New-York tribune., 1912-03-12
THE: DRAMA
Opening Of Little Theatre, with
"The Pigeon" by GaIsworthy.
Henry Miller in THE Rainbow,
Liberty Theatre.

uest Of Broadway. Last Saturday night
:, was open to the private view of an in
yited audience. which witnessed dress re-
bearsal Of John Galsworthy's comedy,
"The Pigeon" then exhibited for the first
time in this country Last night a sim
liar performance or dress rehearsal was
Given before a similarly representative au-
aience. and tonight the public opening of
the house will take place. II is pleasure
~ congratulate Mr.. Winthrop Ames upon
HE reautifll and $50 far as this country is
concernedD unusual theatre, upon his very
clever company and upon their perform
srce Of comedy in which character
rather than incident is the chief concern
of the playwright
Mr. Galsworthy calls this play "a fan
,ssv in three acts" You or he or both
can take his Christopher Wellwyn. artist
and sustainer of vagabonds seriously or
otberwise, as the mood fits. Perhaps one
reAection of the spectator may be that
Ueuvvn cannot so well afford his favorite
Indulgence as Peter Waverton could afford
Il in Haddon Chamberss play, "Passers-
Rv" Peter learned to leave trampish men
alone His Sammy Burns objected to baths
and reformation; he resented interference.
But Peter had a romance. and. through
admitting passeTs-by to his home on a
distressful evening. he became reunited 10
his lost love. Mr.. Galsworthys Christie
rher WellWyn has no romance. but II may
he supposed that there had been one in his
sympathetic life. He is a pigeon" whom
any wastrel can pluck. our tame birds
Mace wild birds in cages and pluck them
naked" says a curiously interesting wild
bird in this play. And the interest to the
s,srtator is in observing the wild bird S
nont of view Of life There is in some
human souls, monsieur. what cannot be
made tame" You can't tame Ferrand'
the French yasabond; or Timson, the aged.
rum.soaked ex-cabman; or Gwinny Megan
the flower girl although you ply them with
half crowns. warm their toes at your fire
and give them Jobs. clothes or even SEN
FENCES 10 the workhouse Ferrand is no
buubuc. With an independent income he
would be ',veree original. highly respected,
with soul above commerce. travelling 10
zee the world a lover OF nature and art
Beirg without funds ne is a loafer, waster.
tramp-anything you choose to call him.
You cage him in an institution, wash him.
dress him, En-. bica! insult him. But "the
walk a whole month of nights, hungry,
with the stars than sit one single day
making round business on an Office STOOL
he explains. Christopher understands
You perceive, then. this wild birds point
Of view. II was for the opportunity to
present il to your understanding that Mr..
Galswortny wrote his play. Christopher
Wenwyn is only the sentimental pivot on
which the little world of this comedy
turns When Christopher empues his
pockets Of small change-any luckless fel-
low can have all he possesses-he gives his
card to the next unfortunates he meets in
his walks When the cards are presented
later he honors them, and then he gives
shelter, food. employment and clothing.
But the last condition of the uplifted ones
is worse than the first. Old Timson gets
deeper into drink; Ferrand gets sentenced
10 three workhouses: Gwinny Megan gets
into the life of Joy. ard then into the river;
phlanthropists and reformers squabble
over the trio and their kind, but Christie
pher gives them his new address senti-
mentalist? All of them are sentimentalists
-Ferrand. Timson, Gwinny. as well as
Christopher. Ferrand is what God made
him. 1T is stronger than me-" he says;
his love of liberty, his call Of the wild. 1t
Is stronger than me-" says Christopher.
when he realizes that his soft-heartedness
has helped the neer- o-wells into trouble.
not out of il. and will help them in again.
You have Ferrands philosophy, and Chris
topher's-a your own. Make your choice.
Anyhow, you find that there are other
PHILOSOPHERS than your own. and that some
Of them are lived
The Pigeon" loses by any attempt TO re-
peat its story, for upon the way Of telling
it--in other words. upon the acting OF it
depends its appeal to an audience. And II
Is Capitally acted. No other play now run
ming in New York is acted better than this
one: no other play now running In New
York contains a character that Is acted
with such perfection as Ferrand is acted
by Frank Reicher. How much does the
public care for acting as acting? Actors VIII
give YOU one answer, other persons will
give several other answers. But here is an
other chance TO test the matter. The Lit
tie Theatre will appeal. 1t is fair to sup
pose. to that portion of the public which is
most SOPHISTICATED concerning the activities
o? the world Of art, and also. no doubt. to
the world Of fashion, which is quite un-
EOHnlEtlCdteQ IN IlllS IfldllbIIt eiNiiOhSh ~
prattlcs a good deal. There is, however
hot the slightest doubt that the audience
Saturday night keenly appreciated Frank
-Reicbers acting and gave TO him its long
est and strongest applause. Frank Relcher
IS a remarkable artist of the stage Hls
work I'm The Pigeon" is worth taxing
pains To see. And YOU can see 1t with Ut
most comfort al The Little Theatre. where
the ease Of the spectator is cared for gen.
erously.
Sidney Valentine. as Timson, the eX-cao-
man. decidedly "a rum 'un' does a thor
oughly good bit of work. But that Is what
Valentine always does-thoroughly good
work. He is one Of the most dependable
actors on either side of the sea. Happily
he Is now on this side. Miss Pamela Gay
thorne surprised every one by a clever por-
trayal Of a bedragged flower girl OF gutter
ockneydom-surprised because New York
had seen her only in pretty-glrl parts.
Russ Whytal OF course. is TO be commend
81 but he has done better things. But
then. there were more interesting things
10 do. The Pigeon himself does not lend
much interest 10 the scene. Blandly re-
spectacle. serenely doddering persons are
NN'N'Hi lHttitcllHB IN tHc tHSo'iN' ~ 'N'
take John Hare to make this character
warm your heart, as that perky old cherup'
BENJAMIN Goldhnch did In "A Pair Of Spec
tacles." The vagabonds in this play are
The Interesting folk. Even that worthless
piece Of flesh. Rory Megan, husband Of
HWinny, telling little sketch of character
as A. NJ. Botsford handles him In .he few
minutes Of his appearance, holds the at
tentlon
The programme of The Little Theatre Is