The Washington times., 1914-10-13
NATIONAL.

The Big Idea, adjusted to modern con-
IL lions in the story of The Man Who
II we'd Cod" by GOuverneur Morris,
a. q readiusted TO the stage by Jules
II kert Goodman, sticks out all over
= he Silent Voice in which Charles
] Gilman presented Otis Skinner at the
n " National Theater last night. But.
a. in mechanics where the term slip
s. used to signify a loss when it is
n essary to transmit power through
n IRE than one pulley wheel. so in the
! ssing of the power Of the Morris
|e ~ from the printed page TO the stage
Il re Is a sense of something lost. Care
Il analysis has failed to explain why,
/ L in consideration OF the efforts of Mr..
S Inner and his associate players in
he Silent Voice. the recollection of
c aries Dickens "A Christmas Carol
|CCnstantly obtrudes itself with the very
y ignant thought that THE Silent
' ice was not written by Charles
Dickens. There is a suggestion some
v he<e that Mr.. Morris used the Dickens
10 "a, but that he has reversed it. Where
v had Scrooge a skinfiint, a miserable
specimen of humanity without even a
r. deeming vice, we find Montgomery
r arr, a modern man Of the world, full
OF life and energy. and so saturated
Y ith music that his soul was ennobled
n Scrooge regeneration is worked
through series Of visions Of what
might have been, while Starr is first
robbed of all he holds sacred and holy
by complete deafness, and by the dis
Covery that his wife does not love him
as he thinks she should, and then is
F.r @al hH- onrfa of II Oh nf
What he can do and does do to relieve
human suffering and misery. They are
not visions to Starr. They are actual
hfppenings Of which he is made aware
q rough a pair of powerful field glasses,
and his ability to read the lips Of people
b. sees through them from his windows
and roof as they walk about in the park
in front Of his residence. Perhaps we
are wrong to couple Scrooge and Starr.
Trrhaps there isn't really connection.
= ne visions that are brought Into The
: lent Voice" are INSTALLATIONS Of what
s arr is actually seeing. But the Christ
has Carol thought constantly obtrud-
e itself in the passing Of the four acts
q play last evening-with, as stated be-
FIRE, a reversal of the Dickens theme.
otis Skinner appears before his audi
e1Ces for the first time in many years
j. r modern character. Some one has
id that i'm the playing of this char
g ter he reminds one of "Kismet.' In
Z 2 playing of the character Mr.. Skin
rar has very difficult performance.
lIn must suggest all the peculiar man
lcrisms and intonations of a deaf man,
: very difficult feat for a person in full
yossession of his hearing. Mr.. Skinner
does this to perfection. Mrs. Skinner,
who returns to the stage after several
years absence, has a part entirely out
side what We might call the direct heart
interest in the play, and yet carries
rreat deal of the burden Of the produc-
ton. In fact, Ii may be said that Mrs.
Iinner shared the better part OF the
burden with Mr.. Skinner, and as he
gave a most thoughtful presentation OF
his part, so she presented a womanly,
sympathetic type, that was altogether
pleasing and natural.
Florence Fisher. the third important
member of the cast. had the trying part
OF the young girl who marries the deaf
& nd hoping almost against hope that she
viii learn to do so. Her freshness and
sincerity were the important touches
she gave the character. The remainder
OF the cast was entirely proficient
Last nights performance was practi-
cally the premiere of the play. 1t is
probable that many Of the spots in the
drama that seem rough will be smoothed
out during the week. II would seem
hat the first act, particularly, could be
improved But the impression given by
81 nights performance is that though
1a Big Idea is in The Silent Voice. ="
10 punch-the punch which modern
r-amatists claim is essential to the
? .ccess OF their works. silent.
GARDNER MACK.