New-York tribune., 1910-10-23


were instituted by Henry VIII In 15z7-
which. according TO the Shakespear,a,
chronology, was also the year OF Buckiux-
hams execution
A writer IN The Globe" OF London. deal
ing with Subjective Shakespeare" saw.
Even those who may not be disposed TO
accept all Mr.. Frank Harris's deductions
and conclusions cannot fail 70 be Interested
in his remarkable attempt in The Women
OF Shakespeare to trace the love for and
influence OF Mary Fitton right through ths
sonnets and the plays In his present con-
tributiOn. the fifth which has appeared IN
The English Review he seeks 10 SHOW
how alike in 'Troilus and Cressida' and IN
Antony and Cleopatra shakespesrs's pas
sion colored all he wrote. The two pIays
he declares, contain the finest portraits of
his faithIess mistress. and in regard to taa
first named work. it is contended that ths
main current Of the poets bitterness there
TN revealed. 'as in all his other tragedies.
flows from his disappointed and deAled
love- The portrait OF Cleopatra as ex-
pressed in the matchless words OF the dram
atist. Mr.. Harris maintains is by far ths
finest and most complex picture Of Shake
speare's mistress. Two or three mental
traits, too. are here given her that are omit
ted or only suggested in the other character
sketches. In spite OF the siren tears va
read about In the sonnets. in the dramatic
presentations Shakespeare's mistress does
not weep; but here she uses that weak
ness; she goes further. she even dies frs-
quen' r, Enobarbus says. in order to SUBJ
due her lovers No wonder Antony-Shake-
speaTe declares she's cunning past mans
thought Here too, her passionate love ia
displayed while her wantonness is almost
left out Of sight; on the other hand. her
high courage and contempt Of death ara
as an aureoIe to her-a most astonishing.
veracious. gaudy portrait 7 call Il. the nnsst
beyond comparison in all literature worthy
to stand with Hamlet and with Falstar
forever"
Refreshing candor from a foreign critic:
''The average small American town Of
anything over two thousand inhabitants
generally contains, among other attractions.
an opera house. It is sometimes built Of
corrugated iron and sometimes OF wood.
ard. as a general rule. it's nearest approach
to opera is a wrestling match. From time
to time, however. these establishments ars
visited. for one night only by theatrical
CO mpanies on tour. and on these occasions
necessarily somewhat unsophisticated az
dience assemblies. II is, we presume. for
this particular public that such pieces as
The Regeneration OF Aunt Mary and
Nav. or the -Squab Lady, are written
The former of these has been running for
a few weeks Past at Terry's Theatre. and
yesterday afternoon the latter was pro-
duced, for this occasion only We really
think that Nav, or the SQUAD Lady n
the most chiIdlike and bland dramatic en-
Referring to the New York critics ana
their annual visits to London, Mr.. Charles
Frohman said in recent interview. accord
ing TO THE Era: 'Yeu see. the ins logic
OF this custom is in the fact that ths
American critic goes to London and sees
play that has been running there several
months. and then returns to New York and
sees k performed in the nervousness and
trembling anxiety Of a first night. and then
makes the intelligent comment that the
performance in London was much
smoother"
Wonderful!
And he went on, according TO the sans
authority: In America we have a dozen
LOndons and there is room for more"
Still more wonderful. But what does il
all mean7
An English writer. discoursing on mas.
cots says:
When Mr.. j. VI. Barrie's charming
comedy, The Little Minister was enjoy
ing a phenomenal run in London, an OBJ
servant critic pointed out that the word
little in the title of a play nearly always
seemed to act as a mascot. There would
certainly seem some truth in this. as wit
ness the success Of The Little DamOzel,'
The Little Michus.' The Little Stranger
Little Lord FauntIeroy.' The Little
Widow and The Two Little Vagabonds,'
which latter drama has been played in
every corner Of the English speaking globe
and still draws big audiences
The word gold seems 10 act IN quite
the opposite direction. The Golden Silence
was one Of Mr.. Haddon Chamberss most
brilliant efforts, but it failed TO prove suc-
cess, and Charles Reade's famous drama
It's Never Too Late TO Mend was rank
failure when produced under its original
name OF Gold Strangely enough. directly
the title was changed the piece leaped into
favor and is now, of course, a classic A
drama entitled The Golden Wedding.
though an excellent piece IN its way. did
not win any great need Of public favor'
nor did The Golden Ring a comic opsrs
produced some years ago, achieve anything
like genuine success
The word silver is fortunate IN PLAYS
A most notable example of this IS the ever
green Silver King a drama which has
brought Mr.. Henry Arthur Jones and Ms
collaboration a fortune and which has prob
ably been PLAYED more often than Hamlet
The Silver Falls was also huge sue
cess. while the triumph of The SILVER
Slipper will be fresh in the minds ef A
playgoers OF a few years standing
Mr. G. r Sims Is evidently great 90
lever in the word lights as a luck orinsef
TO plays. and that his belief Is Justned
proved by the extraordinary success Wee
has been won by him with dramas y WaI
the word figures The Lights o Lence1
is too we'll known TO need more tna1
passing reference, but there IS also
Harbor Lights'-the biggest triuunpn -
scored at the old Adelphi Tnsatro- -
Lights Of Home and When the Lamps
Lighted Lights Out translaHon -
/ German drama. has also been srsa..
cess. while False Lights SenssS
drama In which Mr. Fred Wright, s-
| 20 tour many years ago, made GUS
/ able fortune On the road
The word girl also seems luck 0 -,,.s
as out OF several dozen musical e0N--,,4
and dramas In the title OF when Inc "a
has figured. only one OF two have ssl' e;irl.'
attract. The success OF '1hS DS{-F g.i
I