The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-04-26
UNEVEN REVIVAL OF "CASTB"
PLAI PLEASING, BTT or or
JOINT ROE TO-OAY.
s,er, Not FItted 60 Present aOeaal CSail-
tIsas-Its etos, % the Past and Ils
AppeaI Unreal Nlss Tempest and
". HunaIeo ONerssad0W others.

AonfN Vet ENANfW ~ ENNNtNN A8N.AMl y Bllalls
tIsas-IIs etos, % the Past and Its
Appeal Unreal Nlss Tempest and
W. EsunsieS ONerseadO~ others.
.,sste- must have been new 10 most
~ he audience that witnessed the revival
~ /, IN Robertson's comedy at the Empire
Theatre last night. Youngsters have
rad f.u opportunities so re the comedy
unl-h has been Telegnted 20 back par
,ors Ivceums. church Easements and
r,hrr retreats % the amateur for ~ many
wears that even the stock companies In
m. .nall-r cities revive 10 Apologslically
charles Frohman aeized the opportu-
r,,y " putting forward several popular
tsyorit-a IN roles they had previously
acted IN the famous play 90 q I've the prsa-
On, generation % theatrcgOers a chance
o. maks its acquaintance. Foremost
among these was Marie Tempest. who
APPEARED last night ~ POLlp. while her
"a associates I'm q London reviV al Of the
~ors wers Graham brown aud Julian
Rovc~ Elsie Ferguson. q. p. Huntley.
Eiuln Arden and Maud Milton we're the
other familiar characters OF the comedy.
CASTE has moro than forty years TO
ne credit. although nobody has ever yet
thought oG calling IL an "Old comedy
'I,oadoa Assurance had acquired that
dignity long before Il had reached the
age Il the moss pOtabls Of the cup and
,aucer comedies. 90 Il seems a. u Caste
dOes not poesees the qualities that will
ever carry Il into this classic category
|, certainly shows no trace Of the grand
style. II was its frank and simple protest
against that style in fact which won its
fame and its authors.
.Caste' has lived long enough TO zee
the very motive on which it 10 founded
lnse all value ~ dramatic material The
scenes in the play that have ceased TO
have any ring Of truth are those between
George and the MoreAiOasss. They are
founded on the hypothesis that aria-
tccrAcy n noble and vulgarity dsplOrable.
AnsocEacy 10 nov much less significant.
however. than anybody forty years ago
ever supposed II could be. The power
az vulgArity On the other hand IL % over
Nhelming that. 10 Il N not respected.
10 q least feared. 80 there 10 no longer
any theatrio value IN the contrast be-
tween the aristOcrsIs % the plA~ On one
hand and the h'.-ssoser group Op ,Sosed to
them.
Last night the greatest admiration for
'Casts' arose from the strength Of the
kufNty uuuA8n UN8NNt81 tnS NOIAs
There 10 still potent appeal in the episode
81 George and Esfhsr's love, In the parting
a. the closs OF the second act. in which
George honors his pbcbean wife. TO the
preiudice OF his mother. and in tho scenss
OF Esfher's pathetic resignation In the
long third act-the blood OF Carte still
flows at theae points even u ito arteries
seem hardened Whenever the mechanical
comedy % Polly and Sam or the Mar
Guess talk Of family begins y easy
ceas through ~ many long theatrical
epochs Any comedy 80 vigorous nova
days must have been unusual in 1881
Caste" has not only survived the rest Of
the Robertson plays. but all Of lie contern-
II would be interesting To know II there
u IN the whole theatre OF those mid
Victorian years another play Of contem-
porary life that would 30 we'll stand per
Torrance to-day. II u something TO b.
fashion to-day to sheer at the whole
Robertson drama a. an insignificant
phase OF the theatres development with
out literary importance or any real fidelity
70 the life IL pretended to portray II
may be true that Robertson derived much
OF his inspiration from the German. was
moro q skilful theatric craftsman than a
student 81 nature and went az his work
with no great sincerity; yet any dramatis,
fortunate enough TO impart to a play
such sr6sirtnE Heart interes, a. Caste
po~eesees after all these years need not
b wounded by the same kind of criticism
that has been Robertson lot for a gen
Grafton
me fact that tho actors 20 whom the
comedy episodes fell were % much hotter
than their associates could NOS totally
impair the present inertia u the play
Mare TEMPEST and q. p Huntley ~
gsries we're far ahead ~ the actors about
them and seemed at times the only two
IN the least acquainted with the spirit
n the play. Miss Tempeats brilliant
ac'lnG indeed threw the whole perform
ance out q scale. She was quite ~ pre-
dominant e. New York IL in the habit
n ssetnR her in other plays and when
her breezy natural share In the proved
Ingr was temporarily withdrawn there
SAs only Mr. Htlntleys extremely unctiotlS
ana human portrayal Of the tipping
Eeoss 10 supply anything like substitute
Tor her. Edwin Arden was ptifully mis-
cast a. the ardent. dAshing GsOyOs ID tiyOB.
ana his efforts with what was probably
intended for a lisp further complicated
hs difficulties. Certainly there u humor
IN the part 81 CotfdtR Hdw'rss. He -
ssnsthing more than q hearNe hOrns.
although JBIsdH Rovrs suggested only his
solsmnity Yet what opportunities the
roe sfords' With these two characters
so-wcl az least. - uDconveniionsliy
ack q balance in the representation.
Graham Brown made SGm jsTTfdge
very polite. self-contained young man
Who might readily have been more Obtru-
ave n the Improvement % the general
eh~c' Why in the world did he not
piay DAIrOgp Elsie Ferguson was a
pretty gentle Esther. She acted with
particular tart the scene &C the Close Of
the second act. Maud Milton had all the
nso>saary traits for the 4GTysf Dc ~.
New excepting dist motion of manner and
appearance She helped to strengthen
the conviction that the best qualities of
'CAs'e to-day could have been much
more overwhelmingly reveaDed had the
nistocrats been nearly 90 well repre-
e@nted as their oppoaitaS.