New-York tribune., 1911-10-15
THE PLAYGOER
"GTeen Stockings" and its Per-
formanCe at 39th st. Theatre.


Anelin at her best land how good her
hest is) in emotional drama, it IS pos
sibIe 20 be wearied with o succession of
teare and woes and passions in the the
a+re. Bur who can he weary Ot such
high comedy as Miss Anglin and Mr.
Eeeves-Snith arc now giving 10
laughter loving world? Miss Auglin
nav or may not be learning TO act
Articonc here. as on the Pacific Coast
she has acted that very trying 'har-
scter. but the piaygoing public IS not
warming for classic endeavors of tha'
descriptiou. This may or may not be a
fault I'm the taste Of the piaygoing pub
lie. ANYHOW. the fact remains that high
comedy played with Judgment and tine
-kfu win md continuous welcome IN all
seasons. Miss Anglin AS an emotional
actress has been much admired There
s. no deureciation of her merit as com
rsII.- Of thrills and tears when it IS salc
that She will bc ADMIRED more the more
she diseloses her gifts as a comedlenne-
Waves Of laughter follow her through
1Ias9n's comedy. waves o. laughter and
- vou please. chuckles Of satisfaction.
for Lere is comic playing IN its best
terms. Miss Anglin has the gift OF
rlirrh. She looks with great good humor
upop life. She has taste and restraint
She knows how far 10 so IN pleasing
audiences which are not made UP OF
rrothy minds She has fine sense OF
fur. Of raillery; she knows the value Of
q glance. q movement. an infection. She
is lively and not too lively witty and
not rude. Her Celia Faraday is me
creature. no masked commonness. It is
the hneness of her. the wit and ingenuity
Of her. that appeal TO Colonel Navasour
He comes in curiosity and remains TO
court. There is a play Of wits between
them. And each side wins.
You will hear people say that this is no
oav for comedy Of manners. And If
the rroof were the pitiable success Of
the many shrieking. horse-piayins'
slang-slinging. muddy featured pieces
that cucumber the stage every little
while. YOU would not dissent from the
verdict. But the proof is not in that
quarter. This is as good q day as any
for q comedy of good manners. The
comedy between Celia Faraday and Col
oneI Vavasour is. as Mr.. Mason wrote 1t.
"a comedy of incident and good manners
in the lives of genuefolk. Not much
may Doe said of the manners Of the other
figures Of the play, as acted. excepting
that they are merely ordinary without
btinE common-a distinction which may
u, found If you dig for it,
The charm oC Masons play is more
I'm the flavor which Miss Anglin and Mr..
Eesves-Smith give to it than in its
story. amusing as that story is. Had
celia and the colonel been acted 10y
PLAYERS Of less discernment than these
two possess. the piece would have short
shrift. not because IT'S story and incl
dents are not entertaining, but because
the manner ot telling the story Is fully
as important as the tale itself The TWO
persons engaged in depicting the laugh
able commerce between the agreeably
clever spinster and the agreeably clever
bachelor at Faraday Hall have precisely
the qualities which elevate the perform
ancs above the common run. They lift
The play and the performance TO dis
tinctiou. Experience. invaluable as it
is is uot everything There are many
PLAYERS OF experience. But experience
linked with the personal qualities OF in
tuition. discretion. taste. Imagination.
fine fibre. makes all the difference in the
world between ordinary actinS and dis
tinguished acting. Experience alone viii
make acting trade no more exacting or
admired than many other trades. but II
SOU III the experience 10 qualities which
make a rare. attractive and discerning
personality then acting becomes an
art. Masou's play. Green Stockings,
affords the public an opportunity 10 see
two artists Of experience and rare quail
fly IN scenes that have every attribute Of
high comedy. Il would be easy 20 turn
these scenes 80 farce. Il Is fortunate
that 1Ir. Masons play was allowed an
Interpretation so delicate and true.
so much may be said of the principal
characters. Less may be said Of the
others. although the others seem 20
please the audiences. Take the Chicago
aunt as q character that could be bet
tered easily The Chicago aunt is Wis
itiug her connections in England. But
even auuts from Chicago may be eX-
pected 10 become less than half iutOxi-
Gated al home or abroad. Miss Maude
Granger is allowed 70 bUrlesque two or
three Of her scenes: perhaps she is com
PEELED TO DO SO by direction. In any
case. 10 is q pity. The excessive strokes
she gives are out Of keeping with the
nature Of the play and with the note
that is sounded by the leading charac-
ters. The burlesquing is dragged in to
force laughter from the crowd in front,
and the crowd gives freely what is ex-
Lected OF it-great outlaws Miss Gran
ger does it all very well indeed, but she
would do quite as Wen. and even better,
g. She were per2dtted 10 abandon her
mysteries u the second act and the
braudy in the third. Celia is a gentle
woman and would never think OF going
away for months with q foolish aunt.
And the powers that be might realize
that there is nothing less pleasing on
the stage than the spectacle Of an in
toxicated woman. Besides. this char
acter IS inconsistent with its earlier
scenes Aunt Faraday when first be-
held. is sufficiently sensible person.
But stage folk only too seldom sec
things as a whole. Too often they play
the game for points. and force others