Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-23
XAGGERATION is inseparable
from footlight representation
How far 1t may be exercised
without reaching the danger line

without reaching the danger line
of absurdity is the question which
tests the skill of the dramatist. To mag
Nifty details that emphasize an idea with
out producing utter distortion that
affronts all sense of proportion Is the
problem which the playwright must solve.
1t is the psychic recognition of what an
audience will accept in the way Of exag-
Reration that demonstrates his facility
rather than his taste, scholarship or alert
ness of imagination. In the earlier oe-
veIopment of the drama the stage held. to
the traditions of the morality plays in
so far that il recognized an obligation
to make virtue triumphant and vice hide
oIs. This sense of obligation still sur
wives in the melodrama. although. time
has advanced often become confused
and accept the symbol for the idea, and
believe that the handsome. we'll bred per-
sonage is the representative of virtue
even though he happens to be burglar
or a confidence man. Maybe there is
latent streak of outlawry in us all. for
assuredy in stage matters We love a
gallant robber who defies the laws Of the
land as much as we love the fairy who
defies the laws OF gravitation. The theater
is the realm of the unreal where only
any affront to the accepted order of
Things commands attaches to an effort to
present in cold hard truth conditions as
they arc" and Language as she is actu-
ally spoke" out the interest is but rip
pic around a slight obstruction, and the
current Of human thought and emotion is
not appreciaDIy diverted. The theater is
An institution which has been and al
ways will he valued as means of ESCAPE
rom the actual workaday world, and not
as u mere Photographic reflection of it.
EXasseration is So essential to the
stage that even exaggerated ego is not
without its legitimate function
Arsene Lupin's greatest achievement
Vas the discovery of himself. He
thought he was a joke and turned out to
be hero. The extravagances of in
eenious bravado intended by the story's
authorship for screaming travesty on
The conventional detective tale were
taken seriously by hero-hungry public
me sarcasm was too subtle, the satire
too fine, not to he lost in the general
pictures resemblance to the good old
romance OF criminal and sleuth. Some
of the spirit CT the travesty occasionally
creeps into the impersonation of the de-
fective by Sydney Herbert He should
Danish it. for its only effect is to render
the character unsympathetic. The audi
-ence is determined TO take him seriously
He is in the hands of his friends the
audience, and may as we'll submit to
'nefr guidance No more convincing
proof Of the public demand for emphasis
rather than subtlety could be offered than
the success Of Arsene Lupin. AS a satire
I'll would have had but limited apprecia-
ton and this only among superior minds
rather disposed to sheer than to recon-
pense. In it's present melodramatic form
1t goes straight to the esteem of the
frank. wsrm-hearted public that does not
hesitate TO reach for it's pocketbook i'm
Expressing its approval and thanks Box
Office people do not always show the con-
'SiferatiOn that Is due this frank warm
hearted public.
Some ticket sellers are said TO look at
a customer as if they held hin, in scorn
for being willing to pay real money to see
their show
There two ways of producing a
hig comedy-rnusicaI entertainment One
is the Ziegfeld method of varying the
title but slightly from season to season,
and changing the show and the other
that of offering d complete change of title
and the usual line Of entertainment. Both
Up and Down Broadway and THE
Summer Widowers'' are examples of the
latter school. You may he thoroughly
pleased. but YOU will hardly be surprised,
unless your youth was parentaIly super
vised with an sffectionate caution which
fathers about cheese that has to be nail
ed down and sausage that wags its tail
when some one whistles for his dog
In many cases the less an advance
agent really knows about his attraction
the better his notices are likely to read
\ superb bundance of stars may be an
embarrassment. The Summer Widowers''
had $" many of them that there was
difficulty of bringing them we'll into the
telescope field of a single evenings di-
version. The most conspicuous figure in
the piece was Miss Irene Franklin new
To this section of theatrical territory but
remarkable for her resolute vivacity, her
jncisive voice and in her ''Red-head'' song
for her pink supporting talent. Both
company and production proclaim ur-
stinted liberaiity. The producer who could
truthfulIy say that he has spared 10 ex-
pense used to he an exceptional figure of
surprise. Now he is an every-week occur
renee. PHII-ANDER JOHNSON.
AVIATION IN NATURALIZATION
has not lived until he has flown declares
BiTdman Glenn II. Curtss
The most delightful experience I have
ever had, said Col. Roosevelt after his
three-ninute trip with Aviator Hoxey.
The vast majority of Chase's patrons
will probably never get chance to- fly,
but they will be afforded fine opportu-
nifty this week To learn the details of BIZ
plane construction and operation at close
range. Tie aeropiane exhibited is the BIZ
plane operated by Curtiss at the Rheims
meet and IL is the smallest flying ma
chine in the world IL has eight cylir-
Gers and a two-hundred- pound engine
that develops fifty horsepower. Without
an engineer il weighs about 400 pounds.
Its main ribs are of Illuminated wood. con-
-Sisting Of seven thickneSses of Oregon
spruce and bamboo, and the intermediate
ribs of three thiCknesses covered
with Japanese ru5berized silk AS eX-
hihited. IL is operated by an Independent
motor. with its propeller so set as not to
churn the air too much. The aviator
takes a seat directly in front of the