pretty scenes
the band played the andante from the
Surprise Symphony. Somehow the grace
OF hat lively tune was in Mr.. StrOng's
fantastic fabric. Tears there might nave
been-pleasant tears-if W J. Ferguson.
who played tho TOymGkeT. were not a
little too hard. a little too much the actor
of force. to suggest the mellow pathOs Of
the part.
Quaint he was. and comic, and he tried
to be mellow. But the old acid Won rise
up. Yet there was pathOs. still more, a
gentle satire on German bathOs, in the
performances Of other players, even at
tinnaa a tonCh of IL i'm hia own And the
fairy book love story Of the young folks was
sweetly handled. and the humOr Of the
Teddy Bear King was ssyly delicious, and
the two OId friends OF the toy maker, a one
armed sergeant and a threadbare poet.
were dear figures out OF the land Of child
hOod fable.
Diamond Jim Brady would find the play
az perplexing as he found Peter Pam
and the tired business man" would go to
sleep. But, after all. il is their i~nalienable
privilege to stay away. 1t is FOR the lovers
Of dOllies and the life that isn't
A II a,,,h n;u an;O, Il fror, n,.rtaiu An r,trfatn