New-York tribune., 1911-11-22
THE DRAMA
Opening of the Irish PLAYERS
New York Season.

10
,l,e Goth of November; the other that the
Irish Players. who were then TO make their
frst appearance in New York, would be
rallied "amsteurish' by those worthy OBJ
.o~vers who obtain their notions of life
chiefly from the insides of theatres, and
their notions Of acting from the theatrical
customs Of Broadway. But II may be found
before the season closes that the valiant
souls who rush IN TO dissent will remain
90 nraise. These Irish Players and their
revs and plays are new, and nothing is
g. much feared as novelty i'm city which
loves to be thought up with the times and
3 little ahead Of them. New York, IL may
BE- whispered without 200 much fear, does
ROT make the DEGREES for the worlds stage.
II al best records some Of them in more
o- less audible whispers. When New York
has become a little more accustomed TO
tho irish Players II may discover that it.
telf and not the aggregation from the Abb
boy Theatre. is the amateur. But this
truth should be borne in upon it gently.
Meanwhile. the Irish Players are winning
most happy success for II still remains
true that not all the paygoers in New
York are habitues Of the Broadway houses
IN which the lightest fare is purveyed. Nor
no dll New OTk : play SofTN new i'i helS'
n YOU look for scenic effect in the per-
formance Of these Irish Players. you will
h. disappointed. II is even conceivable
that certain Beascan deyotees and ancho-
rites might he heart broken. But the
methods 81 their master would ruin the
Irish Players. as would the methods of any
Broadway producer who might be named
oN-hand There is a truth which will es-
cape numbers Of professional appraisers,
elude the dilettante. and not penetrate
many other minds of no less excellence.
end that IS wigs are not acting scenery
Is not acting ard properties" even the
most Ella borate and enormous. are not act
irc II NAV also he said that " young
folk make up as aged folk they follow a
practice Of the stage when the stage was
reopled with actors. and not, as IN our
time. peopled largely with non-actors.
Scarcely is n desirable that theatrical
trcupes should be recruited from octogena
r'snS who are better employed In toasting
treir shins at home on winter evenings
than I'm walking the stage and IN jumping
between one-night stands Resides. there
was time when actors were made by play
irr all sorts Of parts. and IL Is by playing
all sorts OF parts that these Irish Players
get their experience and make Il rather
different experience from that OF any other
company OF much repute that Is perform
nF On this side Of the Atlantic. In the ut
ferance Of this remark the so-called stock
companies" Of the hour are not forgotten.
The Irish Players are restoring 20 their
stage al any rate. certain simplicity
which Is novel 20 our day though Il has
abundant age behind IT, IT is something
kin 70 the simplicity Of the Elizabethan
stage II the comparison be not over
worked There is so little scenery that the
stage seems almost bare 10 patrons OF the
overdecorated plays OF to-day. and some
of the scenes. like that OF Monday nights
Spreading the News" are OF an order so
primitive. notably in the slyines, that It
would pain TIE eye II the eve looked at Il
very long. This and other lendings OF the
scenes NAV not be due wholly TO a strain
ing for simplicity. but may partly be due
80 the fact that the Abbey Theatre IS not
rich and has 20 DO the best it can with
worry moderate means Put the important
roirt IS that at performance Of the Irish
Tl1ycrs Won do not watch the scenery. nor
Tho properties. YOU are intent upon the
rlavArs themselves
know irish rfe and they know how 10 IN
farpret ~. They are not like hundreds OF
7ctors ~ theatres with which our American
cities are more familiar-thrust suddenly
md unprepa~ed upon representations Of
lfe anywhere from Persia and Arabia 10
Long Island and the Bowery. They bring
80 the stage the life they know not lives
that they have read about merely and
10,
press So much cannot be said for many
other players. It is conceivable that the
Irish PLAYERS and their playwrights must
know Irish life in Ireland quite as we'll as
the irritated gentleman in the gallery OF
Maxine EniOtts Theatre. who. just before
the curtain fell on "Birthright" cried
shame" and "IriShmen don't kill their
brothers" That gratutous opinion was
quite as silly as the laughter which earlier
IN the evening split itself over the wrong
places and was hushed by the reprova OF
discriminating neighbors. All audiences
contain a percentage OF silly minds whose
possessOrs litter over tragedy and tender
ness. but the audience Of Monday night
contained a smaller percentage OF these
drolls than might have been expected.
Some auditors felt. and said afterward.
that one OF the plays at any rate. Birth
right" was too "talkv." But I'm that
opinion may be perceived the effect Of
constant sitting under the work Of pro
lucers' who are infatuated with the be-
lief that the punch" IS the thing in every
scene. and TINT actors must always be
moving about the stage to keep themselves
and the play out Of mischief. But in real
lie land Irish life is real. however strange
f. may seem 10 New Workers. humans are
not constantly hopping about and wander
irc Ike children who seek the exit from a
maze. II is partly the retention of their
u0thaatrcai experience but chiefly the ef-
feet Of personal effort. that accounts for
ilo departure Of the Irish Players from
many. If not most. Of the tricks which
other actors employ through tradition and
c1upulsion The teS; Of the acting Of these
irish Players IS the impression IT leaves
o. fdoHtv o. nature in too many other
theatres you think Of the acting as the
play proceeds. When YOU see tho irish
PLAYERS YOU think Of the characters they
express. OF the lives that tho people Of the
plays seem actually 90 be leading and
there i conviction in all these that the
. ovc.cIaborated methods Of our own and
other stages misses by a margin which IS
all too wide
Not passing acquaintance, but a fairly
comprehensive one. coming from attend
once ~ performances Of quite number
Of their plays. IS essential TO an adequate
appreciation Of the Irish Players. their
purpose, their work, and the purpose and
0or. Of their playwrights Both the writ