The Washington herald., 1912-11-10
D. EMoRr cALyEar.


NJ EMORY CALVERT.
New YORK. Nov. a-rhe past weel
marked an epoch in New York.s pla.
production. no less than nine new pieces
making their bow to the theater-goin,
public Six Of these were offered on
election eve. the other three being pro.
drced on Tuesday. Thursday, and Satur.
DAY nights respectiveiy
To review these plays IN their chrome.
logical order. presenting the most meri.
tcrious OF the Monday night productions
hrst sugEest THE Yellow Jacket for
the place Of hopor.
Many attempts have been made &c
dramatfxe the Orient. . fair number OF
which have proven psortive. but in
The Yellow Jacket, which had its
premier at the Fulton Theater. there
seems to have arisen from the ashes
OF these former failures the Phoenix of
success.
The Yellow Jacket" is billed as play
IN three parts and 1t was written by
George c. Hazelton and ]. Harry BEN
rimo. This versatile pair have preserved
much OF the mysticism Of the East in
their work. In fact they admit they
nave taken the play from no less than
three original Chinese dramas.
In the first place 1t may be wen to
eanlain that the drama Of the climax
ana the tense situation, the Oriental ID
content to sit with childlike interes,
listening to the story.
The work of Hazeltine and Benrimo has
been done with such art, however, that
they have combined the theatrical lore of
the Orient and the Occident with a
nicety that has left in the piece the
spirit of the exotic East. and yet has
included all the tension of Occident the
atricaf production.
e. "Julfus Caesar"
A notable revival Of Julius Caesar
was presented to New Yorkers by Will
liam Faversham as a Monday night 8
prediction offering. Mr.. Faversham's
production represented a fine ambition
and a notable achievement. He ap-
preached the great Shakespearean play
with a reverence that was welcome
relief from the usual pictorial portrayals
OF the works OF the Bard of Avon which
have been placed on the American stage
OF late years. Not only did Mr.. Faver-
sham treat julius Caesar as a drama Of
intrinsic merit and not a clothes horse
upon which to hang all the colors Of
the sartorial rainbow, but he was care
ful to choose actors Of his own caliber
to help him in bringing before the pub
lie all the emotional lights and shades
VI great ftOman Ordmd-
Mr.. Faversham elected to play the part
of the eloquent Anthony himself. For
the part of Julius Caesar, he choose
Fuller Mellish and for the part of Cas-
sius, Frank keenan,: while Tyrone
Power was delegated to the role Of Bru-
tus and completed the quartet Of stars.
1nasmuch as any review Of this we'll
worn Shakespearean offering must evolve
into a criticism of the personal inter-
tot nf xh1 - II
to state al once that many students were
at variance with the reading Of Shakes
peare's lines on Monday night.
On the whole, however, II was agreed
that Mr.. Faversham's production of
Julius Caesar deserved hearty appro-
baton and that 1t should be seen by all
lovers of Shakespeare and by all those
who still appreciate good acting and
poetic drama.
"a Rich Mans Son."
Mr.. James Forbes has written so many
clever plays that the audience at the
Harris Theater on Monday night was
rather inclined tc judge him by past per-
formances, and not by the intrinsic value
of "A Rich Mans Son." his latest pro-
duction.
Even with this somewhat unsympa-
thetic attitude evident. however, "A Rich
usual Forbes caliger before the evening
was over 1t also showed that the writer
had lost none of his cleverness. though
he had ventured further into the field OF
sentiment than he has ever done before.
'"rhe Dove of Peace.-
Inasmuch as the chief factors Of a
comic opera are tunes and humor, and
inasmuch as both OF these factors seem
to be lacking in THE Dove Of Peace
which was written by Wallace Irwin and
Walter Damrosche, and served up to
New Workers as an election eve confec-
ton, it may be said that the play was
not favorite. The new comic opera be-
gan auspiciously with a chorus in which
the cackling of hens was initiated by the
orchestra while the women chartered
This pleasing novelty was brought to a
climax at the end of the first act by an
other equally as thrilling. In the second
innovation the orchestra played the
Star Spangled Banner" while the
chorus acting as its protagonist, loudly |
beloved another melody. After the ex-
citement engendered by these two thrill |
ling exhibitions had died away and the |
evening had worn itself toward last
curtain" time, however, it was found that |
the Irvin-Damrosche shafts of humor |
and ingenuity had long ago been spent. |
and that little remained of the Dove of |
Peace" save the nimble gyrations Of the |
chorus. a few jokes that would not have /
lived long. even in a newspaper comic |
section. and some songs that were hardly
worthy Of the many and tuneless pianos
Of Harlem.
There was one thing that The Dove of