New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-01-22
THE PLAYGOER
sEThe Piper"-Its Success'Abroad
In Preparation at New Theatre.


If .~rhe LIVERPOOL Post" Is one OF the
most experienced and accomplished ara
matte critics in Great Britain. lie mas
been very deeply impressed by Mrs. Fea-
oodv's Stratford Prize Play, The PIPER
a NAV which. by the way, Otis Skinner
Ia said 70 admire greatly, and the leau-
tho mart in which, It is also said, he mas
evan desired 10 act The fates however
frustrated this wish just as they ola
when Walter Hampden hoped 10 pay
the Pipers part As THE Piper one
Of the most worthy American contrlpu-
tIons to the acted drama, IS to be pro-
duced at The New Theatre on January
3o some quotations from Sir Edward
RusselTs thoughtful and appreciative
article may appropriately he given here.
The distinguished critic has rightly APP
praised the virile and magnetic quality
of that strange figure. the Piper, as Mrs.
Peabody has drawn him.
"A few years hence" he says-"there
is said TO be a new generation Of play
goers every FIVE years, though many
playgoers go to plays much longer-a
few years hence, people who are play
goers now will be saying TO people who
will be playgoers then: All! you should
have seen Mrs. Peabody's Piper OF
Hamelin" played by Benson. That was
a play! And it is! Scarcely any praise
can be too high for it. The conception
many lines and longer passages, the
curiously compacted attraction of the
main character, and the devout and dra-
matte use Of the sacred figure Of The
Lonely Man. entitle It to be accounted
a work Of genius The acting is worthy
OF II. The stage management is perfect
Browning's poem IS known 10 have been
written TO please a little boy, and,
though weird in its humor. nothing IN 1t
transcends such a purpose. An ordl-
nary adapter would have been content
to please a larger audience Of children,
grown I'D and otherwise and would just
have staged amusingly Robert Brown
ing's story. Mrs. Peabody has been
more finely inspired.
beginning the action well on in the
tale. when the rats and mice have been
Il
away Of the children no mere denoue-
ment of an anecdote myth, but the germ
of a spiritual drama Of rare beauty ana
power II captivates sympathy all the
more because II avoids sentimentality.
We have spoken Of the strangely COM
pounded character Of the Piper. There
is a vein Of cynicism in him which quail
fies. without destroying, the emotional
impact of the action. The Piper hates
and satirizes the sOrdidness of the Hame-
lin people, whom he is Furnishing by de-
urtving them Of their children. on the
other hand. he is no mere cynic. HIS
love Of children is as much part or his
nature as is his detestation Of the par
ents' petty qualities. With the chill
dren he is gay and kind, whimsical ana
playtul. In all sorts Of poetical ways
he delights them. amuses them pleas
pntiv distracts them, singles out with
exquisite manly tenderness for speciei
affection and help crippled boy whose
solace II has been to sit at the FOOT VI
the Hamelin cruciflx and seek TOT
smile from The Lonely Man. the Cruel
eed One. The Lonely Man is to have an
influence the Piper little foresees on MS
run life. The Piper is besought py 'le
crtnnle's mother, in a passionate scene
IN restore the children TO their KIN ahC
their homes. He refuses and refuses
He will not let them go back IL IL
lcns before he even wavers. But al
length II is borne in upon him that 'Ihe
Y,onely Man on the Cross IN the WOOD Is
In silent argument and pleading, con1ur'
ting him 70 let the children go. Inc
.+rer,,ops and irnpassioned eloquence Of
the speeches IN which he resists lh'
mute appeal is 1grandly delivered Oy MI
Renson- whose whole impersonauon o
che ptner. with his mystic plpings o
his magic strain, and with his VisloN'
.+rugeles Of soul as all the troubles
the nerplexed moral case perVade III
conteroplation, is very fine achlevemeh
snypoetio getting
AT last. after a. thrilling pause th'
piper quietly yields. Have thou u!
suav.fhe SAYS to the benign efigy'' ahC
The crux has passed, His vengeance i
iad aside. The children VIII return
xutrh This good win and under his leao
snr,vh he still girds at all that III
h.znises in the narrow, shallow seinsf
s$asneifn mind. When the curtain rises
Sor.the third act on the beautnuiiy oui'
and pic4lrred little market place th'
nudience know what the HameiiheI
lr1yov not-the Soy that is coming u
kharn. Here is exquisite stage manage
knent. The town is in gloom The peo
rIe gre changed men and women; II
ennLoouy and dialogue they oemoai
Sheir fate. Theescene would be so easy
10 spoil that II seems Impossible 10 ac
wttn any hope OF success. But these
ACTORS and actresses. with but rev
Ihnssto.say, are so fit 70 say them-the'
have so,well conceived gesture, attitude
lnoyenent-that the sad scene is Nv
Ing. poignant. plaintiye poem. AT las
cntnes the 10Y giving Piper, whose pip
ing this time has led the children home
They are joyful The people are joyful
rhe cloud Is lifted The town !
xolernnly, sweetly hilarious and ring
sytth homely nnirth. The Piper goo<
tears himself from his big family wHtl
,udstful signs. and passes on 70 the high
way OF the world in certain hope
other adventures, for The Lonely Man
.has much p;rfng left 70 do
.-when the audience leaves the theatre
almost every countenance believed witl