The Washington herald., 1914-10-25
Nv IA,rEs $. ,,ErcALEE.

done in New York. Its revival at the
Empire and its power to hold the in
terest show two things-that. 'Diplo-
macy is q mighty strong play II It can
please in its present rendering. and the
audiences Of today have very little crit
ical faculty.
Diplomacy" is presented at the En-
pire, one Of New York's highest-class
theaters, supposed to have at its CONS
mand every resource OF the modern
stage and commanding New York's best
patronage. The present revival has been
announced for months with the implica-
tio1 that II wRs to be an event OF artistic
importance. It was to command in
the leading roles artists Of eminence on
the American stage-Mr. William Gillette,
Blanche Bates, and Marie Doro- Here
then we have a combination OF cele-
brated play. leading metropolitan thea
ter and announcement sufficiently in ad-
vance to promise an admirable cast IN
finished production.
What is the result? A performance
which supplies proof in detail for the
contention Of those who talk about the
''palmy days of the theater" that nave
passed. The strength Of Diplomacy a.
q play, IN spite Of glazing defects Whicn
would be CLOSED over BY per1ect per
formance, and the clear definition that
the author has given to each OF the char
actsrS make # Impossible for even com
monplaes acting and setting to rob 1t OF
tts power to Interest 1t would have
this IN any rendering, from the crude one
by amateurs or Q smaIl-town stock COM
pany up to the best that Paris or Lon
den can DO.
ourl0us IdeAI Of Fitness.
'DRpSomacy'' In a play that in adequate
representation calls for the utmost dis
tinction In setting. and on the part OF
those who enact its characters. Its ac-
ton moves in the polished circles Of Eu-
ropean diplomacy, and even its adven-
turers must possess the exterior indica-
tions Of good breeding. Even the old
Marquise de Rio-Zares, thrown in for
contrast, need not be necessarily played
IN . low-comedy vein.
The worst blot in the Empire cast Ia
Mr.. William Gillette, as Henry Beau
clerc first secretary of the British EN-
bassy at Paris. This is one Of the high
est posts In the British diplomatic serv-
ice, and could never be filled by any but
a gentleman in looks and bearing. Max
ing all allowances for Mr.. Gillette's dis
advantages of physique, he makes this
polished character appear something like
a cross between a New England drum
mer and a plain-clothes man from police
headquarters. He has neither distinction
nor dignity in manners or speech. He
position under our political system Of ap-
pointment, but at no moment in the
play does he suggest the English diplo-
mat of good birth and special training
and experience. Mr.. Leslie Faber, as
Julian Beauclerc, a less important role,
plays it unobjectionAbly, but gives the
impression that he Is more q barber
made gentleman than a scion Of Britain's
blue blood. Mr.. Won Seyffertitz is for
IL, -, hn r-ir
a foreign touch to the splendid role OF
Baron Stein, but 1t is the air of the bar
racks rather than the subtlety and re
finement Of the member of a secret serv-
ice charged with worming its way into
the secrets Of ambassadors. Marie Doro
is pretty and colorless, which it is per-
missibIe for Dora to be. The assignment
Of Mr.. Majeroni, who has pronounced
ly Hebraic profile, to the role Of a Rus
sian Orion, is another example Of the
sense Of fitness that pervsdes this am |
bilious production. Blanche Bates, who |
plays the Countess Zieka with the adven- !
turess note q bit overaccented is about |
the only one in the cast who seems to
realize the requirements Of what she has
to do in looks and bearing.
The staging Of this Diplomacy" is also
slipshod. The hotel room at Monte Carlo
is a plausible setting. but no Englishmen
who ever tubbed could long endure the
Earish apartment in Paris described as
Henry Beauclerc's, and the first secre-
tary's ONCE in the British Embassy had
more the appearance OF section Of
theatrical storehouse than Of any part
of an ambassadors encourage
A Measure of Decadence>
So much detail about this performance
of Diplomacy is needed to point the de- |
terioration that has come to the Ameri- |
a. y =
fort at the Empire may be taken to rep |
resent present conditions. Since the piece |
was first done at old Wallack's with the |
cast of that period, Diplomacy" has had |
many revivals Of varying merit. But in !
a comparison OF the Empire production |
with the Wallack production, we have in
a third Of a century, definite period, |
theaters for the measurement OF differ
ences.
There are many living theatergoers
who can recall the Diplomacy in which
Lester waIlack, Harry Montague, and
Shannon headed the cast Those wit
nesses are not in their dotage by any
means Nor are they by any means so
old that their Judgment is clouded by
too roseate remembrance Of the things
of the past And it may be said, without
fear Of contradiction from any one Of
them, that to sit through this perform
ance at the Empire, note its utter lack
of finish, distinction, and artistic ele-
gance in acting and presentation, and
also note the satisfaction OF a present.
day audience, is compelling proof Of the
Of the American stage and
Of the ability Of American audiences to
between what is good and
bad in stage art.
A Thief P1ny.
big Jim Garrity' is produced by Mr..
Woods, and also has a reformed crook
for its hero. Its bid for success is based
on other grounds than the merit Of the
play. Its producer apparently thought
that It was time to compete with the
moving pictures by putting an old-fash-
oned criminal melodrama of the kind the
public used to like into a big Broadway
theater with a cast including well-known
names and at prices to attract the gen.
eral public. Therefore the best seats at
the New York Theater, right in the heart
Of the theater district, are now 81, and :
for this price one may see John Mason,
Amelia Gardner, John Emerson, William l
Sampson, Robert Mcwade, and Johnt ,
Flood, all doing their best in melo- :
roles. The piece is by Owen =
Davis, a past master in writing popular '
but in the present instance I
be seems to have been overcome by hav- :
ng q cast of well-known actors, and the !
thought that his play was to be done in !
The heart Of the fashionable theater dis
trict. s
Mr.. Davis has certainly failed to make +
Big Jim Garrity" a melodrama that s
would catch the old melodrama public or !
sufficiently finished play to please thea
ergoers Of higher pretensions.