The Washington herald., 1914-01-18
Attractions Of Current Week in Leading Washington
STAGE VERSION
OF Bible STORY.
Louis N. Parker Says Every Play
wright Looks with Longing at
Great Dramatic Facts and In
cidents in Sacred History.
BY JULIA CHANDLER MANz.

BY JULIA CHANDLER MANZ.
The current week brings US q treat for
which we have waited with more than
ordinary interest and eagerness- ! refer
TO Louis N. Parker's dramatic version Of
the Biblical story Of ''Joseph and HIS
Brethren" which the Lebler company
will present in the New National Theater
this week, representing the third OF the
pageant plays which have won renown
for New York's Century Theater. where
both 1.-THE Garden of Allah" and The
Daughter of Heaven" first saw the light
of production.
When interviewed concerning the writ
ing Of this the greatest Of the Century
Theater spectacles, Mr.. Parker said:
'T think every playwright must look
with longing at the great dramatic
stories in the Bible, and yearn to bring
them to visible life on the stage" he said.
Certainly every playwright, behind and
under the veneer Of persinage with
which a moderately modest man conceais
his respect for his own art, must wish
that he had an opportunity of dignifying
the stage by transferring one Of their
epics to its boards In England we have
until now been denied this privilege The
ban Of the censor has lain on Bible sub
jects. Now, however, that We have had
Salomes innumerable, now that Mendels-
sohn's Elijah has been performed as
an opera. and that Delilah has cut Sam
sons hair to Saint-Saens' tunes. hope
that the ban will be lifted.
But years ago I used to talk over
the possibility of a play dealing with
Joseph and His Brethren with my old
friend, Addison Bright. 1t was just at
the time when We had just made the
acquaintance of that energetic young
man, George c. Tyler. 1t was also just
the time when had started the pageant
movement. I was busy on the Warwick
pageant and was beginning to learn how
to handle epic subjects. So Mr.. Tyler
came along and said in his genial way
Go right ahead and right ahead went.
Joseph is the first outcome of my ex-
perience in writing pageant plays, as
Drake is the latest.
81 have frequently been asked to give
some account of how went TO work and
of the sources from which I drew.
am sorry to say that is difficult, IL not
impossible. I wrote the play in lso-lSo.
and it has lain dormant ever since In
the meantime, I have written and PRO-
duced five pageant plays. 1 have written
and produced .Pomander Walk 'Disraeli.'
and Drake and 1 have had four happy
visits to America
My method of writing this sort of
play is the method I suppose every au-
thor pursues under similar circumstances.
l surround myself with a small library
of authorities. Out of them I seek what
ever can be of help, and then l go to
work.
Into the life story of Joseph I delved
conscientiously, and L was fortunate
enough to find a number of things
(which, of course. every scholar knows,
but which 1 did not know which are
valuable.
THE name of Potiphar's wife, for in
stance, was by great good fortune, Zu-
leika. The pathetic little story or the
Iove-lorn Tamai is not my invention.
And so on. and so further. In the main,
however, my play follows the Biblical
narrative closely. Wherever possible II
is a literal transcript. Whole scenes have
scarcely a word interpolated in the dia-
logue I have only ventured to continue
here and there certain episodes which in
the story are left unfinished as not bear
ing on the central figure. We do not, for
instance, hear what becomes Of Poti-
phar's wife.
Il hope 1 may add that have tried to
set forth the story with the tenderest
sympathy for the most sensitive feelings
of my hearers Not at all for my own
sake, but for the sake of the art to which
/ have devoted my life, Of the artists
whom / love and admire, and of the
stage which 1 hold in reverence and hon.
or ] am very proud, and very glad,
that the high courage of the Liebler COM
pany and of my old friend, George c.
Tyler gave the opportunity of placing
such a play on the great stage OF the
Century Theater."
To Brandon lyman falls the honor Of
the Interpretation of Joseph, a selection
by the producers the wisdom Of which Is
without question. for Mr.. lyman is looked
upon as the American exponent of the
stage ideals and intent sought to be at
tanned by Ibsen. MaeterlinSk. and George
Bernard Shaw. Mr.. lyman is best
known as an author through his own
play Robert Emmett" and as an actor
through his American tour with Mime.
Nazimova in her first starring venture
i'm this country. He is an enthusiast on
the subject of the actors art, and is
never happier than when execrating the
meretricious exploitation Of sex plays
for boX-office gain.
The beautiful Pauline Frederick plays
opposite Mr.. lyman in the role of Zu-
leika, and the otherwise notable cast
with the Leibler company presented in
the original Century Theater production
of Mr.. Parker's masterpiece will also be
seen here this week
In lighter vein comes Chauncey Olcott
TO the Columbia Theater, making his an
nual visit to Washington in tale Of the
American Revolution, "Shameen Dhu,"
for the exploitation of his ever
popular gift of song and comedy by Rida
johnson Young.
Henry Miller, who is Mr.. Olcott's pres
ent manager, and who has been his life
long friend, personally directed the re-
hearsals of "Shameen Dhu" and super
vised the production. In fact. there is
pretty good authority for the assertion
that both THE Isle o. Dreams" in which
Mr.. Olcott was starred last season, and
the new Irish romance which begins a
weeks engagement at the Columbia to-
morrow night, had their inception in the
brain of Mr.. Miller, who made the skele-
ton story upon which Mrs. Young hung
the dramas. Certain it is that Mr.. MiIler's
unfailing sense Of refinement in matters
of art is responsible for the beautiful
lighting effect, the many startling bits Of
business, and the striking situations and
l. /