Evening star., 1908-01-12

Gloria" Julia Marlowes new
piece. The forecast from Pnlia-
delphia was more than threaten
ing. for considerable share of unfafofa-
BILE comment had preceded the piece. IN
the first place the name Is foroiduihs
and meaningless: II sounds like some sort
Of patent dry goods. Now that II mas
been vitaIized by the personality Of Miss
Marlowe it fairly scintillates with viva
ciouS suggestion. But who was TO know
that ii had not something TO do with dry
goods as aforesaid. with ecclesiastical
Latin The original title. The Jade, was
much more significant of the Elizabethan
quality of the drama.
Many people who saw it did not like it.
It's full appreciation required certain
amount of Shakespearcan prejudice: and
people who do not feel inclined to inter-
est themselves in Shakespeare have the
support of some very eminent literary
men. who intimate that compared to
themselves Shakespeare was pltfiing
poetaster and a minor melndramatist. But
the admirers OF the Bard of Avon are
still numerous, and they enjoyed the work
intensely much as a picture lover might
admire skillful copy Of an old master.
II is fortunate that writer's have 50 few
tempt ations or rather 50 few opportun
ties to follow the methods Of certail ne
furious painters who produce ''old mas
lers' to order Otherwise there would be
danger that the author of &C ora would
have the market flooded with newly dis
covered Shakespeare dramas. Even in
word handling. which betrays far more
than plot or even than character delinea-
ton the writer's Individuality. the play
frequently catches the real spirit of
Shakespearean badnage- Il is an unde
niably clever work, and although purely
initiative has good vital qua ity.
As Gloria Miss Marlowe lays claim to
great versatility There are SO few wom-
en- competent TO play roles of deep emo
tionality that there is some natural
resentment toward the idea of sparing this
one of the few for the enactment of
part whose lightness borders on the friv-
oious. No serious question of heart or
mind Is involved. The play from be ginning
TO end is one great pranking. practical
joke. So intense is the dislike for practi-
cal jokes that it is hard TO dress one
even with all the condiments and sauces
which the theater provides. so as to make
: 1T palatable. But the most difficult tasks
command most admiration when accom-
-pIished! The Eiizabethan .pIaywrights
fairly reveled in practical jokes. Before
an Euzabethan audience Gloria" would
probably have been an overwhelming
and uncompromsing success. The
auditor feels if he We're giving Miss
Mar-owe a holiday, and gives it rather
grudgingly. She has earned the right to
romp and sparkle and play the vixen If
= she chooses-but there are Juliet and
Viola and even the more recent studies of
nobler womanhood waiting to be played
. No stretch of affectionate regard can
permit Gloria's classification as a study
of nobler womanhood. She is a spoiled
child, who is blind to all generosity and
sacrifice, and yields only to physical CO.
ercion. She is a shock to chivalry re-
yertng. as she does, to the old couplet
{ 4 woman. a dog and walnut tree.
The more you beat them the better they be.
She is tanned when the curtain descends
on the finale of the play. But grim sus-
picion hovers over the matrimonial flu
ture.
Mr.. Robert Edeson permits himself no
classics. He sticks as close to the imme-
date calendar as possible, and delights
the military experts by standing forth as
of the few players whose produc-
tions will bear strict scrutiny from
technical point of view. His play Glass
mates" tells the same story OF a manly
misunderstood chap that Mr.. Edeson has
been telling for many seasons But this
hero Is fine fellow, and there is never
any objection to getting more closely ac-
quainted with him. Classmates" is as
close and intelligent an exposition of
phases OF current life as Gloria is of
archaic atmosphere. Mr.. Edeson has just
had a new play. 1t was entitled 1.-The
Sinner" and ran only a few nights. 1t
was presented for the purpose of carrying
out contract with the author, and it's
shelving was foregone conclusion. The
try-out was made In Philadelphia. Just
how Washington was spared this ordeal
is not made clear, but that should not
prevent gratitude. Mr.. Edeson has still
another new play in contemplation. 1t is
called The Travelling Salesman" and is
from the pen of James Forbes, whose
Chorus Lady" is SO extraordinary a sue
cess. There has not been first-rate
drummer play since 'Sam'l of Posen
brought NJ. B. Curtis to celebrity which
deserted him after he became involved in
shooting incident in San Francisco
The Old Homestead" happens once a
year. If It's patronage depended only on
people who have never seen 1t. 1T would
be hard TO understand where its audi
ences came from. But there are people
who recognize only three great winter
holidays-Thanksgtvi Christmas and
visit to The Old Homestead" New Year
and Washingtons birthday are minor
considerations.
Subject for the debating society: Does
the play make the actor or does the
actor make the play? Here is The Old
Homestead" going ahead and deIighting
the public without Denman Thompson in
the cast-Denman Thompson. whose name
USED 10 be regarded as an indispensable
remains delightful in his droleries and ir-
resistible in his pathos. True. But Dem
man Thompson Is still with the show
back on the stage, too, great deal of the
time, and, no doubt, endeavoring to pro-
ject his personality into the role as
Svengai mesmerized Triiby. It's SUBJ
ject for the psychologists.
PHILANDER JOHNSON.
DAMROSCH AND THEODORE
THOMAS.-Walter Damrosch, conductor
of the famous New York Symphony Or
raCfy- Hfr.f, to.