The Washington times., 1908-10-04


from too much art. He has been
beacon rather than a lenso. His chill
dren Of the Ghetto" will he a good play
in five years. or two years, or two
weeks It was a failure when he saw
It given fits first performance here IN
Washington about ten years ago.
OF late he has been alloying art with
policy There is nothing discreditahle
in the process-Vau Dyke did it. Mu-
riUo did it; Shakespeare did it; Addison
did il: and Kipliug. Sargent, even Rodin
are doing fl now. The result rs "a two
fold benefit: a living for the artist
and lasting pleasure for the present
generation.
Wherefore Merely Mary Ann" has
been seen Of thousands while The
Children of the Ghetto" was viewed by
scores. Wherefore. again, there is hope
that The Melting Pot will have
enough plain pulling power" to hold
the numbers while the strong quality OF
art which marks every product from
this pen will reward the few as Wen
as the many. OF course this Is not pre-
judgment The Melting Pot must be
seen before it can be judged: but the
lesson of The Children of the Ghetto"
could hardly be lost on so keen mind
as ZangwilTs. and Il is altogether fair
20 say today-''There is hope"
Victory in "The Melting Pot"
ALA Nazimova will look on from the
BelasCO with no little interest in this
venture at the Columbia. The story IF
the new composition and that Of her
own life are none too far apart. The
actress came to America a fugitive from
-
sought 70 serve art In a land where
only art standards would be used 20
gauge her endeavors. Like him she had
TO fight her way; but unlike him, She
had only the difficulties Of a new tongue.
the strangeness Of a new life, the dis
coura cement OF a new attitude on the
part of her patrons. to overcome
The stories Of that little company in
the Jewish Theater OF Gotham are fresh
IN everybody's mind. How at first the
actors almost starved: how the sheer
merit OF this woman's acting brought
an alien auditory to her, in her little
workshop on a side street; how, as a
circle spreading from a pebble thrown
IN the water. her fame grew; how even
the Russian tongue did not discourage
Americans from going again and again
lish and overcame its chief difficulties
in single winter-aH this IS known and
sheds interest about her throughout
America.
A Nature Akin to Ibsen's.
Cold seIf-anaIysis is the foundation o.
this woman's power She has learned
the secret that every nature is as pc
cuIiar-' as her own With that realiza
ton are associated something like ge-
MUS for manifesting in gestures uncon-
ventfonal to the stage the emotions she
reads into her roles and a personal cap
ability. Ike that Of Mrs. Campbell, only
stronger, 10 give the effect OF life Itself
10 the CollOquial speeches OF Ibsen by
means Of an emphasis OF quiet rather
than sound.
knowing herself. Nazimova would
argue, she knows all women In life
there is little raising Of the voice and
much play of tone; so on the stage play
of tone and not raising OF the voice
VIII be more effective. Most
Of the accustomed gestures and
genudections Of the modern academic
stage are seen nowhere else; Sc
they ought to be supplanted from the
stage by gestures and pastures. which
are seen everywhere else. And the art
which IS expressed in all this IS coupled
with a mind so clear. so comprehending
SO intense, that instead of a sort OF
photography of emotion. which would
be OF some but not great value to the
stage, we have an illumination of emo
ton as we theater-goeTs feel it. and
are controlled by it in our own common
place surroundings.
Science, knowledge, Logic-But Not
Art
The temperament capable OF this would
turn TO Ibsen as naturally as the needI,
turns TO the pole. That great author
IS not an artist chiefly; he is a chemist
a scientist, a philosopher. He would
put the human heart I'm a test tube be
fore his audience, and. subjecting Il
either to flame Of given temperatur,
or a cold Of given Intensity. prove q
reaction as judicially as one Of our
Government chemists analyses drinkin,
water.
When he has finished there is a won
derfuI progression Of promise. argu
ment. illustration. conclusion. But Their
IS no beaUty-Only logic. And the att
tude toward the emotions is purely in
telleCtuaL Mr. ZangwiIl starts out de
lberately with a purpose 10 add 10 IN
store OF the worlds beauty. Mr.. Ibsel
would add 20 his realization Of self
Grace George, the Courageous
When an actress undertakes "Divor
cons she invites the most exactinl
criticism Every woman OF our stag
has either done IL or itched to do II
There are as many standards TO meas
ure against a new Cyprienne as Their