The Washington times., 1915-01-03

washington playgocrs have been In
the position of the little boy turned
loose in n candy shop during the past
ten days. Ono might even 60 further
than that and state the case as that of a
little boy placed In candy shop and told
ne must remain there for some time,
and that neither his tummy or his
conscience would trouble him for the
hinSs he might do while there! The
local theaters have given their patrons
three excellent plays during the past
ten days. Not satisfied with that,
promise Is given for the next few
weeks that seems too good to be true.
Not only will Mr.. Belasco again re-
sumo his practice Of giving his plays
their premieres here, but he will start
AIS renaissance, as 1t were, with the
hrst knoblauch play that has ever been
given q first production in this coun.
Try, with Frances Starr as the star.
.Chen comes the announcement that
Aaude Adams and, Billie Burke are
ooth en- route to the Capital, and will
Dtay mere within the month. All of
neso Things would indicate that some-
Soe mas made serious m stake in
Sssnaf..p SSn,as plays s!,:. or that the New York
md will really try to give Washington
To or less consecutive entertainment
unr1ng the remainder Of the season,
Inere is an explanation for all this
tion Of the playbills for the mast Two
~ Snree weeks in New York. 1t will.
Rernaps. DO remembered that some sug-
SosIon was made in this column re-.
SsIoing the manner in which original
az -. f,a.atain nam their originality while
MAJ casts that reside In New York, q
Snance to exercise their originality on
new productions It is. Of course, neces-
Try to empty the playhouses Of the
~ ~ stars occasionally. And this seems
weeks. During the past week or two
Lncre nave been a number Of produce
Mons IN New York that have consumed
she supply OF original cast material in
= s,n most s startling .rng manner. Recitation Of
play The Song of Songs" by Edward
sheldon and based upon the novel by
SHdermann. The playbills show the
company to include Muude Allen, Irene
TsaSn sn%,'k; ErrsDt Derethy Donnel!y. John
Gyrtl Keightly, Rita Otway, Eleanor
Winant. William Stone. John Coss, II.
Lewis. Josephine Robbins. James
Lornsberry. etc. From review Of the
production: It Is gathered that the play
isn't all that it ought to be. but that
the work Of the company is wonderful
2s 1t should be with such people. There
We're six productions in New York from
christmas eve until last night, each of
winch mad casts quite as strong in sct-
cited. & a'''' "S the one '"a' mas 0een
1t Is just possible that we have been
% carried away with tho sentiments
We have expressed from time to time
on this subject that some of the things
that have been written might have led
to misunderstanding. There is no
question but that everyone likes to wit
ness a production which gained great
rcrown produced as 1t acquired that
rcnown. However. nobody cares to see
= bad play, even for the sake of seeing
lot of good actors do it. And GER
tainly no one with business ability will
attempt to send bad play on the road
with cast like the one which has
been use In tho production Of THE
sns o. he trouble wHoa is that "e w%en sGH
play that is not half bad is made to
20 by reason Of the good acting given
u. that same play is sent on the road
with substitute cast Of very ordinary
actors. Tho result is that only the
half Of the play that is bad is made to
stand out before the audience and only
the acting that is bad makes any I'M
preston.
There is phase of the original cast
proposition that has been called to our
attention during the past week which
1t seems should be understood. 1t has
frequently happened that an actor or
actress who has been brought out in a
popular play Is given an opportunity to
20 out in some other production with
more important part. and his or her
part in the old production is supplied
by an artist the managers engage be-
cause of ability to fiji the part Some
times the new actor gives an entirely
different characterization.
30 long as It is artistic and fits in
with the work of the other members
Of the company. there doesn't sem to
be the slightest reason for complain
ing. In many plays that have been
here this season-and have been praised
there were changes of casts in this
manner Bnut the changes did not
affect the value of the PRODUCTION.
Keys to Baldpate." TOO Mank Cooks
and several other undoubted successes
are examples of this. They did not
have the entire original casts. But they
had casts which were every bi, an
good.
willard Robertson's friends in this
city are puz@!ing themselves over what
seems to be the remarkable versatility
Of that young nun. They see him here
as an earnest law student. devotlns
himself to Blackstone and then READ
In the newspapers about his wonderful
dramatic success n AshtahTla. Fort
Wayne, and other towns in Ia" middle
West 1t has been ruZ:ling to them
as 1t was pllZzling t. me. willard Is u
versatile young inan-eV"r" on" knows
that-but h. &n't uui'r versatile enough
to do this. .hud hc isn't doing it. The
Will ard Ruhrrtgrn that Nasnn%ton
knows Is working hard IN this city
to take two yeats Of law in on" year
Of study The Willard Roh"rtsnn who
is acting il ohio and Ind ana Is anoth-
er person altogether.
Wearing II "a .!sicd smile, which
proves him 10 be . thoroughly reformed
dramatic editor. together with Consid-
erably more flesh than he can rcconcil"
with his tales Of 4 busy life, Eilbuurn
Gordon wandered into Washing ton last
week as the vantage poiEt from Mh,ch
he could do II little plain and fancy
press agcnting in Baltimore and still
keep the smile and the flesh. Gordon
served time here as a dramatic editor
some years ago, and has never recov-
cred fully from the Washington dis
ease. Every me he gets within q
short railway ride of the city he re.
turns TO see If the cornerstone of the
Memorial Bridge has tired OF ornament
Ing Lafayette square and gone to work