Arizona republican., 1909-12-23
"sAPH0" THE CRITICIZED
 PLAYED IN PHOENIX
Olga Nethersoie Produces the Play
 That New York Once "Shied" At.

The story that Alphonse Dauuet
 wrote for his son, with the instruction
 that he was not to read it till he had
 reached the age of 21. was depicted
 last night at the Elks' theater as a four
 act drama. The large majority of those
 who saw it last night had passed the
 mark of maturity prescribed by Dau-
 det, but there were some of the young
 CT set present for whom more whole
 some play might have been more de-
 sirable.
 "Sapho' belongs to that class of
 plays whose excuse is a moral glued
 on at the end. It has the distinction
 of being one of the very few plays
 produced in the metropolis of this country in the last decade that New
 York would not, or pretended she could not. stand for. That city. which
 is so cosmopolitan that any spirit of puritanism which she may once have possessed has been lost by the whole sale adoption of European standards of measure. shied at Sapho. shuddered at the suggestion in it and revolted at the portrayal of the life of a woman of the demi- monde. The only other play that was thus interdicted for time in New York that the writer re- calls was Mrs. Warren's Profession" by Bernard Shaw It will be remem- bered that Miss Nethersole was brought to trial and proved not guilty. From the moment the papers were served on Miss Nethersole the vogue of "Sa- pho" was tremendous. Its popularity has never waned
 But this Is history. Theatrical de cency is a matter of taste. and what Gotham once sniffed at Phoenix ac- cepted-perhaps because the habit of approval in stage matters is strong CT in small city than in larger one. During the trial of Miss Nethersole the critics con fessed that they were too blase to see anything in the play but chap ter of human life cleverly and truth fully portrayed. The stairway scene. when Jean carries Sapho in his arms to her rooms. figured largely in the tes- timony. IL is an apparently innocent exhibition of muscular strength on the part of Jean.
 Then there was that awful kiss. IL upset all stage tradition which pro- vided in the past that a kiss should be mere henpeck-the sort you give your wife's aunt who has come to spend Christmas with you. But when Sapho kisses Jean-which she does fairly often in the play-it is the kind you always remember but never tell about
 Daudet's drama is undoubtedly di dactic and instructive to youth; but it is conceivable that to some the wrong may be made so attractive by the de- lishtful and delicious&acting of Miss Nethersole that the lesson is obscured and the moral emasculated.
 It is the opinion Of the writer that Miss Nethersole 'has some plays in her repertoire which are more whole | some. and which the people of Phoenix l would have enjoyed more than Sapho. l and it is regretted that the manage ment of the theater did not try to induce Miss Nethersole to give some play. other than Sapho. in Phoenix Those who are supremely exact l will say that they saw nothing vulgar i in Sapho. They are quite right Art ! and vulgarity are impossible. and Olga | Nethersole is always the artiste As 1 dramatic production 1t was superbly | acted and produced. Miss Nethersole's | portrayal of the part was flawless; she l lived the part and before the play | was over became so thoroughly identi- | fled with it that you could not think | of one without the other. There is l dramatic art in her finger tips. in ev- cry word she utters. and in her sil- l ence. Harrison Hunter. who is cast 1 as Jean Gaussin, is an actor of rec 1, ogniZed ability and the other members | of the company are not by any means | inferior. But the whole motif of the | play is one that will hardly appeal to the lover of home life for its basic | is human passion.