New-York tribune., 1910-09-08
THE DRAMA
Mother" the New Play at the
HaCkett Theatre.

/ IN the 'ndtuTaltstIC' plays of the hour
the audience hcwled from sheer JOY when
! she-she was supposed TO be chorus girl
! yelled: And now YOU can all go 10 hell!''
/ Upon this ultraviolet line. shouted from a
/ sweet feminine throat Zone must always
speak well of the ladies, the curtain de-
/ scended, and the great heart of the people
vas touched. 4 few moments earlier
/ young cub. presumably of decent ana COM
| Portable American family. had spluttered
at one Of his sisters GO to th2 devil
and to another sister he snapped. The
| devil she isl The great heart of The peo-
/ pie quivered with ecstasy Hundreds of
throats shouted Fine and there we're
! what eager writer's OF tender years call
salvcs Of applause" It was all instruc-
tive. You could see with half an eye how
! easy it is 10 make an audience roar with
approval when deep calls unto deep That
Young cub and his girl we're Unspeaka BILE
creatures The cub is seen any day in un-
Countebie numbers. in TIE streets and the
subway, AMI divers and sundry places.
chewing gum. slouchtng along and snarling
Typical enough Yes. thev were all ''typi-
car in that queer play last night.
The pIav lon1e., from the West where II
( has been called a PLY Of American life
and manners" Its scene is New York
Far be il from any ch~onicler 70 say that
American life and manners are not faith
fully depicted in persons and voices and
manners in this quaint composition But
there are other forms of American life and
manners less tiresomA than these and more
sgreeahle 10 contemplate for three hours
MI Jules Eckert Goodman. who wrote
the play. had a good idea but he has
worked it out in manner so naive that
any sophisticated spectator must hold his
breath before the gales of sentfmentalftv
and the bursts Of bathos which assault the
stage. II IS on the cards that Mother
will be spoken of as "A dramatic compost
ton Of a high order in the natura Iistic
school Such phrases were flung about
during the evening between the acts and
e neighbor exclaimed that in twenty years
he had seen nothing 50 fine as Emma
DUnn's acting Where he had been all
that time. and what he had seen. the gods
in their tenderness did not reveal But
there We're others whose minds foared
with the same thought. and they clamored
with the bravest emotions.
Mother is a simple tale of mother love
I is not melodrama, nor B'gosh drama
What it is may not easily be told. but it
is amply endowed with queerness as a play
be made very good play if an expert
enced hand could get at It. driven by
knowledge Of art which should be not less
than the stage ''naturalist's" know ledge
Of nature. Mother has four sons and
two daughters. The daughters may be
natural enough, but they are tiresome
persons Two of the sons are Riddles
twins. amusing, precocious. unmannered.
and having nothing TO do with the play
save making the spectators laugh. Say
that they are boy clowns and you have
their place in the scheme Of things. OF the
other sons one is married TO a chorus
girl. on whom he spends his inheritance,
for whom he robs his employers and forges
his mothers name. Ihe other SON the cub
above mentioned. is enamoured Of another
chorus siren. the enchantress. whose sweet
address already quoted brings down the
second curtain with delirious applause. as
II the great public were enraptured that
mothers should be treated in this way.
OF course. it is the business of the
dramatist to show that mother love shields
the offending and offensive sons, cherishes
the uninteresting daughters and watches
over the noisy twins. She is dear soul.
this mother. and is played with no mean
skill by Miss Dunn. who has all the assur-
dilCe OIL ease which HAY bt eA leCttU DL d
star" Miss Dunn comes very near to
making a remarkable Characterization, but
at the moments when she is expected TO
touch some deep or tender chord she is
loud and vehement and so fails at times
10 bring the effect for which she is striv-
ing She has ease and grace and d real
voice not a phonograp phic attachment. as
many Of our players have: a personality
Of some homely attractIveness and genu-
inc appreciation of the work laid out for
her. All the players look their parts,
and are quite as natural no doubt. as the
author intended them to be. But some
thing more of repression in acting and in
the business OF the scene would help mat
ters. An instance of this need occurs in the
last act when the forging son comes home, !
opens the door Of the twins room just as
Mother is putting the youngsters TO bed. |
The twins are at their prayers. The fOrg
ing son is about TO enter. but instead Of /
doing so he pauses in the doorway. unob- |
served by twins or Mother. and before |
turning away says: You can't imagine f,
how this makes me feel or words to that /
effect Were he to say nothing. and mere /
" appear at the door while Mother lowers |
the light and the twins are praying. the !
point aimed q would be secured. But /
any speech al that instant Injuries the ef- /
feet, and the bathos Of this speech almost |
ruins il. Some directors of such matters /
however. do not appreciate the value of .
silence and the effectiveness Of repression. /
This play contains much that IS overdone. /
But the overriding pleased the audience.
and it will not be surprising if the noise
Of the evening turns out to be the sound .
Of success There is no accounting for
tastes. A. W
CAST OF MOTHER"
Mrs. Katherine Wetherill. 'Mother.''
Miss Emma Dunn /
William Howard WetheriII- Frederick Perry
Walter Thomson WerherIl ! bert Tarscha (