The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-02-22
Shapian Depiltry Gipen Free
Rein in "Fanny's First Play
Mrs. Fiske Plays Return Engagement in Less Singing
RaiIery--Ruth Chatterton Makes Debut as
Star in Mem Production.
ny JULIA CHANDLER NAME.

ny JULIA CHANDLER NAME.
Before turning to a week which prom
Uses to scintillate with mischief and wit.
it would be the part Of an migrate to faii
TO add another word of praise and appre-
citation of Miss Margaret Anglin's bril-
liant achievement last week in her pre-
sentation of Twelfth Night" 'The Tam
ing of the Shrew," and ''As You Like II.
at the Belasco Theater.
This is an appreciation which was not
generally shared, for her Shakespearean
repertory received but meager patronage,
a fact which does not alter, however.
the simple truth that Miss Anglin offered
Washington the most human and salts
flying productions of three OF the wost
delightful classic comedies known te'the
stage, transcending in the matter OF
scenic illusion and really vital charac-
terization any Shakespcarean Offering
which has come to us.
Her own portraitures hold reyerently TO
the spirit of the plays In which she APP
pears and the company with which she
has surrounded herself is uniCne In that
Il Is without a weakness. being we'll
balanced aggregation of capable players
whose work is completely In tune with
the refinement Of the productions, while
the simplicity, delicacy, and poetic beauty
of the scenery strikes a new ano mar
monious chord ihthe Shakespearean SYM
phony.
with her presentation Of Twelfth
Night" with which she inaugurated her
local engagement last Monday evening.
Miss Anglin's brilliantly SUCCESSFUL
achievement as an actress-producer was
obvious, and was duly reported 10 tne
public. Thus the lukewarm reception ac-
corded her presentations throughout the
week would seem without excuse-the
acme Of inappreciation OF all that Is fine
and vital in dramatic art
With the aforementioned facts in view,
e Is impossible to predict in just what
manner washingtonians will receive
George Bernard Shaw's singing satire.
''Fanny's First Play" which many vtsi-
tors to London a couple Of years ago
spent weeks in a vain attempt 70 see be-
cause of the capacity business which the
niece did at the Kingsway Theater as
played by Granville Bankers English
company. When the comedy, with the
original company. was last year trans
ferred to New York, with some misg1v-
ing on the part of the management II re-
peated its London success. packing the
tbeater in which 1t played night after
night with audiences which were enthu-
siasticaIly appreciative of the scintillat-
ing and epigramatic wit and filings OF the
master satirist.
And the funniest part Of It was that no.
body seemed Just able to explain why
they were so tremendously amused.
Here was a play within play: COM
bfnation of world-old wisdom and verbal
pyrotechnics; laughing at every known
rule of playwriting: tangled skein OF
two distinct heroines, two plots. two sets
Aar yfraer .
TO do with the actions OF the other seo;
the sort of thing which nobody on earth
but Mr. Shaw could have handled;
satire on the provincial life of the nine
tenth century directed against the artis-
tic ideal typified by Fanny's father ana
again against the conventional respecta-
hiIity of the English middle class, making
light of everything thinking people hold
sacred: the most unorthodox and unmid-
gated piece Of deviltry the Irish wit has
ever perpetrated. and yet audiences sat
girgling under its spell.
This was the experience OF New York
during the entire year that Fanny
First Play tenanted the Comedy The
alter, and since the Messrs. Shubert and
Barker have been giving the drama-lov-
ing public of other cities a chance to en-
iov the fun the play has scored the same
brilliant success.
We have had twenty years of George
Bernard Shaw in America. His Arms
and the Man" was produced by the late
Richard Mansfield in 1894. but the Amer
lean public gave the philistine Irish dra-
matist n distinct snub through a refusal
TO receive his work with favor. which.
however, did not lessen Mr.. Mansfield's
desire to produce Candida" a wish he
never realized. for it was Arnold DAILY
who rose to popularity on the success Of
this piece which was at that time nov
city, notwithstanding how old-fashioned
il may seem to US now.
Then came Man and Superman." which
received our favor. and Caesar and Cleo
which was played by Forbes
Robertson. but despite our appreciation OF
the brilliance Of the dramatist we accord
ed none of Shaw's plays any great amount
of popularity until Viennese librettists
made one of them into THE Chocolate
and even then the popularity Of
the piece was due more largely to its Hit |
ing melodies than TO the Shavian theme. |
The actress who made an effort to pro- |
duce, Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession"
suffered arrest. and Just recently his The |
met with but tepid recep- |
ton in New York. He has had three new
dramas produced in England this sea-
son. but American managers do not fall
over edCU OlneT III dH tlLOTI W stOuc Iis
plays for presentation in this country, al |
though no one hesitates in the admission |
that he is the greatest dramatist Of the |
present day. which one might take to |
mean that he is also the most popular, |
but such a supposition Is not true. Ber- |
aard Shaw is an irreverent wit; a whim- |
steal and brilliant playwright. but his |
work is more widely read than produced. |
An exception to this comment Is |
''Fanny's First Play" which has proven |
to Britishers and Americans alike a |
source of Esen delight and which Wash |
ngton will be given a chance to see at |
The Eelasco Theater during the current |
week. |
Less singing in its sarcasm, aimed |
again at Britishers-this time of the |
patrician class-is Harry James Smiths |
comedy, Mrs. Bumpstead-Leigh," in |
which Mrs. Fiske returns to the Columbia |
rheater this week. making the third pro-
AUCTION she has made of the piece, not to |
mention the original presentation during |
a five weeks engagement in repertory |
three years ago in Chicago. After a few |
weeks Mrs. Bumpstead-Leigh" has been
each time set aside in order to carry out |
contracts for other plays. Mrs. Fiske |
has now but just closed a second season |