New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-01-06

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Nj Tovcy NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. Fred Tyler
Nj Lebettcr. .............R. Peyton Carter
Railway Guard ..-........... Byron Sivers
Foreman Of Jury Arthur Fitzgerald
Jrryman .-..... .......... Wallace Jackson
JuryInan ............ james J.. tarhart
Messenger ................... Edwin Wilson
cork ......-....... ....-. wizard barton
shcr ..-.....-......... o.. stafford windsor
Policeman .............. George 3. Hubbard
lconora .....................M aude ADAMS
Lady Peripety ................Eli Elise Clarens
Mrs. Tovcy ............. Lenore Chippendalc
Maid ....-.--........ ..-...-.-.M Mary Murray
Leonoras little girl had cold. The
man in their railway carriage insisted or
opening the window. Leonora asked him
10 shut it. but he wouldn't Ard her
child had cold So Leouora pushed him
out Of the window-the window Of a NOV
ing train.
This is the nominal basis OF Nh Barrie's
new play. THE Legend Of Leonora." in
which Miss Maude Adams appeared a;
the Empire Theatre last night. Wa.
Leonora murderess? Did she really push
the man out of the window? Was there
really any window, or any man or any
train at all?
These are Of course. rather impossible
questions. because We are dealing here
with Barrie fantasy. and realty Is
merely relative term. Here. as elsewhere.
Mr.. Barrie is interested in human nature.
which is more or less the same in all
times and seasons. and not i'm the out
sides of things whose fashions change
with every sun. The things that his
people do may appear fantastic and alb
surd. but the things they think and feel
are real.
In this case he is thinking of mothers
love for her chidren-and YOU must re-
member that Leonora's little girl had a
cold. II was only one OF those "sniffy'
little colds, but colds pulled this one
Leonora was an enchanting little widow
and she had seven jewels-pulled this one
down more than the others. And the man
wouldn't shut the window. He simply re-
fused.
So we must not be surprised. when
Leonora is put on trial for pushing him
out. If the judge and lawyers and jury,
who look quite ordinary on the outside
do what appear. at first sight. as very
extraordinary things.
Unreal. they appeared 10 some people
there were such in the audience last
night and YOU could hear them grum-
bling and grooming and gasping "Hov
silly" and actually comparing this scene
with realistic trial scenes i'm other plays
The man behind me contrastcd 1T with
SON ething Of Galsworthy's. and said that
it was absurd to think such gongs on
would take place in any English court.
The things are inconsistent. OF course.
with what these persons would have done,
but not with what they would have felt
So the learned judge and the LAWYERS and
Jury all fall in love with Leonora, and
the attorney for the defence, when asked
II he wishes 10 put any questions to the
witness. earnestly answers that he has
but one, and on being told to state it
quite naturally gets mp and asks Leonora
il she won't be his wife.
And you must not he surprised when
Leonora's friend, Lady Peripety-well
namcd-swears that Lconora heard one
Of her children crying. although Leonora
was on the Embankment and the child
was at home in wimbledon. eight miles
away.
I.conora, on being questioned by the
Judge. answers that that was quite true,
of course she did. and turns to the ador-
ing jury for confederation. asking how
many Of them have children.
All sorts of quaint things happen.
things true to human nature If not TO the
conventional surfaces of every day. and
many OF them are entertaining and at
tractive.
The power Of charming woman to dis
turb the course Of strict judicial pro-
cedure is no new humorous theme-a low
brow Justice Grmdyke may be seen any
day in Tads drawings of Judge Rum
hauscr. and have been seen these half
dozen years.
The variations in the theme are innu-
merable. and while Mr.. Barries way OF
handling it has delicacy and spiritual
quality, coasting back and forth be-
tween the shores Of realism and fantasy
characteristic of his work. it must be con-
fessed that the distinctvely Barrie part
Of il is rather thin and widely spread out.
The piece is said 10 have been rewritten
several times since II first puzzled its Eng
lish audiences. and there ought TO he no
difficulty now i'm catching Mr. Bsrrie's
drift. To be sure that there was none, the
management even inserted in the pro-
gramme last night quoted paragraph
from the play. suggesting pretty clearly
the way in which Leonora should be re-
ceiycd. 1t was part of Justice Grimdyke's
speech-very gracefully spoken last even
ing by Mr.. Arthur Lewis:
'.You are one OF those round whom
legends grow even in their lifetime.
This is the sort of thing YOU might have
done had your little girl had cold. And
this is how we might have acted had you
done /, You are not OF to-day
foolish. wayward. unself-conscious, com
municative Leonors. The ladies OF to-day
are different and-wiser. But as We look
loneingly at you we see again In their
habit as they lived those out-of-date, I'M
reasoning. womanish creatures, our
mothers and grandmothers and other dear
ones long ago loved and lost-and as II
YOU were the last woman beonoTa' We
hid Won hail and farewell.
Perhaps the various revisions nave
broken what may have been the original
continuity of the play. 1t is very uneven
now with pcrfunctory last act out OF
key with the fantastic court scene "hlch
has nroceded IL. and first act only
sligh,,v more relevant. The first act has,
however a certain Barrie charm ana I'M