The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-02-17

pire, Ellen Terry appeared ia The Good
Hope" and Nance Oldheld." at the
Berkeley Lyceum, Schnitzler's German
play. "Liebelei," under the title Of THE
Reckoning" was well received by the
majority Of the critics Tuesday evening;
at the Aston, Blanche Walsh in The
Straight Road" was succeeded by
! .Genesee Of the Hills" in which Edwin
Arden originally appeared in Chicago, his
role now being taken by Robert Drouet,
and Henrietta Crosman began an engage
ment at the Bijou in "Ali-of-a-Sudden-
! Peggy"
The Good Hope" is Christopher ST.
I Johns translation Of a romantic tragedy
Of Dutch fshermcn's lives by Heijermans.
/ II is a remarkable. profoundly impressive
/ four-act play, with an unhappy ending
showing life on the coast Of Holland
tamong the iowly fisher folk, their passing
/ joys and deep sorrows, as suca scenes
could be sketched and elaborated only
/ by q master hand.
/ II is the life that so many Dutch paint
/ ings linn with graphic touches and never
/ failing interest II must have been writ
ten with a deep purpose and as protest
against a prevailing condition, the rela-
ton OF the rich smack owner to the poor
sailors who risk their lives IN his service
/ The passions portrayed with such COM
peHing power are elemental, which always
make the most direct appeal % the imagi-
nation and sympathy, and there - intro
duced an element Of grandeur 10 the sway
of the storm. as the hshermen's wives and
/ daughters huddle together On Knlertje's
cheerful cabin by the shore and tell
/ grewsome tales Of how this ones son and
that ones father were lost in the battle
with the sea.
The whole play is tlnctured with the
atmosphere Of the ocean. yet Il Is story
Of stll-life. with the sense OF tragedy
1 enCeudered by the reaction upon the
pathetic lives OF those who stay AZ home
and sufEeT-the women. With COnsum-
mate skill Heijermans mikes homely
comedy with the profound path0s % his
play and the whole forms a moving
panorama Of action and incident from
the rise OF the curtain to the close.
In the concrete. the story is Of a
humble widow whose two sons are lost
in q storm ia the rotten ship, the Good
Hope, owned by a rich smack owner. who
is compensated for his loss and c0usoled
by "a heavy insurance, while Kniertje
CEilm Terry returns to her des0iaJc
cabin in unspeakable misery, thrice bereft
OF her dear ones
A high degree of pathOs is reached in
the scene where Kniertje compels her
younger son, Barend, 10 take service
aboard the Good Hope against the boys
fearful entreates, and thus sends him to
his death.
ANY one who can appreciate expert work
ImanshiD. striking characterizauons. and
intense dramatic power, with almost prod
tigaI resources OK color and Incident, can
not fail 90 be profoundly affected by this
novel picture Of Dutch fisher life.
However. here is one of those excep-
ti0naI instances where the adapter was
justified in bringing about z happy ending.
The protest which the whole play voices
against an iniquity that can have applica-
ton only 10 Holland, is not pertinent here.
and as the play has so other ethical pur-
pose, no psychological basis Of universal
verify. the translator was abs9lved from
.adhering to "a conclusion intended 10 drive
home it's lesson as a sociological problem
10 those concerned.
To us IL can prove only an entertain
meut, which il is for three engaging acts
of rare constructive interest. 7 have not
seen IN many years a play so graphic in
all the clements OF invented action and all
the essentials Of picturesque life.
Kniertje IS an admirably drawn charac-
ter and it gave Miss Terry opportunity
10 display all the resources CT her craft
She is. throughout a sailors wife. cheer
ful philosophic, strong: her despair has
something Of the stable grandeur OF ma
jestlc rock ia the ocean. The actress pre-
scented a noble and impressive embodiment
Of hopeless resignation in the last act in
? the smack owners richly furnished Of
b fee. where the consciousness Of her be
Ireavement in pale-faced despair stood out
in affecting contrast to the smirking
hypocrisy Of Clemens Bos, who has wit
tingly shipped her two sons in the rotter
+ timbers Of his fishing smack.
To offset the involuntary depression o
this scene Miss Terry appeared at zoe
conclusion Of her performance in her we'll
b known representation of Nance OIdfield. II
5 Charles Rcade's 0ue-act comedy Cf that
= name. and gave a roilicking delineatior
r of the actress who cures her youthful
b. worshiper. Alexander O,dworthy. of MS
{ infatuation for the queen of tragedy.
'Liebelei' admirably expresses Arthur
Schnitzler's play Of phiIandering in which
katherine Grey has scored a metopolita,
hit, much better than the title choser
for it. "The Reckoning" for it shows IL
Il tragic way how "a seriously minded cir
! now and then takes a young mans fool
. ing with her affections. hirtatiols tina
d are not meant TO be serious by the mar
but are intensely real to the girl. 1t IS
this light trifiing with love that is com
pretended in the German title, and itsel
5 lends a nghtness to the burden OF tht
Il play which it is better able 10 bear thar
/ the pretentOus one of THE Reckoning
! Yet it is q tragedy. like Minis love TO
the artist in La Vie de Boheme," say,
, that matters in this instance have no
! gone quite so far as in NJ. Murgers touch
b. ing story.
D Fritz Sommer is not a bad sort, and h,
has a heart to appreciate the innocenc,
and virgin sweetness of Christine Weir
$ ing. daughter Of the old vioinist at IN,
T. theater; but he has had an affair witt
: q mans wife. The husband has found let
s teTs, and interrupts a little supper il
Fritz's room with Christine, the insoucian
e AIitzi ca dashing young milliner), and hi
friend. Theodore Kaiser The trio o
] guests are ushered into an adjoining room
while Fritz faces his accuser. Witt
mutual politencss they arrange a meeting
and the gentleman departs without max
{ ing a row.
g Preparations for the duel are secret,
under way. Fritz calls at Christine
s dwelling and realizes that this poor cir
: loves him as nothing else on earth Sin
s knows nothing, and he tells her nothing
DIT Ia ,,r,r,,i=ee 20 o,TI for r,..,-