The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1914-10-20
AT CAPITAL THEATER THIS WEEK
BELASCO.

An overpowering rubai with poetic
appeal to sight, to sound and to feeling,
held in the harmonious quatrain of
dramatic structure by delicate threads
OF a poetic fancy is what Richard Wal
ton TuIly, Wilfred auckland, and Guy
Bates Post have put into Omar the
Tcntmaker," which was presented to a
capacity audience at the Belasco last
night.
\ story with the life of the Persian
Poet as its basis, told in action by
corps Of artists who move in an atmos-
phere that seems to visualize the
imagery of Omar Khayyam's verses may
perhaps be a better description OF the
production. 1t is unlike anything that
has yet been attempted in the theater,
and so entirely outside the accepted
limitations Of stage illusions that all
rules for consideration OF such spec
Iacles must be cast aside. The CO.
ordination OF the life of radical Mus
selman philosopher of the thirteenth
CENTURY. a life that began in romance
and is lived through a period OF obstl-
nate rebellion, later drowned in in
Cbriety, and became unromantic old age,
with the exquisite fancy of the i'm
sons would care to attempt.
Perhaps il was the fact that MT
TUlly conceived the idea while ne yet
held the enthusiasms OF a stuoent
at the University of, California and
chung TO il, despite the conVenuonallz-
ing influences which intimate asso-
citation with the stage as a play
wright naturally bring. Perhaps IL
was the radical tendencies of the If
Tepressible Mr.. Morosco, of Los An
-l1s IoD
nrst achieved dramatic success. OR
perhaps il was just the fact that
Mr.. Tully has a bit of the revolution
airy spirit of old Omar himself. what
ever il was that caused the play TO
he written, the story that has been
evolved is a curious combination OF
a dramatic poem and poetry entirely
outside the drama.
1t is a story OF Omar, the youth
and student, who steals out into the
desert for one night of paradise with
the daughter of the master, who has
turned him out, because the next day
the daughter was to become the wife
OF the shah. OF a man of intellect,
whose rebellious spirit has placed
him beyond the pale of his fellows,
living the life of common tent
maker, spending his hours alternately
amusing a crowd of ribald tavern
loafers with his drunken recitations
OF delicate verse, and training the
early love, and who had been cast
out by her royal husband. OF oriental
intrigue and tragedy. And finally of
the reunion of the early lovers and
a partial reformation in the life of
the poet as old age sets its mark upon
him. All this is what Mr.: TuIly has
placed in his drama, and in the set
ting he has so builded he has i'm
bedded many Of the great quatrains
that Fitzgerald rescued from their
h.
"Rubaiyat' of the original Omar.
But Mr. Tully's work would have
zone for little had it not been for the
achievement of Wilfred Buckland, the
master builder of stage pictures. The
prologue, three acts and ePilogue OF the
production are perhaps the most Won
dCrful illusions that have been present
ed on the stage. The combinations Of
light and shadow have rarely been SO
harmoniously effective. The prologue
moonlight. In the prologue the moon
rises over the minaret of a mosque and
slowly the domes and roofs of the houses
are brought out in shimmering radiance.
The other settings, a scene in the street
Of Nishapur. the justice hall of the CID
Temple OF Zoroaster and the illusion of
the pots 'marred in the making" in the
third act, each drew forth wondering
applause. The illusion of Omar's deler
iurn as he was being bastinadoed and
OF his dream were real illusions-if Cne
may use the term. Mr.. Buckland had
tie assistance of Elihu Vedde-, tho ar
tist, and Of Mr.. Tully in working out
the IDEAS Of the settings
With the work of the dramatist and
the producer completed it remained for
Guy Bates Post TO visualize the charac-
ter OF the poet AS a young man full
of enthusiasm, as an inebriated middle
aged malcontent and as an aged philo-
sopher. waiting the running out of the
sands Of life, Mr.. Post presented a Sc
Ties OF character studies that are as
readily understood as they are care
fully worked out. The big note in the
presentation was the intense humanity
~ the poet and the man.
Jane Salisbury as Shireen. Omar
early love; Louise eraser as the
daughter: John Hunter Booth as a
Bedouin slave: ]. NJ. Waller as Has
san Ben Sabah: Fred Eric as NiZzam,
the viZier: Clarence Ballair as the
Jewish rabbi: H c. Carlton az the Null
lah, were especially noteworthy in
large supporting cast
At last nights performance the au-
diCn"e included members and friends
NJ the Western High School Athletic
Association, for the benefit Of which
a large part Of the proceeds of the even
.u- were intended.
GARDNER MACK.