The Washington herald., 1913-11-02
By JULIA CHANDLER MANI.

BY
The Sothern and Marlowe engagement
at the Belasco Theater Closed a triumph
ant week last evening, proving once more
the attraction which the Shakespearean
drama-when capably acted-has for the
theatrical masses. To ill theater night
after night with delighted spectators is
by now an old experience for those reviv-
Ing the plays of the Elizabethan bard. OF
whom Mr.. Sothern and Miss Marlowe rep
\ resent only a latter day combination In
q long list of noted players who have
achieved fame in the Shakespearean field.
Despite this there are still to be found
both laymen and commercial managers
who are persistent in aSseverattng that
the day of the literary, poetic, and tmagi-
native drama is a thing of the past. The
pendulum swings in an opposite direction,
Indicating new dawn for classic drama
In this connection II Is worthy OF note
that the revival of Justin Huntly Nc
! tCarthy's 'If Were King" had not the
Same power as the Shakespearean roper
tory to draw full house at its single
matinee performance last week, indicating
Enthusiastically that Shakespeare is what
y the Washington public most wants at
the hands Of Mr.. Sothern and Miss Mar
lowe.
To those who did see the revival Of the
Mccarthy piece it vas distinct dtsap-
pointment> particularly the last act, In
which Mr.. Sothern's character delineation
descended perilously near low comedy
and the gibbet scene verged on burlesQue.
Before turning our opera glasses to the
week ahead it is a temptation to once
more comment on the brilliance Of Young
wisdom the delightful comedy by
Rachel Crothers which was seen last
week at the Columbia Theater, with q
further expression of regret that Its
cleverness cannot at once be presented
TO the metropolis for want of a suitable
theater on account of which Joseph
Brooks is taking the production first on
q Southern tour. The more one thinks OF
the two feminine roles Of equal impor-
tance in Young Wisdom the more one
is inclined to wonder how ii happened,
in this day for so many dramatic misfits,
that both Mabel and Miss Edith Talifer-
ro are so perfectly and congenially cast
as co-stars in the same play, for the
roles assigned each in the Crother sa-
tirical piece furnish an opportunity for
the expression of their Individual talents
10. a noteworthy degree.
The present week offers nothing that is
classical and as little that is novel.
At the New National we have Robert
Hilliard in ''The Argyle Case" a four
act melodrzIna by Harriet Ford and
Harvey J. O'Higgins, written in collabo--
alton with Detective William J. Burns. 1t
was Just about this time last year that
the detective play, based on the theme OF
a murder mystery, was first presented in
Atlantic City under the direction Of klaw
and Erlanger, at which time Mr.. Hilliard
scored a tremendous personal success In
the role of Asche Kayton, private in |
vestigator of crime whose intuitions and
deductions are almost psychic.
Mr.. Hilliard is an actor who makes no |
70 he f6saQ fer H.
lie along ethical lines. In speaking OF ,
THE Argyle Case" he says frankly:
I'm The Argyle Case'-which, desire !
to emphasize, is a detective drama, and |
not d crook play-I have striven to min /
lister to popular and long established !
craving for detective melodrama, equally |
popular whether portrayed behind the |
footIights or described between covers |
This is field of literary and dramatic ]
endeaVor not despised by the most accom-
pIished craftsman. Even SO consummate /
an artist as Richard Mansfield achieved 1
his first commercial success-and the !
commercial result is most significant Of
popular taste-in the intensely melodra-
matte psychological study of crime DR..
Jeykin and Mr.. Hyde
THE gAeatest masters Of fiction have /
delighted in spinning the web of mystery.
wfIkie Collins showed wonderful adroit-
ness in The Moonstone.' Gaboriau and
Edgar Allen Poe made the lynx-eyed |
Lecoq and the crafty Dupin immortal.
Robert Louis Stevenson, in his superb /
story The Wreckers,' gilded a police
mystery with literary refinement and
grace and Characterization. Conan Doyle
I'M his earlier Sherlock Holmes stories, /
revealed fine romantic artistry. 4
Real life throbs and pulses with melo- Y
drama 1t comes very near home to most
Of us, in our own experiences at one tlme
re universal. L.
The detective is as familiar figure
upon the stage as in fiction. When Nine.
Janauschek moved like a thunder cloud
through the tragic episodes Of Bleak
House Inspector Bucket, of Scotland
Yard. made vital and awesome by the
master skill of Dickens, fully divided in
terest with the woes of Lady Dedlock- I,
A long line of sleuths have given relish
TO the conflicts between the enemy OF
society and his implacable foe Of the law
in the stage adventUe es of Captain
Swift Jim, the Penman,' -Rafties,
.Arsene Lupin,' and Sherlock Holmes
the picturesque investigator addicted to
aypotheses and hypodermics.
But while the stage detective was al
Eays~picturesque he was rarely plausible.
welcomed the opportunity to play Asche
Eayton in the Argyle mystery devised by
Miss Ford, Mr.. OIIiggins, and Detective {
William ]. Burns, because Kayton is {
real, red blooded, and a regular human
being
Quite different is the appeal Of "Peg o '
My Heart" ]. Hartley Manners comedy :
Of youth and love, which comes to the
Belasco Thsater this week Since its
premiere in Rochester. n. Y, Peg, in the
person of Miss Laurette Taylor, has had
an unprecedented success in New York.
That the piece, which was written
especially for Miss Taylor, is not depend
ent upon her for its success has been
amply proven by the reception accorded ]
several other companies who are present. I
ing the comedy Throughout the country, | =
under the direction of Oliver Morosco
particularly that which comes to the Be- Re-
lasco this week with Miss Elsa Ryan n =
the title role, which shuts us up to the
conclusion that the tremendous success
accorded Peg o. My Heart has been 4
compelled by its love theme-the pure, q
sweet love of a simple maid for an honest l