Los Angeles herald., 1908-08-04

stage OF the mason opera housS.
THE CAST
James Ponsonby Makeshyfte, ID. D., the
most reverend, the lord bishop OF
Lancashire ............. sAfihuA LOWS
The reverend william smythe, the
vicar ....... Edmund Ram Kennedy
Auntie, the wears wife. -.
Mary. their niece. Miss Gwyiadys hyhhe
Nh. Robert smith, the drain man
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Tyrone rover
Rogers n page-bOy ...... .Galwey HefDert
Manson, a butler. ........" ."alieF n"hip"e"
BY sIDLE LAWRENCE
kkTNHE SERVANT IN THE
HOUSE," a dramt- of tremen-
Il dous import and vitality, was
revealed upon the stage of the Mason
opera house last night for the hrst
time in Los Angeles. The play Is
founded upon the Socialism that Is
Christianity and the Christianity that
is Socialism. In it's appeal to modern
audiences it is the biggest play l nave
ever seen presented upon the American
stage.
sThe Servant in the House" appeals,
and with compelling force, to two
audiences. 1t appeals to the casual
and careless theatergoer, the man who
has little use for symbolism. by the
inherent interest of it's story, through
the skill of its construction and with
the realism of it's Characterization.
Shorn of it's symbols it still is
drama of remarkable strength.
But to the man who thinks on soclo-
logical topics, even though he may
have approached the subject in dill
ettanti fashion, "The Servant in the
House. has a double appeal. For him
the play prestnts a pitiless arraign-
ment of the SNUG hypocrisy that often
times masqueradeS in priestly vest
ments 1t does not attack Christianity.
1t directs it's blows against the bar
nacle-like growth that has fastened
itself TO the church. It's lesson is d1-
rect, plain, unmistakable. 1t is a play
preachment, concerning itself not at
all with pulpit platitudes, but going
straight to the heart of things. 1t is
impressive, dignified, vital.
To do justice to the remarkable quail
tiles of this play in the brief space al
lotted to a newspaper review and IN
the short time at my disposal is,
frankly admit, task very much be-
yond my accomplishment. In it Mr..
Kennedy has succeeded in doing soIne-
thing that is rarely ever approached.
H. has preached a powerful sermon
and he has embodied that sermon in
powerful play. The result is an
achievement alike in dramatic con-
struction and in sermonizing.
Story Is Simple
The story is simple in the hearing,
but somewhat complex in the action.
Its lesson is the universal brotherhood
OF man. Through it all moves the dig
nified figure of Manson, "the servant
in the house, who symbolizes Christ.
Asked by the hypocritical bishop of
Lancashire to describe his church,
Manson, whom the bishop has mis-
taken for a dignitary of the Anglican
church in India, replies:
am afraid you may not consider
1t an altogether substantial concern.
1t has to be seen in a certain way, un-
der certain conditions. Some people
never see it at ALL You must UNDER
stand this is no dead pile of stones and
unmeaning timber. 1t is a living thing.
When you enter 1t you hear a sound
a sound as of mighty poem
chanted Listen long enough and you
will learn that it is made uD of the
beating of human hearts of the name
less music of mems souls-that is, If
you have ears. If you have eyes you
will presently the church itself-a
looming mystery of many shapes and
shadows leaping sheer from floor to
dome. The work of no ordinary builder
The pillars of it go up like the brawny
trunks Of heroes: the sweet human flesh
OF men and women is moulded about
its bulwarks strong, impregnabe: the
faces Of little children laugh out from
every cornerstone; the terrible spans
and arches of it the Joined hands
of comrades; and up in the heights and
spaces there are inscribed the number
less musings of all the dreamers of the
world. 1t is yet building-building and
built upon. Sometimes the work goes
forward in deep darkness; sometimes
in binding light; now beneath the bur
den of unutterable anguish; now to the
tune OF great laughter and heroic
shoutlngs like the cry of thunder.
Sometimes, in the silence of the night
time one may hear the tiny hammer
ings of the comrades at work up in
the dome-the comrades that have
climbed ahead.
The Drain Man
The obvious symbolism of the play
is further carried out by the drain
man, blood brother to the vicar and
father to Mary. who has been tenderly
reared as the wears niece. This drain
man, III the pursuit of his avocation,
stumbles into a faulty drain which is
depositing it's loathsome stream in a
burial vault underneath the church.
The place must be cleaned up and the
drain man, with Manson's teachings in
his heart, volunteers for the task, one
of great difficulties and exceedingly
wife attempt to dissuade him and there
ensues this colloquy:
Robert (the drain man)-Why wot
is there to fear? Amt it worth while
to move away that load Of muck7
Vicar-The stencil, the horror. the
darkness.
Robert-What's It matter, If the
comrides up above ave light an joy
an breath Of 'olesome air to sing by?
Vicar-Hour by hour dying alone.
Robert-The comrides up in the spans
an arches, joinin ands.
Viear-Fainter and fainter below
there, and at last-an endless silence.
Robert@Igh in the dome, the am
merin's OF the comrides as aY climbed
aloft!
In the end the vicar doffs his clerica.
garb and prepares to accompany his
brother and to aid him in his work of
purifying-the church.
Fine Dramatic Quality
The speech and the dialogue here
quoted are important in the plays sym
bolism, but give small idea of it's es-
sentially dramatic quality throughout.
1 can recall no scene of finer dramatic
tensity, of truer climax than the epi-
side between Robert and his daughter
Mary, whom he knows to be his daugh-
ter but who is ignorant of the relation
ship he bears her. This is one of the
very big moments of the play, but
there are others, many others, big in
import.
OF the producing cast it is necessary
only to say that the players are worthy
of the play. Walter Hampden gives a
thoroughly dignided and impressive
portrayal of Manson. Tyrone Power
realizes the role of the drain man with
admirable skill. Arthur Lewis bishop
of Lancashire is q remarkably effect