Evening star., 1914-10-13
qRLNllluSEx TENTS
New National.

New National.
Jules Eckert Goodman's four-act play
The Silent Voice." founded upon
Gouverneur Morris story, ''The Man
Who Played God" with the powerful
assistance of Otis Skinner and the
lesser aid Of cast that shone in
spots, was presented in Washington
for the first time at tho New National
Theater last evening. And although
Mr.. Skinner was called to the foot
lights again and again until it became
positively evident that beyond thank
ing the audience for its applause he
did not intend to make a speech"
the captious- minded part Of that audi
ence felt in its bones that the play
itself does not bear the hallmark OF
immortality.
Its first shortcoming seems to be
support of the big ideas 1t touches
upon, thus weakening itself and mar
ring the big ideas with an Imperfect
presentation of their beauty and truth:
Its great lesson, that God is love, and
that in His own way he directs all
things for good, is sought to be es-
tablished after four acts. with the ex-
perience of a morbidly pessimistic and
really blasphemous man OF mlodle age
whose one joy in life had been music.
which was taken from him by sud
den attack of total deafness. and the
realization of whose one remaining
hope for happiness seemed lost In the
fact that his young wife did not love
The truth. and with it more whole
some outlook, is brought home to him
in a novel and, one Is tempted to say, al
most impossible way. by ylip-readtng. The
lips of speaking people are the silent
voice" With the aid of pair of
powerful opera glasses he internes
himself on the roof of his home and
amuses himself with reading the lips
of people in the public park below.
In this way he learns OF the sorrows
of others, and instead of wishing to
fly in the face of God. as he announces
at the outset, he learns to be pitiful,
then sympathetic, and then real
benefactor. The joy he finds in this
opens his heart to the big truth that
God is love, and that He really does
help the poor creatures of earth upon
whom He looks down, even as the
deaf man.
The novelty" of the play is in de-
picting the scenes in the park OBJ
served by the morbid deaf man. as a
background on a darkened stage. the
same as stage dreams have long been
portrayed, except that the figures in
them speak the words which reach
him through lip-reading. In this way
he learns that his wife loves and is
beloved by his nephew. But when life
begins to look dark again new nope
is born by her subsequent appearance
on the roof and her confession that
she at last realizes the blgness ana
worth of his character. just as she
has learned the smallness of the man
she thought she loved.
There are no sensational climaxes at
any stage Of the play, and really but
little. If any, of the dramatic quality
known as action to commend it. 1t Is
to another by the author. very like the
fitting of a hummingbird from one
flower to another. with such an fnf1ni-
tesimal supply of real delight drawn
from each as to leave a larger thing
than a hummingbird hungry and un-
satisfied. The imagination of the
audience must supply a great deal
more than the arguments or the situa-
tions of the play to secure nourishing
results.
One does not see Otis Skinner at his
best in 1.-The Silent Voice." although it
would take something much WORSE
than a poor play to hide his con-
summate artistry. He is constantly
confronted with mechanical difficult
ties, for to sustain the lip-reading idea
always have his eyes upon the lips OF
those who speak to him. And the
same is true Of those who address him.
It is an indispensable requirement that
cannot fall to affect the acting oppor-
tunities many times during the play;
Mrs. Skinner. as a real friend OF the
deaf man. was thoroughly satisfying.
even though her role strained the ere
duIity and at times was made to play
tricks with the audience in suggesting
that possibly the friendly Mildred
might be the solution to the diHculties
In the end. 1t was a sad disappoint-
ment, therefore. when Mildred. too.
fell short of the ideal the audience
would have liked to fnd her. Florence
Fisher was thoroughly natural ana
thoroughly human as IS the %,c"1tiss yoTns ~s but
she seemed to surmount them easily,
and her performapnee othsr Whs nSs
aIthouph played perhaps as well as
they might be. lacked opportunity to
oeGu NJ Summers welcome amounted to
quite an ovation at the close of the
third act. The play was well moun.eu,
aIthough one of the sunset scenes was
Intensely lurid with it's ruddiness.