Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-18

Gibson looms up as an insti-
tuition. Try as we may, 1t
is impossible to look beyond
him when he appears. He
confronts the most Indifferent eye and
The most unwilling ear. blocking the
vistas of space and shattering sweet
siiences An institution, to be worthy
of the name, must withstand attacks
of all kinds. Mr.. Gibson is impenetrably
fortressed. The battering rams of abuse
hammer i'm vain and the shafts of satire
rebound from his armor. Achilles had
his weak place; but not Preston Gibson.
Even the wounded pocketbook. that SUI
preme fear OF most managers and au-
1hors, has no terrors for him.
He deserves to be treated imper sonally,
like a Carnegie library or Rockefeller
foundation He is many in one. He has
endowed himself and is responsible to
no one else. He is angel manager.
author and sometimes audience. 1t
was said of Dr. Samuel Johnson that
while most authors were interesting be-
cause of their works, his works were in
teresting because of their author. The
same may be said of MIR. Gibson.
II is wrong to become irritated with
Mr.. Gibson because he insists on writing
plays: also a waste of time. He is en-
blowing himself in way that pieases
him. and has borne up under conditions
of adversely which would have damp
ened the ardor of a seasoned Snowman.
He forces recognition in a field of en-
deavor where chance plays part; the
fact that a man has written bad plays
does not mean that he can never write
a success. Royalties are being paid
constantly on plays whose right to exist
critics vehemently and unanimously deny
The production of Drifting may have
suffered through the admitted inability
of an author to thoroughly analyze his
own work and measure its effects. His
intention was evidently to produce pic
ture of people and their surroundings:
composition and not single figure
study. But, as in human life, characters
on the stage often develop unforeseen
prominence when brought into action. III
I'm this connection reference TO so archaic
an author as William Shakespeare may
be pardoned, the majestic tragedy of Shy
lock was, we are told, developed from a
role which was expected to excite ridi-
Guile and scorn. Other playwrights have
found the same difficulty in measuring
the relative Importance of personages of
the play.
The pains taken to make Drifting an
evenly balanced picture OF society at
Newport Ia picture which corresponds to
the popular impressions of that festive
colony without attempting to throw any
new illumination on the subject) and the
presence Of q more than usually compe-
tent eompany do not prevent the role of
the Young wife from standing out as one
OF stellar importance and as one that car
ries with 1T stellar responsibilities. 1t Is
q role of delicate psychological distinc-
tons; one in which the play of tempera-
mental light and shade Is constant. The
type is sensitive and complex. The transit
ton from girlish artlessness to resolute
womanhood requires subtle analysis for
its comprehension and vast skill for its
portrayal. 1t has been said that the role
of Juliet requires actress Of such ex-
perience that her age must prevent her
from looking the part. And this little
heroine is sort of Juliet: a Newport
comedy, Preston Gibson Juliet, whose
dainty. girlish impetuusities lead her
through forbidden paths and to the brink
of terror. OF all heroines on the stage the
girlish heroine is hardest to portray; the
laugh of innocence and the sob of de-
spair are too far apart In ordinary human
experience to be sounded truthfully by
the same voice In this portrayal Of the
role the hard, cruel note of worldly awak-
ening is sacrificed for the sake OF the
better and finer expression Of honest
childish sweetness. which pervades the
picture graciously, even though leaving it
incomplete
The object in writing Drifting ap-
pears to have been somewhat reforma-
tory II Newport could be brought to see
iteself as others see 1t there~would doubt
less be a great change in its manners and
customs.
The temperance OF MFR. Dodson in
The House Next Door was a welcome
event to admirers OF polished acting and
Of expert play construction And Aunt
Mary seems to be more rejuvenated with
each passing year.
PHILANpER JOHNSON.
AN ACTOR MANAGER.-Henr Mil
lers decision to force himself into the
producing business was almost an ffo-
pulse. He was walking down Broadway
one August afternoon six years ago and
happened TO notice a sign announcing
that the old Princess Theater was for
rent At the time all his preparations
for a road tour had been made. His COM
pany was engaged and his route booked.
But on the spur of the moment he
changed his plans. Before sundown he
lEad leased the theater fOG two years and
Cancelled his road engagement.
His first production, ''Grierson's Way"
vas not a big financial success, but it
made sufficient money to launch Brown
Of Harvard" Then the actor-manager
determined to star Margaret ADglin. In
collaboration with J. Hartley Manners he
wrote ''Zira," which not only proved both
q financial and artistic success. but es-
tablished Miss Angiin as star. In 1906
ne put on The Great Divide" with Miss
Anglin and himself as co-stars, and for
eleven months the house vas packed to
capacity at every performance. At the
End of that time 1t was transferred to a
arger theater and ran q second year on
Broadway.
Many declared that 1.-The Great Divide
vas an accident, and that Henry Miller
would come terrible cropper II he con-
tinued to produce "high-brow plays.
IND when Henry Miller discovered Nine.
NaZimova, had her taught to speak Eng
ish. and starred her in a repertory Of
ibsen plays at the Princess Theater, the
experts threw up their hands. But once
more the Miller ''luck" held good, and
he venture was as big a financial as