Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-13
Belaco.

The opening play of a Shakespearean
engagement is ordinarily a selection OF
practical Importance in that it guides i'm
preston and to a great degree decides
whether or not the players shall be well
received. But there was no possible
question as to the welcome Of Mr..
Sothern and Miss Marlowe at the Be-
lasco Theater this week. Since their
joining of forces they have been able to
rely upon a prestige which extends not
merely from one performance to the
next, but from season to season to sea-
SON. They have made the shakespearean
field their own, developing it on the lines
of popular taste without undue sacrifice
of literary sympathy. Their presenta-
tons are first of all spectacular. The
scenery and costuming, elaborate and
beautiful, are still works OF care ana
discernment Conscientious detail is
present in every item of the gorgeous as
play.
The company. too, is one of exceptional
efficiency, a recognition of the fact that
every Shakespearean role that Is Worth
playing at all is worth playing Wen.
The leading roles of The RAINING OF
the shrew'' are not likely to, be consid-
cred as thoroughly congenfal to these two
eminent players as those of more tragic
force and poetic spirit. 1t was less the
personal performances tHdl NHtctcStco
and charmed last night than the SotheIn-
Marlowe production in a general sense,
Il revelation of stage craft and unnag-
ging enthusiasm in impressing every point
from the veriest pun to the finest sentl-
ment in a manner which would carry its
significance with unmistakablet clearness.
OF all the Shakespeare plays. accepting
perhaps THE Comedy of Errors "fhe
Tanning of the Shrew' may be accounted
the least Saakespearean in quality. 1t is
fhn oh iy-nr hn
it seeks to point at the conclusion being
exaggerated to degree which hardly
harmonizes with the great English poet $
keen and frank analysis of human ma
ture.
1t is boisterous fun from start to finish
and Mr.. Sothern without hesitation
abandonS the attitude of the conservative
exponent of high art in order to give the
audience all the laughs to which it could
possibly feel entitled. Miss MarlOwe, too,
lent herself to the mood of the spitf1re in
IL way that could he resented only by
those who have learned to admire her so
sincerely in the portraiture OF the gentler
and sweeter types of ~womanhood that
they regret to find the impression dis
turbed even during the course OF an even
ing's frivolous entertainment.
The play has one advantage in eliminat-
ing the rvalrics which express them
the admirers of players than among the
players themselves The opportunities
are equal. If Katherine RACES. Petruchio
may storm If Petruchio cracks his whip
and tumbles the serving men about, heels
in air katherine may go among her
maids with equal tempestuosty. The
laughter that is claimed by din and huriy-
bIrly may be distributed between the two
performers with almost fractional nicely.
Boisterous as the farce is, it has be-
come a classic by traditional association,
and there is no dearth of speeches which
claim the best powers of the reader. Miss
Marlowe's description of wifely duty In
| the last act is such a passage, and she
rendered it with just touch of naive
| banter that made 1T captivating. 1t was
in grateful contrast to the air of malic-
iousness with which she endowed the
character in the development of the plot.
Both she and Mr.. Sothern make the dem
constructions of the stormy hero and
heroine consistent exhibitions of ill-na-
ture rather than. as is especially the case
with PetruchiO. superficial traits quite
apart from their real quality as revealed
] later.
The company includes Sothern and Mar
lowe favorites of other seasons. and made
the performance one of delightful yivac-
ity throughout
Tonight Macbeth will be the bill.