New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-17
Stage Surprises
,cuy AS FINE ART-MR. BERNARD AND SIR HERBERT
MvesE AS ITS PRoFEssoRS-MRs. PATRICK CAMpsELL-MR
wat XII NEW AMERICAN PLAY IN LoNpoN-Miss GLADYS


London. April "a.

London. April ~.
;. the age, or the period. of expert
.,s in an art which reached its true
lection Of form some $500 years
,,n the Greeks. IL had then, and
e,..ss has had since. settled, definite.
,,ahle principles Of structure and
l.soa Greece. Italy. France, Eng
germany. each i'm the splendor Of
1rsmatic life. have been content to
- on these lines. But here in Lon
4 the playmakers seem to be content
,onger. They have become icono-
&c and revolutionaries. In despair
competing with the great masters of
they have set themselves TO eX-
II !, they may. by disobeying the
70 which the really great masters
|'rn,llv submitted because they were
Of which the source lay not in
- caprice but in the nature of
ings.
s,c;eties now exist for the propaga-
- q, dramatic anarchy. Managers
ss,-some managers, not all-for the
.osuction OF new pieces and old ny
.oh devices as shall appeal to the pas
- for eccentricity which has taken
L..session Of the public, or part OF the
[,hHc. London--I do not travel be-
[0od London-requires novelty ana d
|,o,sssion Of novelties. II disdains 10
[o,ice processes; II demands only re-
w. and the result for which il clam
: is 70 surprise, to astonish. 10 fN
IT, attention by means far outside OF
:, and far beyond the realm Of law
Hence Sir Herbert Tree presenting
s.,o-,ea versions Of Shakespeare as so
,.,v ricture shows Hence Mr. Gran
IN. Parker with his grotesque imita-
Inns Of simplicity. which are really SO
any travesties Of what is. or ought TO
s,mnle in itself and true to canons
nee thought binding. These are sam
lss Of the manager. Hence also Mt
bar,a-d Shaw. who has hitherto stood
L,.,tv well by himself as hehel
,.ins, tradition. against the sanctity
custom. against common sense
,ainst all that is summed up IN the
,,-d law. which during all these ages
s,ce sophocles and A1schylus has peen
srerenced by the men whom the world
.spects for their obedience and ad-
,,res for their nevertheless original
|snius.
NJ shaw and Sir Herbert Tree have
a,ed hands in the new "Pygmalion
I,d Galatea" at His Majesty's inca
!, The old legend. Of course, is mod
.pjze5 and vulgarized. 1t is dra-
,xue and a spectacle. Mr.. Shaw mas
ore to consider the exchange OF
rsrkling sentences as the essential
mslitv Of drama: and he can turn ont
rarkling sentences without end; or
rom the beginning TO the end OF d hVs-
n plav. Pygmalion bristles with
hsm. The flower girl and the Duchess
,to whom she is transformed by de-
,oes of elocution are essentially the
snoe. or were when they left the Great
NJ hands of Mr.. Shaw. But the flower
M and the duchess are played by Mrs
patrick Campbell: who interrupted her
su, HONEYMOON TO impersonate thus
urious double part. Whatever may De
aid of Mr.. Shaw. Mrs. Campbell is an
rtist in whose hands dramatic Values
"a cafe Mrs. Campbelrs Eliza is
delicious thing" says Mr.. Walkley' the
jrsmatic critic of THE Times the
oremost Of his craft.
ouote Mr.. Walkley not only because
,s Is foremost Of his craft, but because
have not seen "Pygmalion." He ham
lies both Mr.. Shaw and Sir Herbert
Tree with a certain tenderness, but j.
xho Ike the dramatic conceptions ol
,stber. am content they should be
judged by the opinion of this amiaole
.ritic. His desire to be lenient does
,ot altogether dilute the acid which
iis,ils from his pen. nor conceal from
he reader the gulf which divides MN
rom this playwright and play actor;
,erching together on the Opposite
wink. The gulf is broad and Deep
His attitude is critical, but he is con-
ent 10 leave the reader to infer it; ana
0 let him draw his own conclusions
rom his destructive analysis OF the
LAY and of Mr. Shaw's methods ana
limitations. IL is not from Mr.. Walk
ey that the encroachments of the nails
pon the theatre will find encourage
nent Nor will there be any blessing
Rom him for Mr. Shaws view OF the
tage as primarily an arena TOT inc
isplay Of literary pyrotechnics. Nor
oes he agree with Mr.. Galsworthy IN
egardng the stage as a pulpit from
hitch to preach unsavory sermons, nor
nth Mr.. Granville Barker in reducing
Genie representations TO the nursery
vel II is a pleasure to be able to say
hat there is in the world Of criticism
nd not in Mr.. Walkley's case only, an
Intending resistance TO the worst OF
lese modern heresies as revealed in
he theatre itself. so is there among
cine Of the hest managers. At the
t. James's Theatre you will find a
altured orthodoxy from which ST.
eorge Alexander never departs. Much
ests with the managers. Few dra-
,atic authors will care TO compose
lays which they know managers Will