Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-08-08
The Foreign Stage
By Malcolm Watson.

king and arose Sir Herbert The an
nouncement of the honor to be conferred
upon him was, of course, made some
weeks ago, but it was only on Thursday
that he in conjunction with Arthur wing
Pinero. received the royal accolade.
The bestowal of a knighthood on the
popular actor-manager has occasloned
general satisfaction. Personally l have
no great sympathy with such acts or
royal favor in relation to actors. out
assurediy no one deserved it better than
Tree. 1t is an open secret that he would
have received it long ago had he been
somewhat less of Bohemian and shown
less pronounced spirit of independence
Among the hundreds 1 might almost say
thousands, of congratulatory messages re-
ceiyed by him .here is only one couched
in what I may describe as rather am
biguous vein. It came from Sir Squire
Bancroft and ran as follows: Glad that
the king continues to honor our profess
sion." The telegram might be taken 10
suggest that in the senders judgment any
body would have done as we'll as Tree.
The latter. by the way. is off to Marien-
bad to drink the waters for three weeks.
He brought his season at His Majesty's
to a close a week ago with pleasant
little speech, in which he dealt out COM
pliments pretty well to everybody. himself
included. Tree is confirmed optimist
and it was natural he should seize on the
opportunity to play the part of "praiser
of his own times" The drama. he de-
clared, was never in so vital and so prom
Using a condition as it is at present. Nor
was he able to recall a period when aspir-
ing playwrights were offered SO many and
such favorable openings. This is all very
well in its way, but l am afraid a close
scrutiny of the past season would hardly
bear out Trees contentious. Failures
have been all too numerous and genuine,
monetary successes few and far between.
And now our eyes are fixed on the
autumn. which promises. at least, to bring
us some notable productions. whatever
their fate may be from the box office
standpoint.
Tree himself is to give us ''transla
ton" of Eugene Brieux's La Fol"
James Bernard Pagan. who is shortly to
hearsals of his play, THE Earth
have read the piece and I am confident
that artistically it will create something
of sensation. The action takes place
given some details of the story and there
is no need. therefore. to go over old
ground. Enough that it treats of the
skepticism between religion and science.
Mrs. Patrick Campbell was selected for
one of the leading parts, which would
have suited her admirably. But She de-
manded such impossible conditions that
Tree was at last compelled to break off
negotiations. The role has now been al
lotted to a young actress, Mona Limerick,
almost entirely unknown to London play
goers. l saw her little time ago at
one Of the outlying suburban theaters
u n not hot I,As 20
thoroughly perplexed and bewildered me.
She has personality and temperament;
her methods. however, seem to me still
crude and undisciplined. There is just
the chance, notwithstanding. that her
natural gifts may suit the character and
that in 1t she may achieve a veritable tri-
umph. Another young actress, Evelyn
DAlrOy. who has been leading lady to
Lewis Waller, has been selected for the
heroine, for which her sympathetic man
ner and fine emotional power seem to
mark her out exactly. Henry Ainley,
romantic actor who has not Yet been
seen on your side, plays the hero and
Tree contents himself with the subsidiary
role Of the high priest. Ainley had sign
ed with Herbert Trench to go to the Hay
market as a member of the Repertory
Theater Company, but he broke his con-
tract on the grounds that Trench had
abandoned his original repertoire scheme.
Trench now declares that he will enjoln
>
whether he will put his threat into exc
cution is, however, doubtful.
BY the time this reaches the other side
H. B. Irving will. 1 expect. have secured
a lease Of the Waldorf. This. it may be
remembered, was the theater which the
Shuberts selected for their pied-a-terre in
London. From the very outset the VEN
ture proved a failure and things went
from bad to worse until at length the
Shuberts retired, somewhat ignominious-
ly. from the struggle. From time to time
the Waldorf reopened its doors only to
close them again with promptitude
which left everything to be desired.
The house, although situated within a
stones throw of the Ga.ety. lies just
without the limits of theaterdom, but. Of
course. really good piece. presented by
a popular actor-manager. would quickly
serve to restore 1t to popularity. Irving
has fairly strong syndicate behind him
and several plays in the success OF which
he has every faith. At the Shaftesbury
a year ago he did very well with The
Lyons Mall but the other pieces of his
fathers repertoire, such as Charles T.
and Louis XII ne did little more than
pay expenses, if even that He has not
yet got a particularly strong hold on
London play goers; nevertheless he Is a
good II scarcely an inspired actor, and,
always supposing that he can get the
right piece, there Is every reason to hope
he will prove successful. He obtains the
Waldorf. at any rate, at a comparatively
low rental. although, Lewis Waller
found at the Imperial, this Is only sec
ondary consideration.
One of your we'll known actresses,
Amelia Bingham. has just arrived in this
country and starts operations at the
Palace Variety Theater next Monday
evening. She was to have appeared there
week earlier. but Alfred Butt. the man.
ager, finding his program full to overflow
ing. found it necessary 10 postpone the
date Of her debut. Fortunately she was
able to fill in the intervening week at
Glasgow at a salary of $500. an unusu-
ally handsome offer for an artist who has
only her reputation to rely on. / hear,
however, that she made a phenomenal
success in the north and that Glasgow
playgoers have taken to her in the most
kindly fashion. Her program consists Of
Big Moments From Great Plays; in
other words. she appears in the crucial
scenes of sensational pieces such as FEE
DORA La Tosca" and so forth. 1t will
be interesting to see how the London pub
lie accepts the novelty next Monday.
Talking of big salaries, have just been
shown contract made with a Russian
dancer who will appear here next spring
and who Is to receive the enormous sum
of s., 400 a week for seven performances
This. perhaps. may not seem very un-
usual in America, but in this country the
figure is quite exceptional.
Had Enough.