The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-04-16
THE COLUMBIA.
asThe LILY,

Whether recognized or not, there are
fashions IN plays for stock companies
! which differ materially from those for
the road productions. Plays Of = more
serious nature. and more particularly
tragedies, are usually barred by COM
mon consent both because of their dim
Guilty of presentation and the fact that
stock company audiences'' generally are
considered TO prefer plays Of lighter
character.
But in selecting the vehicles for the
Columbia Players the management took
no cognizance of The 'fashionS'-they
determined to give the Columbia's pa
irons the best obtainable IN all fields, and
were not the least daunted by the task
OF producing with q weeks preparation
plays which regular companies had
spent six. eight. or even ten weeks in
rehearsins.
So it was with The Lily" David Be
lasco's adaptation of lie Lys," which
the Players produced before a capacity
audience last evening. 1t was the most
pretentious effort of their present sea-
son, but. as in the past, their ability
carried them through, and the enthusi-i
astic applause which greeted the big
scenes, particularly of the third act.
showed that they had attempted nothing
beyond their capabilities, even In pre-
senting one Of the really big plays OF
the past half decade.
In addition to the fact that THE lily
Is q most difficult play to produce In
stock owing to its long speeches and
demand for atmosphere. the Columbia
Players last evening had to contend
with most trying climatic conditions,
and the raucous voiced newsboys crying
their extras about the Titantic wreck
added nothing to the ease Of the oc-
eaSion.- But despite all these obstacles,
the audience remained quiet until reused
out OF itself by the acting Of Miss Nell
son, Miss Thatcher, and Mr.. Barber in
the third act.
It is not necessary to recall the story
OF The Lily TO any one who saw the
play when Il was FIRST produced here at
the Belasco some two years ago. The
pitiful tale OF the little French girl.
oppressed and hedged in by q selfish
father, who would make Of her an old
maid, like her sister. savors Of the sor-
did in spots, but Miss Nelson's acting
last evening redeemed Christiana Of any
of the less appealing virtues with which
the written lines OF the play would ap-
pear TO endow her. In her hands, as
in those Of Julia Dean. who created the
role. the girl Is simply one who, being
starved for love, finds 1t as best she
can and cares not what the world may
think. The moral, II such one might call
II, Is a trihe dangerous. but the play
is very strong one, and suffered moth
ing In its rendition last night.
The audience, accustomed as they were
to Miss Nelson's emotional ability, were
not astonished at her reading Of her
lines. but It fell to the lot Of Miss
Thatcher and George Barber to furnish
the surprise OF the evening. The former
as the old maid sister, with but one big
scene, really dominated the entire play,
and the applause which greeted her
speech at the third curtain was as IN
sistent as It was enthusiastic. Mr.. Bar
biers Comte De Maigney was a tri-
umph Of makeup and artistic charac-
terization, while Edward Robins, in the
somewhat small part OF the artist-lover,
made the best OF his limited opportuni-
ties. Godfrey Matthews, Arthur Ritche,
Hammond Daley, and John n. Kline
completed the male contingent, while
Miss Aline McDermotts Julia was an
excellent bit Of character delinIation.
All in all. The Lily is the best acted
and presented play the Columbia Play
ers have given this season, and Just how
much Of praise this is only those who
have gone to the + Street playhouse
every week win know.