New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-01-12
BIBLE STORY ON STAGE.
UJoseph and His Brethren"
New Spectacle at Century.
GENES FULL OF SPLEND0R
brandon lyman as Joseph and
pauline Frederick at zuleika
Make Play Interesting.


,..t of which is the spell OF Egypt In
~, many people have written on the
O. theme, and il is almost safe to say
~ one of them has mentioned among
chief spells the spell Egypt casts over
h' ,,anagers. No sooner do they try
s'Ss .,rosent Egyptian scenery than some
,ood is almost bound to come of II.
.,s. measured stateliness, the rich sure
the conventional Yet accidental
~. that both nature end human build
I've given to the country of the Nile
,ote 10 the stage quite naturally
on .rrs then. to Egypt and to two young
IS IN the cast, the latest spectacular
'eO' Of the Century is in point of genu-
u.s,rit the best one yet offered there.
m' 20 also 10 Louis n. Parker, who in
Hr',ng his play from the chapters of Cen
80 remembered TO preserve the simple
,,v Of the original.
Another point Of merit in the writing OF
.1osenh and His Brethren is that the
,.nsuage is not cast in the Biblical style
.,osalv enough to draw the attention 10
:. This use of present day phrasing-not
uialisms-increases the present oaE
,.,orest Beyond these points there is
.o,b,nr 10 tell about the play itself Ihere
- no novel or original Interpretations,
s.tbjng mt the straightaway Bible story
arr.ro,pd IN episodes. And of these there
oro no fewer than thirteen, each presented
as mart of a beautiful scenic picture
.vs,v succeeding picture more oeauuiui
.La, the one before II.
rbere were three scenes at first iald III
.hs land Of the Gsraelites. They showed
Iosanb proclaimed ruler. later thrown
49,, a well by his jealous brothers. ana
e.hor rescued sold as slave TO Zuleika,
IN whose train he passed across the desert
and into Egypt
Civ scenes follow in the land of magic.
And if only harps or some OF the strlhse'
and lute-like instruments OF ancient
Eeypt had been used in incidental az
commandment. instead of the Wurlltzer-
1Iona- Jones-JTnit- Orchestra-one loves 10
,,olong the misery by dwelling on each
section of it's terrible ttie-the atfnos-
pbere Of romance would have been quite
conplete. For besides the dense piue shy
saen through delightful architecturdi
vistas. the dubious Egyptian columns '"o
conventional stone figures OF gods an"
beasts sitting high on granite terraces
,be brilliant colors of interior decord-
,io,e laid i'm in stripes or blocks, there
,yas tho highly decorative figure OF hu-
tka. yeung wife of Potiphar. whoever
de vigned Pauline Fredericks costumes io'
tn part deserves a considerable shd'
NJ the success of the play She chahseu
then, "a often as though she had oeen
,opsieal comedy heroine. and each one was
sunerb in color and design. Miss freu-
ericl, as the temptress of Joseph was
highly effective both in appearance anu
oflacting. She played a role that
could very easily have been overacteu VI
dome in the style of the villainess' MISS
Frederick kept IT in a remote Key VI
romance thai was very charming.
Brandon lyman played with full SIN
cer,tv the character of the young Joseph
who grows TO maturity through suf1erihe'
-, who on account Of his love and faith
,ever loses his youth. one OF the most
Elective scenes IN the whole play is the
Dpe which brings Joseph to the throne OF
otar,ob from the dungeon where he has
mont two years. Into the midst OF the
.plendor Of the most magnificent court
w the world totters the loathsome inquire
n dirty. wet rags. the face and body al
most rotting with neglect and hunger
20, the ewes sane ane calm and hghteo
with forgiveness. During the ten or more
wears Of the action of the play Joseph
.,as the only one who seemed TO grow
o,der with the exceptionsof Jacob. whose
heard grew winter and whose eyes seemed
70 lose their fire.
lanes O'Nein came back to the local
,t.go IN the two parts Of Jacob ana
pharaoh. They were small parts ana MT.
o'Neiu did not know them periecliy' oo'
especially the Jacob he played We'll
Among the incidentals the leading ledt-
,,,e ~ interest was Violet Romer and inc
barbar;c dance she introduced into the
,brone scene. Her natural dancing, win
us careless grace. is attractive, and there
Ia ALWAYS a great deal of lightness anu
spirit in her work
Others who had leading parts anu
n,aved them well were Howard Kyle, as
Simeon: Frank Losee, as Potphar, ano
Dorothy Parker, the daughter OF the play
wright. as Tamai, lady-in-waiting TO Hu-
leika
II is hardly possible TO sit through a
Biblical nlay without recalling the famous
criticism OF the Bible laid to the crenit