The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1908-10-25
Jessie BOnStelle
And Miss 0'Neil
Weeks Surprise
Sunshine in Columbia Play
and Power at the Belasco.
Anent Wireless"


can all be borrowed for an impersona-
ton; but not sunshine. That must be
inherent and 1t Is indispensable 10 the
giving of an unanalytical pleasure 10
such as make the theater possibility.
In another week either Miss O'Neu or
that sparkling little woman at the Co
lumbia. Miss Bonstelle would have OBJ
tanned (as. surely, either of them would
have earned it, the leading place IN
the Tuesday reviews. But Wireless
was a first performance Monday night
and the need for Identifying and CLASH
flying a new play is generally con-
strued TO outweigh the need 10 review
an out-Of-tOwn Judgment on another
not so new. So it has waited until
Sunday, this proper recognition and dis
cussion Of agnes" THE Great Cues
ton" Miss O'Neil, and Miss Jessie
Bonstene.
Miss O'Neil is Olga NethersOle come
true We all remember the high ex-
pectatiOns with which the latter was
greeted. We all know how her capa-
bility TO project the deep emotions
across the fOotights was heralded as
the promise of greater things. And
most Of US know how the promise has
gone to protest. how Miss NetheTsoIe now
touches only the high places. how her
art continues ID be strong chiefly as
the rankweed is strong.
Miss 0'Nel's Somber Genius.
But in Agnes" this later emotional
fst reveals not only strength but a rare
ability TO shade acting in the gradations
Of dark half lights. She plays upon
almost every note in the middle and
.g4Ha
board Just as the barytone voice is
capable of all the gradations Of the
mezzo-soprano without losing its char
acteristic quality. so this woman is
capable Of all the nuances and con-
trasts of a complete representation even
though she keep it ali somber. This
is not power. AS a general rule in art,
power is Independent Of refinement. And
in the theater power is almost excIu-
sively a revelation Of personality.
Miss O'Neil adds power to this rath-
er noteworthy chiaroscuro. If once
it was raw, as other critics have indi-
Gated, 1t Is not so any more Here is
a power restrained and refined-but
power. With a voice richly COlored
like the clarionet and a countenance
somewhat Over-tndicative of changing
emotions, she IS able . thrill her au-
diences as few other women OF our
time. As Mr.. Schroeder asks, in the
excerpt very properly quoted on the
billboard before the BelascO, "If this
is not genius. what is it?'
But il is not a joy giving genius,
whatever IL IS. Like the talent Of
Nazimova-at present the more capa-
bic and effective actress-it is too
deeply colored. too nearly empty Of
sunshine TO warm the heart II is like
the paintings of Rousseau-dusky,
gloomy somber, sad, grave, depress-
ing. II is as far from brightness as
Milton in 'PAllegro" is far from the
merriment OF Twelfth Night"
Our Thanks to Miss BonsteIle.
Now at the Columbia were power
and sunshine Joined. There was an
art which warmed the heart as the
gentle glow of the sun in spring. Who
In his senses Will say that such a sun
has not power? Who viii say that its
brightness, its warmth, its very seduc-
tiveness do not comprise a power
which puts all the thunder storms and
water spOuts to shame? Who viii not
say that if, in the end. the storm may
make US appreciative Of all the bless
ings Of peace and security, and so dc
US real and great good, the sunshine
does not foster and noUrish the very
blessings the storm teaches us to real
iZe?
So the gift TO Miss BonstelIe is great
er than the gift to Miss O'Neu. Maybe
il is not so sensational, but it will
wear better and can be made the
more useful. No wonder. then. there
was a great deal OF questioning
'Who is this new star? Where did she /
get her training Why have not the
newspapers told us more about herr"
The answer is that the newspapers
did not know any Of those things. She
came unheralded and she is earning
her way by what she is doing at this
very moment. not by what has been
done before. AS a matter OF fact she is
q New Yorker an active figure in the
women's intellectual and art clubs oil
Gotham, an earnest and careful stu
dent. the wife of James Stewart in the
cast of ''The Great Question" a mu-
stefan in spirit. an actress trained
heretofore almost exclusively III stock
companies.
Shall the Stage Be Useful7
Assured of bread and butter, a walk
ing gown. and a clean apron for every
morning, this Is a woman who would
rather have no art at all than one
gloomy or put to ignOble uses. She and
her husband realize that The Great
Question" viii probably never draw Sl5.-
600 a week They not only know it,
now, but did before they had read
the manuscript twice through. Yet, as
they see IT, the play must impose Its
lesson on the mind even OF the casual,
must teach even the young girl OF the
candy heart that the experience Of all
the ages cannot be now contrOveTted
that the ATyan race must mate with
its own kind only. And through the
pattern Of that teaching. Miss BonsteHe /
Weaves a thread OF girlish meTTiment
50 bright OF laughter so golden, that
your heart is all agIow with that humor
which men sometimes define as comfort
Of the soul.
What ABOUT plays like THE Great
Question:" does it do any good to put
them on? Is the function of the stage
10 teach philosophy. religion. morals?
The stage could not help teaching
those things any more fl it tried. For