The Washington herald., 1908-01-26
"The Great Divide"

The strong American play, THE Great
Divide, so admirably played and so
sklllfully produced by Mr.. Henry Miller
and Margaret Anglin, has paid its third
and probably its last visit 10 Washing
ton. 1t has always been received with
favor by Washingtonians who in this
only reflect popular opinion elsewhere'
for the play has been a success from the
start.
II is. remarkable that this play should
be the first work of its kind OF its author.
William Vaughn Moody, for whom It
has made a fortune, and it is striking
illustration Of the possibilities in the way
or fame and fortune that lie in the path
Of the writer's for the stage.
THE Great Divide is a big play; its
theme IS big, It's atmosphere is wide, its
spirit IS the broad spirit of Western
AmeTicanism its morals are bravely
large. Somehow. II seems that any stage
picture Of life beyond the Rockies, "out
there at the Great Divide" must be more
or less melodramauc. and the first act OF
this play has not escaped. It is a most
ugly and. considered away from the glare
Of the foouights. a darlngly unconven-
tional situation; a young girl left alone
in a ranch-house, the helpless victim of
a crowd of drunken, lustful beasts
Worse than death threatens her, and to
save herself-nOt having the courage 10
kill herseIf-she gives herself 20 the
strongest. who. it chances. happens 10
be the cleanest OF the raiders
That the man, having won her absolute
". takes her away and marries her that
night might seem to audiences Of any
other nation than this mere poetic
quixoticism; unreal. forced for conven-
tions sake; and 10 ease the qualms of
the head of the family. But it IS right
here that Mr.. MOodys sense of Ameri-
canism has saved him. He does not
deigu 70 explain. He let's the fact speak
for itself, and as we think 1t over after
ward we come 10 see that here is but
another exposition of that modern chiv-
airy which has found its fullest and finest
expression among the lives of the wild
and woolly cowboys and rough ranchers
Of the great West.
II takes, I think, Americans to under
stand this fully; TO realize that the sins
of the West. like everything else Western,
are big and broad and courageous sins.
One is almost tempted to say natural
sins. That one lone man should hold up
an express train. that man should
calmly take the life of another, a bully OF
a card sharp; that a man should steal
horses. knowing the penalty. if discov-
cred to be death-these are not petty
Things they seem 20 ht the vastness Of
the wilderness; they are primitive. as
primitive as the MOhave Desert But 10
hold a measure of justice and cleanly at
titude toward women-that too, is West
ern-that is American; and so in this
play, the situation of the drunken miner
wedding the woman ne has st0lgn-
which could hardly ever be understood
by a Latin AUDIENCES perfectly natural
and logical and. in a sense, moral, TO
audiences OF the American mind.
After that the play-working in its own
way 10 be sure-harks back 20 the theme,
ever new, and yet as old as the world,
Of the struggle of the woman against the
man. The struggle TO maintain her own
individuality, TO keep her own soul: to
cry out that she is not conquered, It
portrays In most realistic and powerful
way the ever-present longing in the heart
Of woman to believe that she has given
freely-that her love has not been wrest-
cd from her-that the man is hers; not
that she belongs to the man.
And in spite Of all the modern improve
ments I'm social intercourse; in spite Of
the womens contentious and the female
Euffragists. and the taiIor-made girl. the
inevitable end comes-that the strong
man conquers, not by his strength. but
through his weakness. and this play
shows in a very beautiful way how the
foundation of every woman's love for
her mate is built on the maternal in
suncG on tenderness and gentleness and
a desire 20 take the man she loves tight
within her arms and safeguard him, with
her very life If need be, against the dan
gers, the sins. the temptations OF the
world
IL is not mere entertainment, "The
Great Divide" tt is a play that conduces
TO serious thought As the story runs
ifs length there come glimpses Of high
ideals 10 which all decent humanity
would so fain aspire. Il sends audiences
away from the theater with deep emo
tions stirred. with teeming thoughts, with
strange, half-defned hopes moving in
the breast And, what is a fine thing.
too, it sends people away with q deeper
respect for the stage and higher re-
gard for the players. For The Great
Divide is one of those plays which show
the theater at its highest estate. as a
teacher, an uplifter, an inspirer II is
because il is big and fine like its theme.
that this play has won 50 large sue
cess-a success creditable alike to Mr..
Henry Miller. the producer. and TO the
public. which has so literally indorsed IT,.