New-York tribune., 1911-02-16
THE DRAMA
Miss Ethel Barrymore in Two
PLAYS by J. NJ. Barrie.

-, improves in art. The great advance
.hs made when she played in Pinero's
.,nd. Channel was not followed up when
- appeared a little while ago in the same
..hor's "'rrelawny Of The Wells" but il
:. vau matched by her acting in the two
,,,vs hv ] NJ Barrie. which are the ma
,o-,aI Of the present programme al the
rrnnire Theatre The girlish Rose Ire
,orynv is no longer In Miss Barrymore's
IT, h,t tho characters in these two Bar
-,o rlsys are finely suited to her admirably
developing skill. Five years ago Miss Bar
-vrnore scarcely suggested the mother
.dsdorn and deep tenderness Of Alice Grey,
-, che did suggest the earlier coquettish-
,ces of the part, its roEuish Il harmless
responsibility. Now she drops that ele-
went IN the character altogether. II does
80, seem 70 occur 10 her. she is not a bit
~ the dear "huSSy' that the Colonel calls
hsr she IS wholly the lovabe young ma
,ron who has como TO her senses. She
,,ves 70 the part to-day a meaning which
vss formerly beyond far beyond. her
roach She is an actress now. She was
then merely one Of the pretty young
,ror,en Of the stage: one OF the most popu-
lar Of the pretty young women: now she
a. ropular because she can act And.
although il is much TO say. II may be said
With sincerity that no other actress now
before the public can do better than Miss
Bsrrvmore in such scenes as the second
,,a tfi,d acts of "Alice-Sit- BY the Fire
srd In the single act OF The Twelve
pound Look" The former piece would be
enc OF unalloyed delight IL all the mem
bo-s OF the cast were suited 70 their parts.
,rt the boy. Cosmo, IS hopelessly out Of
This English picture. and the girl. Amy. is
ou-iogsl- borcft Of the grace and charm
which the character naturally demands
.eThe Twelve Pound Look. although only
. orc-act play. is not only the work of a
genius but his genius is in the play. Here
< not an episode merely. but life; nay.
three lives one of the favorites of the
great god Success. Mr. Harry Sims. is
about 10 he knishted for his services to-
FOR mis- services" His wife attempts 10 ex-
nlsin what and whom he served. but. as
the saying IS. words fail her This incar-
nation Of bounderism, the successful Sims,
has served no one but himself That is as
good q reason as any for his winning a
krighthood. His mail is heavy with con-
eratulations lie sends TO a typewritng
ofice for a 'typist" 10 take the replies
10 this c0ngratulstory pile. II may as we'll
b. mentioned that az the Empire Theatre
he letters are not in evidence. However,
The typist appears. and. Of all persons un-
der the London sky. she is the egregious
Simss former wife. Fourteen years ago
she had left him He has always believed
that she eloped she led him to believe as
much But now she tells him that his
oyerbearinC. bullying conceit. his infatuated
worship Of success. killed her love for
him. made life with him unbearable. She
wanted 10 escape from his deadening So
cetv She learned typewritng. When she
had earned twelve pounds she bought her
Independence. in the form Of typewriting
machine. left Simsdcm and earned her liv-
Ing Sims obtains divorce and marrics
again. His fortunes fstten. his friends fat
ten. he fattens: his second wife pines un-
der the weight Of his buster, his obtuse
vsnity. his gorgeous success She is not
Of the tvelve-pound kind, perhaps. Kate,
tie first wife, explains the whole business
10 Mr. Sims--he will be Sir Harry on Thurs
dsy. He boasts OF his riches. she tells
him that she values him at twelve pounds.
That is an he Is worth 10 Il woman. she
is not N the least embittsred. She is happy,
independent earns IS shillings or more d
week. and looks AZ him and az his quarter
Of a million s;erlins from a twelve-pound
roin, If view: looks down upon his quarter
Of million from her tUelve-pound height
He doesn't understand How can he2 But
he begins 70 understand when his second
wife asks # typewrung machine IS eN'
peneve Is that the twelve pound look
h sees in her eyes?
All this is told as Barrie alone can tell q
tale i Is told with MS slrewd and tender
turns ot Wit and subtlety. and directness
II is a lesson in living and an entertain
ment TOO And Il IS acted perfectly at the
Empire Miss BARRYMORE never PLAYED SC
vel as IN this compac' drama. The spec
tator watches her with constant delight
Ste is truly finding herself And here-as
tonsh.ng though tne telling be-here is 4
piece perfectly cast, perfect piece per
fecty piaye1 New York should sec II. II
viii DO some good 10 this success solder
city y. w.
CAST or "ALICE-SI BY Y-THE-FIRE.
co.ors. Grey. ................ Charles palior
Mrs Grey..................... Ethel BARRYMORE
ANY Grey ....................-... Louise Orc"
Co,no trev. v.................... Thomas Kelly
Sterile F.Io. ................. Frank Goldsmith
Lsrors Uunrar Helen Freeman
Nur,s ............A Anita Roth'
Fsrrr .............. Florence EuSh'
Tirtarse1r ......... Alice BeTesf"rt
CAST CF THE TwLLvE FOUND Loon.
sir ga-r. Sims ....... Charles Dalton
Lao Sims ...................Hr Mrs. sam Sotherr
ksie &C.. ........... Ethel barrymore
Tonte. ............ James kearnei