Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-12-16
STAGE SOCIETY SHOWS
UNUSUALLY GOOD BILL
Shaw. Maeterlinck and Beam
ish Share Honors With
Cubist Scenery

This week the Philadelphia Stage So.
ciety has left its triumphs as well as its
failures far behind Its third bill which
was presented to the associated members
ut the Little Theatre last night. and
which will be repeated on three successive
Fridays md Saturdays contains all man
ner of good things in plays, acting and
sottines There is Shaw farce. an un-
published Mactcriinck satire, n local play
Of considerable ingenuity. exceptional act
ing and some delightful settings, includ-
ing tho first cuhlst scenic design pre-
sentcd seriously on the American stage
ALL be Il loudly remarked, for the sum of
30 cents
Tho bill opens with a rare novelty in
deed. Tho Miracle of st. Anthony" a
satrC ny Maotcrlnck, only obtainable I'm
n German translation. The present YER
sion is a little stiff at times and the act
ing last night-apart from Mr.. McClures q
spiritual saint and Mr.. Whitney's capital
doctor might have been more pungent
and smoother. But the substance of the
delicious comedy shone through. It
shows ST Anthony Of padua come to
house of mourning in ante-bellum Rel
gium to raise the dead The disbelief and
objections Of the relatives, interrupted al
the funeral meats. tho miracle of tho
woman's revival. the arrest of the saint
and her relapse are sct off in a satire
that stilfully mixes the Glc qualities Of
the saint and tho Crassucas Of the sur
bounding world,
The second play Three Women" by
MIR. Beamish. is really three or four plays
In one It shows The anorous and ulti-
mately tragic adventures of Spanish cap
tain on a vacation from camp. He sees
three women ut a fountain. lie aCCosts
the youngest and appoints rendevouz,
only to he killed by her jealous lover
The curtain dcscends to rise again on the
captain once moro beginning his sortie
after love. This time he chooses fiery
tempered wcnch who stabs him for his
impudence. Another curtain, new be
ginning, and he is talking to the dis
ilusioned third His mood has shifted
again, and is rs gloomy as the woman's
own, and she leaves him to his dagger.
But that is not all once more the
is begun. This time the captain
is not for women. Wine will better while
away the evening. And as he makes off
TO tho wine shop, the three women plan to
follow. The varying and eliminating
moods of the little incidents were ad-
lniraby presented both in the words of
Mr.. Beamish and the acting of all the
cast. In many ways THE Three
Women" is Il Clevcrcr bit of work than
q. Henry's "Rcads of Destiny" a story
built on somewhat the same plan.
The final play, Shnw's "Overruled," is
too delightfully."- elaborate and verbal for
description. It shows married follS--a
couple of couples, in fact-falling in love
with each other diagonally, so to speak. |
Mrs. Lunn with Mr.. Juno and Mr.. Juno |
with Mrs. Lunn. As each is n genuine |
person, with genuinely English views of |
he situation, and as all possible angles of !
hose views are struck together. the re- |
suit Is a sparkling shower of the best |
Shavian pyroteChniCs. And the delightful !
'omedy was as delightfully."- acted last |
hight by Mrs. Dalsimer, Miss Adele Rit-
'hie, Mr.. Whitney and Mr.. Sheppard.
Finally, the settings. While an admir-
ibly simple gray room housed "TheMIra-
'le of st. Anthony" "Overruled" was set
If by gold screens with purple peacocks
et against a black cyclorama and with
youdrous salmon furniture and green
ushions-all by Henrietta Dannenoaum.
But the sensation of the evening was Moe
on L. Schamberg's cubist setting for
Three Women" The question of appro-
,riateness is open for discussion, with the
'iZarreness of the play OH Mr. Scham
,ergs side; but the success of the angu-
ar backdrop VT. its suggestions of Span
sh Moordom and the bright warmth of
'ordova is not to be denied. 1t sup
lied a salient point of distinction in an
distinguished bill X. NJ