The Washington times., 1910-12-06

begun to feel fdEety. restless. out Of
sorts. hating myself and hating the man
who had been sharing my cabin with me
But the sensation hasn't lasted long
/ remember the idea once occurring TO
me- spoke TO Jim MIiiindain about IL
az the time. there's resemblance be-
tween that and marriage and marriage
mark you at It's best and brightest TIE
happiest and luckiest CT married couples
have 20 cross that wretched ridge
Prom Act I. ''Mi1-ChanneL -
This Is the theme Of '.AIid-Channel.' -
II IS striking because the application
IS so universal and the only wonder IS
That II should be topic so little fire.
Quented by playWTights who have been
going far adeld for dramatic mate
rial and generally faring much
worse The subject Is like the first
song IN the hymnal, generally taken
for granted, and never sung because
II Is always there
But Sir Arthur Wing Pinero added
considerably more 70 the prestige OF
Ethel Barrymore as an actress than
to his reputation as a dramatlSt n the
production at the National last night
Starting on such q refreshing basis
i was keeGl- Disappointing when the
author failed to delVe very deeply into
human experience or 10 reveal anv def-
mite ideas on the question he PROFOUND
ed He furnished some passages Of
poetic beauty. ne turned some neat
epigTams, he provided role in which
Ethel Barrymore achieved new dis
tinction. but he did not make many Of
the auditors forget they were in the
theater-
Construction Fauitless-
OF course -.AIid-ChauneI'' was worked
out in faultless Pinero style. Granting
the premises, that this woman Of thirty
seven years who adOTed her husband
might commit indIScTetIOnS IN Italy
and that the husband IN the meanwhile
might be doing the same thing in Lon
don one month after they had broken
fourteen years partnership, the theme
Is worked out with keen and relentless
fatality
The most remarkable thing about Zoe
RIundeII, the wife w2s the quality
evinced in & Lesser degree by other char
aCtsrs, a psychologists ability 10 ana
lyze every emotion as she tread the
siDuOUs path 2 cruel playwright blazed
for her There weren't many nice
persons IN ..Alid-ChanneL" but most Of
them would have won more sympathy
had they desisted from talking about
their sins. analyZing them, explaining
them. and -eXCusinC them
As Zoe Blundcu paused in one tragic
moment 70 explain there was great
deal Of good IN her There was that
and II was q little hard 10 explain Just
vnv she went wrong The first act
leads one to believe II Vas because she
had an unsyu pathetic husband later It
seemed that her tame robins pet
name she had Tor her men friends were
a fault but she upset both theories BY
explaining Il was because The pair had
decided 70 have no ''bT3tS OF children
It WIS very evident again 10 quote
''Z0Oie,T that she had made a sad mess
Of things. The only way 20 straiEhten
Il out and to end TIE play was 10 jump
over the balcony. which she did This
conclusion hal a double merritt did
not commit the artistic sin Of folStlnE 4
happy ending UDCu such a bunch Of
troubles and she couldn't come back
10 explain why she did thaL
It ali looks like p highly drawn hypO-
thsti-aI case It might happen, but
probably never viii, JUS that way
All these incidents do Tot seem so IN
real as one sits In the tEeateT- This is
largely due to the good acting OF Ethel
Barrymore. she viii have to be called
Mrs. Colt now II she insists on a prefix,
and the other members Of the cast
Miss Barrymore has grown wonderfully
Fl artistic stature II was not TO be eN-
peCted that she should Eaiu IN single
sea son the 1re-emiuenCe in 2 new field
that was hers IN the old There were
times when the haSty delivery OF lines
and a rather dispassi0nate manner Of
speech recalled that this actress had
never pretended 10 emotional expression.
But she displayed the fullness Of her
new accomplishments in the scene with
her husband IL the third act
A Stodgy- well-to-c3o' type OF huS-
band. a good pTOvIdeT.T without iTnag-
inatiCn enough TO exercise the quality Of
mercy vas elOqUently portrayed by
Charles Dalton The playwright re-
Quired him 10 turn some ANALYTICAL som
ersaults for explanations which Il did
not seem a Dalton would have made
The lighter lines. those in which Pfnero
ices were assigned 70 H Reeves
s8ith, who delivered them effectively.
Some Pinero Philosophy.
One OF these speeches Is worth re-
printing
I often wonder II there's anything mora
depressing than % see the row o. t-o-bfaz
standfu' the sidebOard. That silver rf7r
vase there the old horse that rsfs-s-f r.
for you IS lyil' IN the paddock with a
stone atop o. him. and you re usiu' his
hoof for an fnHpot. The yObIets you v-or
the river and the cups YOU helpe5
yourself TO on the links. there's A ifff7e
Pile Of ashes IN the bottom Of every one
q EN- And so & Is with life generaITv-
You scoop IN the prizes and there are the
pots the sideboard remind YOU that
= amt the prizes that counts but the
pushin and the strugglin', and the
cheeTin'-
Helen Freeman, as Mrs AunerIy.
piTe. Miss Louise Drew gave a proper
very young girl whose love affairs
we're also caught in the All eng11IfiTi.
mesh OF Zoe'S indiscretiOnS
The leading Tame Robin was the
most consistent role In the lot and
Was well played by Eugene O'Brien.
M O'RTfen's features are too youthful
might be remedied BY a more careful
makeup
II '.AIid-Channel'' hadn't tried to be
so tragic It might afford a highly profit
J r HILDEBRAND.