The San Francisco call., 1910-07-10

POET WALKS With
PLUMBER IN PLAY
Grocer Aids CarmePs Literati in
Earnest Production of Bib
IicaI Drama
Theater Among Pines Makes
Beautiful and Romantic Set=
ting for Tragedy
B. WALTER ANTHONY

CARMEL G-THE-SEA. July 9.-The
ordinary processes Of conventional the
atrical criticism may not be INDUCED
in an appraisement of the worth Of
Carmers neighborly presentation here
tonight of Constance Skinner's biblical
drama David"
II did not prove TO be great play
nor was il performed after the man
ner Of professionalism.
No mammoth OrcheStrs-gifted with
Babel. but harmonious tongues-led a
spiritual way into the story of the son
of Jesse. Instead there were four or
nVe musicians hidden behind natural
foliage, their music racks punctuated
in the darkness under the pines by lit
he dots OF light which CLEANED like
Ireflies.
There was no Margaret Anglin with
glorious voice whispering or shouting
her woes TO the night winds. Instead
There was young girl, scarcely is
years old, 10 whom the desperation and
death Of MichaL daughter of Saul,
were given to portray. David himself
wore an awkward air in the stressful
moments or great emotion. and many
of the theories dear 20 pendants and
students OF the drama" We're Jared
ia tire draInatursy OF Miss SINNERS
play.
All these things are necessarily true,
but are likewise quite as inconsequen-
Iial as other silly truths are. The per-
fOrmance was none the less impressive
or enjoyable for the facts just labori-
ously forced through my enthusiasm
which would be better served if fuller
expressed. II the performance was not
professional in character, neither was
il amateurish. 1t was a thing apart,
requiring its own rules OF measure
ment and establishing, under the trees
and within hearing OF the surf, its own
laws.
PRAISED BN AUDIENCE
IL was worth the trip to hear and
see. Its pictures and its tableauX
were worthy the praise they received
from the audience the zeal and earn
estness which characterized the per-
formance carried conviction of truth TO
the beholder. The intelligence that was
apparent in the reading of the lines,
and the deep sincerity that lightened
the Interpretation, were elements of
appeal Whit the big audience and the
writer found delightfully."- irresistible.
May ! illustrate what l am trying to
convey?
There may be lack of art exhibited
in the concerted singing of a throng,
or in the congregational intoning OF d
hymn. but who has not felt a thrill
in listening to multitude in tune and
cOnsonance with the sympathetic Ut
terance OF common sentiment2 The
unison Of thought and the reipforce-
ment Of belief that make hymn
wonderfully expressive work when
sung by patriotic soldiers OF by the
faithful effect a result which COM
posers and poets rarely achieve in their
expressions. So. tonight. the opening
OF the Forest theater in Carmel be-
came z rite as well as a performance
and its participants on the ge and
the audience on the benches were be-
4 aH1sa i flrh
the man who would scoff at the effort
nor approve the taste Of the one who
could remain Unimpressed-
THROUGH FOREST PATH
Imagine if you please grove of
pines and frs skirting a road that dips
its toes in the sea and meandering into
the woods turns into bridal path, then
10 d foOtpath and then, 1 dare say. be-
comes lost in a squirrel hole somewhere
south OF Carmel The particular grove
of trees mentioned is d quarter of
mile from Carmel's indeterminate GEN.
ter. A path leads off from the road,
which you follow with pleasant assur-
ance, not always enjoyed in Carmel,
that you are on the right track, for
dimly through the trees you discern
lights. You can not lose your way be-
cause the bushes by the wayside are
as definite as walls in a gallery en-
trance Pine trees that start at your
paths side hang Gothic walls of green
above your head and the way under
meath is soft with the carpet that the
ancient arched ceilings like walls in
an old room have shed. You pass be-
tween gates hung on tree stumps,
which seem to have been planted there
for the purpose. and in the shadow
stands the inevitable evil Of all play
houses. the ticket taker. You make your
peace with him and pass into the amphi-
theater Tt is a clearing on a gentle
slope The back walls, like those Of
deliberately made theater, are semi
circular The trees happen to stand
that way. They embrace regular en-
closure which the stage-one OF the
few artificial features of the place
cuts like a segment Arc lights, star
ing boldly from the underbrush far
back. throw a flood Of light over the
audiences heads on to the stage, other
wise the forest theater is in darkness,
save when the players appear waving
torches
The stage is the result of art and
nature in mutually compensat ting
moods. Through its 7. & G. flooring,
pine trees thrust up thriving heads.
century old brothers OF the platform
beneath. Backstage the living and the
dead mingle in healthy confusion. You
: can't tell which OF the trees or which
OF the clump Of bushes is rooted in the
soil below the stage or which was up
rooted and carried thither to exc out
what nature. not knowing about the
forest theater. failed TO place correctly. 1
Let me say in this connection that
Ferdinand Burgdorf. the artist. was
responsible mainly for the wonderful
blending OF the stages outlines with |
the beauty Of the natural scene, with /
which no artist had anything whatever
TO DO.
PLAY IN FAIRY LAND
But the play has begun in this fairy /
land We are not TO see all Of il be- /
cause telegraph facilities are not as
completely outrageous in Carmel as |
elsewhere, and a Sunday morning paper /
refuses TO rest or wait on the pleasure |
OF q Saturday nights performance
Miss Skinner has taken the story of |
David and has treated IL liberally. She I
has added romance. subtracted biblical |
history, multiplied events and has pro- |
duced series Of episodes. These may /
not by the most distant stretch of the /
ina gination be collected into the SEM |
blance of play wherein one scene /
rests on another and grows out OF It; /
but with the aid of Garnet Holme. who /
has staged the presentation. a collec- /
tlon Of wonderfully vivid pictures and /
impressive tableauN are presented IL /
Illustrative Of the life of the sweet /
singer OF Israel Miss Skinner has also I