The Washington herald., 1912-11-10
Young Producer Has Puzzled Yet Charmed
London with ost-Impressionist" Rendi
ton Of The Winter's Tale Character
lied BY Severe Scenery Renaissance
Classic Costumimg and Rapid Action.

asainst-oh. wen. an the things thsrs ara
to protest against
NOW here was something youthful
handsome. wen dressed and auits unIike
the regulation highbrow.
M. Barker seemed puzzled when onlv
looked blankly at him, and he s.id sort'
Of tentatively:
rs this Miss Carew?"
| Oh. sasped !. are you Mr.. Barkerr.
am. he admitted. with the corners
OF ms lips turning up . shade more.
wen. you must excuse me-" pleaded,
out really. you're not in the very least
what l expected thought you were. oh,
| ever 30 much older and heavier"
Realy?" laughed Mr.. Barker. Il don't
mind confessing to you that am older
than I'm told look. In tact. have thir-
| ty-nve years to my credit"
l was grateful for this confession.
though secretly wondered how he man
aged to hide at least ten Of his years.
guess an 3ctive mind. q broad outlook
and the enthusiasm Of eternal youth help
q lot.
We sat down on each side of the NAM
moth desk. which was scattered over with
papers covered with notes and sketches.
Mr.. Barker threw himself into rather an
easy attitude. with legs outstretched
and with one hand Idly toying with . Gig
arctic. but my first question made him
straighten up again. in that quick. nsr-
vousiy energetic way he has
HIS ARGUMENT FOR SPEED.
What made you think along the un-
conventional lines Of your present produc-
tion?" I asked. Didn't It take some
courage to give Shakespeare to England
in such unusual guise?'
"Oh. no." answered Mr.. Barker. crisply.
smothered in scenery and dragged along
at drawing pace is out Of date. Nobody
seemed to dare to do anything very orig
inal with him. so I Just smashed ahead
and tired Tho Winters Tale on what I
believe are the right lines. The critics have
mentioned the speed at which the piece IL
taken. but all Elizabethan plays-in fact.
every drama Of rhetoric and the platform
stage-should be played a. swiftly and
uninterruptedly as possible. OF that I've
not q shadow Of doubt Therefore. I've
made the obvious and natural division
Of the play into two parts. allowing for
one pause only. and arranging for scenes |
with curtains"
"As far as the costuming 10 concerned. |
seem to have disconnected many people. |
However. was happy to ind myself At
one with Albert Rothenstein. the artist. |
about this. We agreed against classic |
dress 1t would offend the spirit Of the !
play. and we decided on . sort Of Renais- |
sancs classic-that il. classic dress - |
Shakespeare probably saw It Then when !
we had made up our minds to this sud-
denly thought Of Giulio Romano. and said /:
Here's our pattern designer recommended
in the play ITSELF So We looked him up.
and there were costumes much a. We had |
thought them. AZ to scenery. n It II
mostly understood, canvas realistically
painted. would have none Of it"
NIGHT" TO FOLLOW.
rs this your first experience with .
productionr'
YES" nodded Mr.. Barker. Then he
added in a boyishly pleased sort Of way:
I'm going to try another very soon. I'm
working on Twelfth Night now"
Here he suddenly turned and ques.
toned me.
Have you seen The Winters Tale
yet?' he demanded.
Yes. indeed, have" replied, with
and then I Just poured out
my heart to him about what thought Of
his work, forsI could honestly say 1t was
the most intelligent, artistic and beautiful
production Of Shakespeare had ever seen
In my life.
think the Producer with Ideals was