Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-17

that We have turned our backs on
Furopean inspiration. The adapter
is being crowded to the wall, or
rather being crowded off the bill
..-dc nv the man who. knowing some
ching about life on this continent, Las
set himself. with the buoyant cando' Oh
-,ou.h. to write about 1t. The play that
depends on European prestige must take
us chances suuarely on it's merits, Tor
the trademark Imported constitutes
no guarantee.
AZ uc forsake the exotic for the IN
digenous. cultivating our own seen III
our own soil. the growth Is sometimes
rank But ranknesS means "eaith
Of vitality. against which storms and
frosts shall not prevail. In The Easi-
est Way Eugene Walter has discovered
something How much personal credit Is
due him for this discovery cannot be
known. Perhaps he is one of the scien-
lists whose nice calculations enable them
70 announce that a new celestial body
hangs at certain point in space. Per-
haps he is but an adventurer on the
high seas of fiction who, seeking short
cut to opulence blunders on Il new con-
tinent II doesn't matter much He has
arrived at remarkable destination.
The Easiest Way" is not a pleasant
play 1t is likely to make even the vet
eran OF many musical comedy perform
ances sit up and protest that there are
limitations of indecency which the stage
should not be permitted to transgresS. 1t
takes up the subject of the New York
Chorus girl. and takes it up seriously;
Unrestrained by the fact that he must
look to the theater for friends and pros
poets he reads an Indictment of certain
phases Of the show business that is all
the more powerful because of its in
genuous frankness. With Belasco as
producer. with Frances Starr, who excels
in this piece anything she has done here
tofore. as the principal actress, and with
q company of extraordinary and uni
form ability. the performance cannot be
superciliously sidetracked. 1t has the
force of the word of one syllable which
stands up in defiance OF critical and
speculative circumlocution.
When Dumas the younger wrote Ca
mile he was assailed by moralists for
daring 10 hold up to public scrutiny the
life of d cocotte. But the young man
wrote what he knew about. He drew n
picture of blighted womanhood that
moved a world to tears. He showed the
hollowness of the smile that is forced
10 the lips of need in its effort to pro
pitiate the world about it: not the true
world, perhaps; not the world of big
thoughts and humane purposes. but the
little world about it: the world in which
the sybarite is king. He stripped hollow
gsyety of its gilt trappings and revealed it
a,a1 hot; NI7ea / a,-'-
presents a parallel to this French drama
which still lives and is still assailed
affront to morals It reminds Us that
in New York, on the Threshold Of Ameri-
"a, there is a social condition in which the
cocotte of Partisan life finds her counter
part. The author has achieved results
which command admiration for his uneX-
pected powers of portrayal and which, at
the same time, earn resentment for their
audacity. There will be much well found
cd protest. yet there will be many warm
tears of sympathy for the man and
The woman. creatures of hope unforti
ted by experience of wisdom, who sank
in the whirlpool of circumstances. 1t is
one of the plays which compel admra-
ton for the skill displayed in the pre-
sentation OF an idea: the idea itself is
consideration apart from criticism In a
technical spirit There can be hesita-
tion however. in declaring it a most I'M
desirable influence in the education of
Youth that sees only the pcturesqueness
Of the fable and rejects the moral.
The Writing on the Wall demon
slrates the futility OF speech when it
comes TO presenting something really big
in human emotion. The play with all its
philosophizing and we'll turned dialogue
is literally saved by a Shrek. The cry
Miss Nethersole utters when the mother
realizes the fate OF her baby is the one
great event of the play which on the
whole possesses the same elements of
force which made The Fighting Hope"
by the same author, a success and the
same crudities made that success a matter
Of doubt.
This American drama OF ours in the
conscious power Of its youth, stretches
itself for combat. 1t breathes challenge.
It is weary OF mere gymnastics and
yearns for mortal combat. THE Writing
or the Wall" denouuces the venerable
New York church that has accumulated
great wealth derived from rentals among
the poor, 1.-THE Easiest Way denounces
the methods pursued-or, to avoid alter
cation, let us say alleged to be pursued in
organizing some theatrical productions:
and The Third Degree" denounces the
coercion employed in eXtorting confess
sions from suspects in criminal cases
Here YOU have it. In this already per-
turbed Capital city the church. the stage
and the police are all confronted the
same week. in militant defiance. 1t is
the hour of rebuke. but the chastisement
Is softened by the excellent acting of such
artists as Olga Nethersole Frances Starr
and Helen Ware.
PHILANDER JOHNSON.
\ PLEA FOR PEACE.-This season
Chauncey Olcott was billed to play one
of the smaller cities in Kansas. and. as
he had not been there for three years, the
entire house was sold out two DAYS before
his arrival The opera house had always
been noted for the bad music rendered by
the orchestra. it being an aggregation of
local talent that played free of charge
Of big floods in the vicinity of this town
tram connections were missed. and Mr.
Olcott and his company did not arrive
at the theater until II was time for the
curtain TO go up. John Smith. the man.
ager of the opera house. was on the
stage, and. as he greeted Mr. OIcott.