The Washington herald., 1912-03-24

Did you ever notIce that washington
managers outdo themselves toward the
close of each regular theatrical season.
seeming to want TO give good measure,
pressed down and running over?
A proof of the truth OF this was given
at the Belasco the week before last in
the double bill OF Baby Mine" and the
Russian dancers. and again last week
tn the presentation of Docl1stader's Min
strels until Saturday. when the Chicago
Grand Opera Company gave both a matt
nee and evening performances. This same
policy of generous variety win be pur-
sued by the Beiasco management again
this week in the presentation Of "Po-
mander Walk" throughout the week.
with the regular matinees, to which at
traction win be added two special matt
nees OF Schiller's The Bride OF Messina. :"
In which Alexandra Vlarda, the distin-
guished European tragedienne, will sp-
pear.
A combination of two attractions that
appeal, more strongly to the refined ele-
ment bf theater patrons than "Pomander
walk and 'aThe Bride of Messina" is
scarcely conceivable. That they come TO
the sBelasco during the same week is
just another evidence that the closing sea-
son is being crammed with good things.
"Pomander Walk which is called a
comedy Of happiness brings TO wash
ington an all-English cast, the names IN
which will probably be unfamiliar 10
local theetergoers who do not scan the
New York theatrical news closely. In
fact, on the night that this delightfully."-
pure and simple pre-Victorian comedy
won its big New York success many of
the names were strange even to the
metropolitan critics, yet so splendid was
the work of the entire company and so
appealing Louis n. ParkeT's comedy OF
''Pomander Walk" that the individual
members sprang at once into an Ameri-
can prominence as great as the fame
they enjoyed in England
Speaking of ''Pomander Walk" its au-
thor, Mr.. Louis n. Parker, said:
Il would rather call il the pure dra-
ma. There is a small but noisy class OF
persons who sneer at the word pure.
] am not sure l know why. After all, /
believe the great majority Of US lead
fairly pure lives and have pure ideals
Neither men nor women, as far as I
have observed them, are all the time
throwing their bonnets over the wind
mills. 1t is not everybody's fortune 10
be the hero or heroine of a scandal
There are large numbers of husbands
who are faithful to their wives: large
numbers Of wives who have not even
one lover. There are even a good many
people who take no particular pleasure
IN witnessing the development OF scan
dal on the stage. ! can see no good rea-
son why they should not be catered to.
The audiences cry: o, but that is
not all Why not? Is not AS You
Like It on the whole quite as good a
play as the most salacious adaptation
from a foreign tongue? Personally.
confess the sexual problem leaves me
more than usual calm Allow me to
observe that l am not now referring
to mighty themes lige Launcelot and
Guenevere or Tristan and Isolde. I
am only referring TO the boudoir and
lace petticoat drama, in which the hero
is a hog and the heroine his mate.
Il am not interested in them. don't
want to know them. Rather I should
like to stab them. We have lately had
D great agitation in England IN favor
Of abolishing the censor. Our dramatic
youngbloods are eager to write epoch
making and universe up bearing dra-
mas, with the idea OF making the pub
hes flesh creep. But. bless you, they
don't really mean It."
That Mr.. Parker is not alone in his
opinion is proven by the fact that
"Pomander Walk" e notable example
Of pure and simple drama, has met with
splendid appreciation, playing invariably
bo capacity houses. J. c. MANI