The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-01-07
ny MARY .. MULLErT.

4 tCopyneht, 1H4)
! The Toy Theater. Of Boston. is by n,
means mere plaything. 1t ID a decided,
serious undertaking. as Mrs. Lyman Gal,
who Is originator. manager. and q littl,
OF everything elsa connected with IT
would soon convince you.
Mrs. Gallo Ia one Of that rapidly In
creasing number Of American womer
who feel that our stage should be ciasset
among the good things gone wrong.
and that something ought to be done t.
set IL right. Her efforts In this direction
are unique, since they are made in thu
smallest regular city theater In this coun.
try.
The Toy Theater. as Mrs. Gale hai
named II. Is a reconstructed stable In q
little side street not far from good cid
Boston Common. The horses stalls have
been taken out and the theatrical variety
OF stalls put in their place. Instead
Of the stamping Of hoofs there il the DO
lite applause Of gloved hands. For the
Toy draws its audience from the famous
Brahmin caste" Of Boston's Back Bay
district.
When the disused stable was taken over
to the service Of the drama, the hayloft
was removed. a stage built and equipped.
and three short plays rehearsed. Then.
just two years ago. the first performances
took place. There Is no regular COM
pany. Boston II particularly rich In
amateur theatrical organizations and the
players are chosen from these groups.
Not . Professional.
Before she opened the Toy. Mrs. Gale
had managed the productions given in
Mr.. Horace s. Sears private theater at
weston, a suburb Of Boston She herself
had written several plays and had acted
IN good many more. But she was not
q professional She comes of an old Bos-
ton family and Is the wife of a WELL
know broker of that city. She is also
the mother of three delightful children.
But like SO many of the wives and
mothers Of this generation she has en-
rfched her life with an active participa-
ton In things outside the domestic circle.
The season at the Toy Is not so SIREN
uous. anyway, that II demands all her
time and attention. II consists of only
eight regular performances. most of the
seats being subscribed for at SIS for the
season.
In addition. there il students night, >,
when tickets are given free to young men
and women who are taking dramatic
courses at Harvard. Radcliffe. and other
schools OF the vicinity, as well as to
another special occasion Every one that
has appeared on the stage of the Toy
has a chance to come that night at half
the usual price.
There Is a little tea room. up one flight
of stairs, where refreshments are served
between the acts. Here, too. teas are
given on other days to introduce the sub
scriber5 to visiting players from other
cities. Last spring a company from the
Little Theater, Of Chicago. came to the
Toy for a short engagement. And the
Lake Forest Players were there in De-
cember.
When an inkiing of Mrs. Gales project
first got out in Boston a few OF the
papers seemed Possessed with the idea
that the purpose of this private playhouse
was to present behind closed doors plays
which. IL given openly. would be CEN
sured and stopped.
one paper went 80 far as to call the
proposed theater "a Pest House in the
West End" And II declared that. in its
original role as a stable, the building
would have polluted the neighborhood
less"
Attitude Changed Speedily.
This was pretty discouraging when the