Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-02-13
a ROUND-FACED gentleman with
~ spectacles and incoTigible whis-
IA kers-that was the mental picture
II that the name "Ibsen'' used to

~ spectacles and incorrigible Whls-
~ keTs-that was the mental picture
that the name "Ibsen' used to
bring up "A Dolls House"
would be put on at a matinee as spe-
cial treat to lovers of the extreme in
literature. Richard Mansfield, alert for
discovery, more restless in success than
most actors are in failure, was one of
the first Americans to interest himself
I'm Ibsen AT least 1t may be assumed
that he had such an interest, since his
wife appeared in "A Dolls House" when
that play was little more than an artis-
tic experiment. Mansfield was also a
sponsor for George Bernard Shaw when
that literary burlesquer was just begin
ming to make people wonder whether he
took humanity or himself seuously-a
question which has not even yet been
concIusively answered. Both these men
have grown nightly. Today Ibsen tow
ers. The enactment of some of his
roles is a standard of measurement by
which an actress powers may be judged.
Nazimova has taken the role of Nora
so thoroughly into her consciousness that
she plays it more or less all the time
Her engagement at the Belasco was like
the presentation of two installments of a
serial story In reverse order. THE Pas
sion Flower might be imagined as rep
Iesenting the career OF the impulsive,
sensitive child wife In new surroundings
and with a second husband. 1t is an
example of the unsatisfactory results to
be apprehended when a playwright sets
out to interpret an actress instead Of Sc
curing an actress to interpret his play.
nj w
comes more into vogue with each season.
The plays which most impress are those
whose characters are developed according
TO the impressions and ideas of the
dramatist. and whose casting is mat
ter Of selection, not a foregone conclu-
sion. The demand for a central figure
as hero or heroine is ever strong in pop
ular taste, and the star is not in much
danger of displacement by the stock COM
pany. But the slavish fitting of a play
to a personality-a process which puts
the playwright In something tho same
relationship to the star as the tailor or
dressnaker-has difficulties too great to
encourage frequent attempts.
In THE Passion Flower Nazimova
undertakes to reveal every phase of her
polished and intricate art, and the author
attempts to duplicate all the effects in
story and situation that he has admired.
The result is artificial in both cases. The
product is too Jealous in It's efforts to
please, and therefore deficient in intrinsic
sincerity.
From grave to gay was but step
from the Belasco to the National. where
cd ITO
ite Of the mixed metaphorist) "as full
fledged star" Miss Janis is fascinating
in her limitations as of yore, and her
recitation of lines in straightforward
dialogue is replete with girlish charm.
George AIDES other name should be
Ponce de Leon. He is as close to the
fountain Of perpetual youth as any NOR
tai should hope to get. He will doubt
less be "rah-rahing'' and executing liter
AIRY capers on the college campus .long
after he is eligible to membership in Indi-
ana's most exclusive oldest inhabitants
association.
In THE Fair Coed a new personality
comes into hilarious prominence, that of
Harry Depp. whose effervescent fun is
as irresistible as it Is unaffected. He
makes the role of the chaperon one OF
the most convincingly comic creations
since "Charley's Aunt" 1.-THE Fair Co
ed'' came to town with bundle Of New
York press notices, which were SO pro-
fuse as to invite doubt. 1t has come to
be a custom to provide a show with an
abundance of New York press notices in
the same spirit that oldtime managers
were wont to send ahead thrilling litho-
graphs for display in barber shop win
doWS. They seem readily obtainable
as one-Sheet hangers, and have come to
be just about as persuasive. New York
insists on its prestige as center for
press notice production as carefully as
Battle Creek, Mich, guards its patent
food industries. No matter how favora-
BILE may have been the notices accorded
q production in Chicago. Philadelphia or
other American cities. the scrap book
shuts with a bang when Jersey City is
passed. and the metropolitan verdict
which was for years adjusted to a Weber
and Fields standard, is awaited with
humble resignation.
The popularity of Henrietta Crosman
was emphasized by the return engage
ment Of Sham" Miss Crosman Is not a
tense emotionalist; she revels in the light
err moods; there is the sparkle Of q smile
through her tears and she is always as
youthfully radiant as an April day.
PHILANDER JOHNSON.
THE AUTHOR OF THE BARRIER
Rex Elnngwood Beach Is q comparative
ly young man, but he has had remarkable
vicissitudes.
He was born on q farm in Michigan
in 1877. but most of his youth was spent
in Florida, where he attended college.
He went to Chicago to study law, but
was swept away In the great wave of
excitement over the discovery of gold in
the klondike regions. and, giving up his
legal prospects, sailed for Alaska on four
days notice. This In the late fall
of the first season of gold prospecting m
the north, and the United States was
filled with horror at the reports of famine
and the scarcity of all kinds of things
in Alaska. Mr.. Beach had to travel with
scant provisions. both for financial
reasons and because of the necessity for
making haste.
The result was he says, that all |
had when l landed was a tooth brush, a
suit case, with one shirt and "A collar in
II, and a mandolin. that l picked UP on
the way for arts sake. With the collar
j was enabled to get right into the most
exclusive circles of society, because there
were only two more like it in the first