Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-01


transition easier. Bluffs i:
trivial. confessedly and Intentionally. l.
the author found anything untrivial in il
BE- would probably strike it out. Belasct
once said that he believed the safes
thing for a playwright to do would b'
u &C through a manuscript and cut on
everything that appeared TO be gOot
speech From Belasco's point of view
this is sound doctrine. His plays depend
more on action and tableauX than OF
smart dialogue or Evolutionary display
-Nnd Mr.. Ditrichstcin doubtless felt tina
,eEen the public is invited to see purt
,haff il is only proper that every grain
o. wheat be eliminated.
Suggestive? Perhaps. here and there
The habitual playgoer becomes confused
i'm his standards. in an era when so mucl
is tolerated that is far from circumSpect
If the public does not draw the linz
ti.e playwright will not. and the self
appointed censor has thankless tasl
from every point of view.
In play whose sheer frivolity is no
proclaimed by music and extravaganza:
of costuming d certain amount of Satire
purpose is valuable. and this Bluffs
lacks. Ii draws attention to no follie:
OF the day and TO no conspicuous types
OF humanity. The fireeatinS Texan is
IN this time of southwestern affiuence
an anachronism. despite all of Mr.. Fred
eric Bonds facility, and the plot is q
series of complications that apply to nc
Eer;icular social condition. 1t is abstract
Inverness; ingenuity without purpose; a
merry little machine of plot and counter
riot that buzzes untiringly and interest
inGiy and does no work whatever
Leo Ditrichstein is one of the most
graceful and competent performers on the
stage. He holds himself to themes so
light that there is always an impression
that he is passing for much less than his
true artistic worth; an impression that is
not palliated by a suspicion that his own
nodesty is largely responsible for the de-
probation.
TO pass from Bluffs to Marta of the
Lowlands,' is going from sunshine to a
cellar. II is of the cherries dramas
10 which Mr.. Harrison Grey Fiske's name
IS coming TO be 50 customarily attached.
The play is beyond doubt inspiring in its
somher ruggedncsS but throws the star
relentlcssly on her own resources as a
player. vouchssfinG in some scenes no
dramatic assistance whatever toward sus-
tanning interest in her melancholy mono
1ocu-s. This is the second time Marta
% the LoWIands' has spread its gloom
over the community. It's appeal tosemo-
tionaity is powerful, and its analysis of
human nature faithful and discerning.
The title role presented by Bertha
kaiich is, during much of the time. over
Swallowed by the character of the de-
ceived youth. we'll played by Mr.. Kolker.
ih, il is about his mental perplexity that
Oh plot to great measure revolves. 1t
is a great play; yet the selection is. not
especially felicitious with reference to
Miss kal:ch's powers or the desires of a
public that takes no overweening delight
in sorrow merely for sorrows sake.
Such question of the usefulness of pro-
ductiors whose artistry must be admitted
is bound to call forth a charge of vandal-
ism. Yet their lack of popular appeal
makes their influences against rather than
for legitimate and thoughtful drama The
reaction from 4 play of this character
makes George NJ. Cohan or Richard
Garlic doubly welcome.
Speaking of Mr.. Cohan recalls a recent
publication by that agile contributor to
amusement, expressing his opinion of the
drama in London. 1t is worth looking
Qltr:
81 have not overlooked any more the
atricaI bets than i could help. OF course,
1 didn't exactly come over here to see
shows. But after looking Edward
village over carefully and not being able
To quite interest myself in anything.
decided that my brother dramatlst,
Bill Shakespeare, was properly putting
n when he put that big boost in for the
show business, and said the plays the
thing SO / dug that third-act suit of
mine out of that steamer trunk / bor-
English troupes.
Peter Pan seems to drag in holiday
money at the Duke OF Yofk's. l didn't
see Maude Adams play it in New York,
but after Witnessing the performance
here ] decided that | would have thor
oughly enjoyed it when l was d small boy
taxing violin lessons in Orange. n j.
The Drury Lane pantomime, The
Ba hes in the Wood is another of these
entertainments that might please the
average nine-year-oId American. but
Englishmen with bald heads and gray
boards go perfectly daffy over it, and
they holiered for dear old Arthur Collins
81 Boxing night. Boxing night is the
nlci -
they mean by Boxing night. unless it has
something to do with street fights.
s<Tnis goes to show that the people who
insist that tn" play-constructive faculty
and the critical faculty seldom coeXist in
a single intelligence are probably right.
Mr. Henry Miller has also decided to
submit his opinions of things in general
to the ordeal of cold type. Movements
TO establish so.cailed national theater in
New York are SO frequent that 1t is I'm
possible to keep track of them. new
one has evidently arisen, for Mr.. Miller.
with clenched teeth and flashing eyes.
sends forth a circular denouncing ii in
Illustrated with scenes from The Great
Divide" would make over column of
reading matter. In a synopsis of Mr..
Miller's speech-for it is obviously leave
to-print Observation-Disclosures by his lit
,lary assistant occurs the following:
He characterizes the experiment as a
mere dilettante scheme diametrically op-
posed 10 the real democratic truth of art
and dramatic art in PARTICULARS depend
ing upon and rejecting the spirit of the
puoli1.
This explains Mr. Miller's argumen,
quite clearly and is worth considering.
New York is in need of no national thea
ter. and efforts in that line are no likelier
to survive under present conditions than