The Washington times., 1913-04-17

a TMOSPHERE-th thing always
~ present and least noticed-that
n impalpabls effect for which
stage folk strive increasingly
the backbone of every successful drama.
saturates the Garden of Allah" the
play made from the Hichens novel Of
that name, which is appearing at the
National Theater this week
Not alone the words Of the Trappist
monk who broke his vows. and, search
ing for peace and happiness, went with
the woman he loved into the desert; nor
the words of Domini. the woman. tell
ing OF her passion for its reaches and
silences; none of these alone could ade-
quately convey to an audience the mean
ing Of the Garden of Allah" or the
phantom-like promise of infinite peace
which its limitless monotonies of sand
and sky seem to offer. Only such a
painstaking reproduction-I might say
duplication-of the desert as is given
in this Liebler production is capable
of attuning an audience to the spell
of this vast setting of the play, and
of awakening them to a realization of
the profundity OF the emotional depths
which are stirred.
With the house pitch black, no or
chestra in the pit, the curtain rises on
a desert scene Caravans pass with
Arab guides and donkey boys-silent
forms pass slowly and disappear-a Mo-
hammedan dismounts and gives thanks
to Allah. desert lite slips on and the cur
tain is down. The key is in the lock. The
door is about to be opened-the scene,
like an overture. has sounded the proper
note. and the audience, feeling the liv-
ing spirit of the desert. is ready TO fol-
low the love story into its dreary waste.
BY merely telling Of the four parts
into which the drama has been divided.
an excellent outline of the play is given.
In Part /, the Trappist monk. played
by Lawson ButU who, for nineteen years
has found peace and happiness in the
becomes wild for life and
love and freedom, leaves the cloister,
breaks his vows. and becomes of the
world. He meets Domini. Miss Doro-
thy Donnelly) and in Part II confesses
his love for her, and they decide to go
and live in the desert They are happy.
but not at peace. Visitors. heeing from
a storm, arrive at the home Of this
guilty couple. Boris Is recognized and
accused Of being the Trappist monk
who has fled the monastery. He con-
fesses, and seeks forgiveness from
Domini.
For the first time since the renuneia-
ton of his vows. he Is able TO pray.
Donini forgives him, but makes him
promise to return to the monastery.
Part " shows his return in an cpl
logue, carries the story forward for six
wears. when Domini is seen with her
Young son. child of the pair, happy and
contented in her new-found joy.
In the third part the play reaches its
climax and the soul of man and
woman are laid bare for the inspection
of the audience And this brings me to
a realization of fact which would
probably be ardently disclaimed by any
true thinking democratic American.
The love of Spanish people for bull
fights. the accredited ood-thirstiness
of other less civilized nations. is not
one whit worse than the ghoullsh desire
of the audiences which have seen this
nIay to make Boris suffer as much as
nossibIe After his nine minutes speech
in which he tells the story or his life,
and his reas sons for quitting the monas-
tery. the audience does not even wait
for him 10 make his hnal prostratiou
in front Of Domini. They start To ap-
plaud ere he has finished. and break
in upon a most tense and tragic mo-
ment.