Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-09-30
New National.

Aside from its fairy1ike dream OF the
orient, the wonderful charm OF its scenery
and It's sisterlike resemblance to the
tales that have delighted humanity for
centuries. Edward Knoblauch's ARABIAN
Night" with Otis Skinner In the role Of
Hail. the beggar. "a plaything. as are
all men in the hands Of Fate" which in
Arabic is called ''Kismet." will always
find an audience. For is not Fate or Des-
tiny the wonder of all men? And so
upon its third engagement in this city.
which began at the National Theater last
evening. it was warmly greeted and fol-
lowed with intense interest. Some Of
the players who impressed their person
alities on the original production have
been replaced. but there were still Otis
Skinner and Hail, and the same rare and
beautiful pictures, with the charm OF the
story woven around them-the mosque
of the carpenters, with Its beggar's
zaar of the tailors. where Hail, the beg
gar first possessed himself OF fine raj
ment and of ornaments for Marsinah. his
beloved daughter by setting the mer-
chants each about another's ears while
he stole away with their goods: the
courtyard of HATS house. where he
dreamed of his revenge upon his enemy
Jawan, who had killed his son and
stolen his wife, and of the time when
his idolized daughter should be the bride
of the mighty Mansur. and the magnifi-
cent audience hall Of the caliph's palace.
with its stretch Of exquisite oriental land
scape beyond
There was the darkened prison Of the
Jawan to await death and where he tri-
umphed over his arch enemy. and there
was still the hamman of Mansurs man.
sion, with its marble bath, its arabesque
ornamentation and the beauty. mirth and
jealousy Of it's inmates. where, prone be-
side the cooling waters of the bath. Hail
counted the bubbles in the water as they
slowly told him the son Of Jawan was
drowning.
And above and beyond all was "Kis-
met" the fate that led the hapless beg
gar from the depths Of poverty to the
heights of riches and power and made his
heartstrings the instrument upon which
to play it's one-day melody of joy and
tragedy that ran the gamut OF all the
| emotions known to the human heart. Otis
| Skinner. like a sensitized plate, reflected
| with astonishing fidelity the spirit OF 1t
all in face, in form and in action, from
his anathemaS upon the head OF his
enemy at the door Of the mosque until.
worn out. he sank to slumber on his old
beggars seat again before departing upon
the caliphs sentence of exile to Mecca
to cleanse his soul with the waters OF
Zemzem.
scheherazade must have missed the
story in her recital of the wonderful
tales she employed TO save her life. and
after centuries Edward Knobiauch must
have plucked it from the realms of mag
nation in all the freshness and glory of
its original imagery. truly an Arabian
Night" and one Of the best OF them all
George Gaul this year is the Wizar
Mansur; Merle Maddern. Masinah. Hail.
daughter; Walter Cluxton. the caliph. and
Richard Scott, Kafur. Mansur's Sword
err with Charles Newsom as Jawan, the
enemy of Hail. Rosa Coates did the
picturesque dancing before the caliph,
while Ernest Leeman was "the man.:
Theodore De Combe 1.-The woman Ward
Thornton the story teller. and Youna.
the juggler, before the curtain.