The Washington herald., 1907-03-24

he would outroar the tempest and defy
the growing OF the thunder His Brutus,
too. was q careful and fine performance,
and so was his OtheIlO His Macbeth
also, had fne moments in It, The two
characters in which he was quite impos-
sible and which he should eliminate from
his repertoire were Shyloek and Hamlet.
But on the whole Il was a week OF
fine enjoyment for patrons OF the New
National. and Mr.. Mantell deserves all
praise and every encouragme for his
bold venture. 1t has long been an
axiom IN America that Shakespeare
spells ruin, but like many another
axiom, it is Of doubtful truth Certain
ly Shakespeare at the New National
was patrOniZed as well as. if nOf little
better than, any theatrical entertain
ment in the city. II is good to have had
a week of Shakespeare; good 20 have
been reminded once more how universal
in his appeal the Bard OF Avon is.
Surely. inueed he wrote for ali time,
and one of the pleasant things during
the performance of these plays was 10
note how apt some OF the ancient ref
erences were to conditions to-day. We
all know how fitting some Of the preg-
nant speeches of Hamlet are to our
own modern conditions Who could help
being struck. as he heard King Lear"
by the aptness-in these days of de-
nunciation of our courts and processes
Of law-of the mad kings vail:
Through tattered clothes small vices do appear;
Robes and fuued gowns hide all Plate sin with
gold.
And the strong lance Of Justice hurties5 breaks:
Arm it in rags a pigmy's straw doth pierce III
This is the very modern plaiut Of
certain brand Of socialist of to-day
voiced hundreds OF years ago.
To Mr.. Mantell, who. through years
of striving. has had courage to strive
always for the highest, the thanks Of
ali lovers OF the stage are due
The mascot is an institution that has
grown into prominence in the last few
years. It was probably the Players
superstitious folk anyway-who started
the fad, but now no baseball club, foot
ball team, battle ship, or regiment IS
complete without ITS mascot Actresses
are peculiarly given TO the possession
of mascots, which mostly take the form
of pet dogs. and many a hotel manager
has been put in a quandary by having
TO decide whether to break his rules
about allowing dogs in his rooms or
else see a whole theatrical company
leave his house because of the vagaries
of star.
Perhaps the most famous dog mascot
Of recent years was Mrs, Patrick Camp
bells pet Piuky Panky Poo, who got
as much free advertising as his mis-
tress Mrs. Campbell hardly ever let
the little beast out of her sight; she
carried him about with her in a satcheI
and left him on guard in her dressing
room while she was on the stage. When
Pinky panky Poo fell III Mrs Camp
/ bell paid, it was said, 5000 to a surgeon
! TO perform a slight operation on him.
| Lillian Russells pet mascot is a tiny
/ japanese spaniel. known as MoOksee. who
won nOtoTiety last summer when an ad-
mirer of his mistress presented him
/ a 81 800 jeWeled collar This was just after
Mrs. August Belmont had bought a jew
I eied collar for her dog, and, of course.
anything a milliOnaire's wife may have is
,auuliy within reach OF Miss Russell.
loebe Davis. of Way Down East" fame
has a mascot, a Boston terrier, called
( TEDDY Roosevelt, whose specially is eat
ing the glass tops from hat-pins Amelia
Bingham has a bulldog named MeTague.
after Frank Norris hero. Blanche Bates
carries bull terrier with her called Yak
kuri, because the actress acquired him
during the premiere Of THE Darling OF
the Gods" Eleanor Robson has for mas
loot q mongFeI eur Whcm she picked up
one night going home from the theater
/ She had been playing Merely Mary Ann, 3"
and felt in sympathetic mood. She took
the dirty animal to her quarters, had him
washed and fed and cared for. and the
/ dog has amply repaid her in gratitude and
/ love. She calls him Jiggety Jack.
| William II. Crane thinks it would be a
good idea if some Of the theatrical pro-
tducers of the country would set aside
about half Of the money they now spend
for mink tights, electric light effects, and
| lOther features OF spectacular productions
and use it in some way TO found and
maintain a school for dramatists and
/ lplaywrights who need the money.
There is no hint of sarcasm in this
! suggestion Of the famous actor, despite
the fact he is now reduced to the neces-
sity of falling back upon Oliver Gold
smith and presenting she Stoops to
/ Conquer" TO finish a season that started
badly with a modern play by a twentieth
! century playwright. With Miss Ellis
! Jeffreys. the English actress, who is tour
/ ing the country with him in the old
comedy, he makes a virtue of necessity,
lHN0 between LiltGi LittN are making q sue
/ cess in the Goldsmith revival; but had il
not been that Mr. Cranes play, ''The
Power Of Money" and Miss Jenrey's play.
'The Dear Unfair Sex had failed of
| that appreciation which is best manifested
| at the box office, the chances are that
We could not have been Tegaled this
season with the play which Henry Arthur
/ Jones declares TO be one OF the only
three comedies written in the last 200
years. incidentally. Mr.. Jones, with a
/ fine disregard of the sensibllities of mod
/ ern playwrights names as the other two
! comedy products of the last two centuries
''The School for Scandal" and "The
/ Rivals"
! Something SHOULD be done 10 develop
playwrights-to encourage the study Of
the drama" said Mr.. Crane. when asked
why he vas playing Goldsmith. L don I
mean - that TO say that we have no
dramatists to-day; far from it. But we
/ have not enough of them. or at least
! they do not put forth enough good plays.
/ Every one of these big spectacular pro-
ductions-these white cats and pink
pearls. and the rest Of them-costs from
/ 900 to S60. 600. and the money is ex-
lpended on tights, and lights, and spectacu-
/ lar trappings. instead Of on the play
itself. If there Is nothing there that holds
the mind-if there is no story there. moth
/ ing of dramatic interest-if everything ap-
| peals to the eye alone. that mony is
thrown away. The shows do not last
more than season or SO. and they do
| but little good while they are being pre-
sented. Think what might be done if
! the big producers of the country--I won t
mention any Names" added Mr.. Crane,
with discTetion-'if they took half that
money and expended 1t on some sort Of a
| school for dramatists. mi il intn some