The Washington herald., 1915-01-31
star Creates = Part.

~ 20 rule. Eth, Barrymore has nad
to cuuiout herself with hand me down
roles wmrn mad Eeen tried on o.
French and English stl~s. The
Shadow" was originally intended for
Nm. E"jsnc. hut the eXigencies Of the
WI sent rn, play to America before II
Iud h,.,r -ri,d out in Paris. This left
10 Ethel barrymore the opportunity or
task Of Interpreting the role in her own
way u:nurdsurd by precedent. There is
uu denying that she made it interesting,
.rd I'm tine Introductory scene. where she
vas first helpless and then restored to
NORMAL life. very Effective Afterward.
.. .niSod,S where i+ seemed as though
-rnHr actress would have stirred her
ii. ne. {" its utmost depths. she failed
n only g. mOvD her hearers deeply, but
,.,u go carry conviction of the anguish
.'a: q loving wife in such circumstances
...-t endure. For this the authors were
..rh to blame, for they failed to realize
'.. 0oSsible power Of the material at
q. zip command. and killed it with too
'rlnv words and too much renetition.
Tho star conveyed no cIear-cut idea OF
vor emotions. and voiced her feelings in
70 monotony Of high pitched. fearful
tones. varied only bv an occasional rau-
cousness which struck one as being more
urrofned than moving.
Ethel BarrymOre's support in THE
shadow inCludoI such well-cstablished
artists as Grace Elliston, Bruce McRae
and Ernest Lawford, hut they had little
10 do and no chance to distinguish them
So Ives. as everything in the play is sub
sidiary to and cent"rs about the leading
female character. For her the role is al
most a great one and rewritten should
be a favOrito one with artists capable Of
great emotional acting. Ethel Barrymore
had. and perhans still has. a big follow
ing. and The Shadow" even with MANY
uf its possibilities thrown away. IS 4
strong play. so IT is likely to keep the
Empire open for some time to come.
BeIHsco's Latest.
The same indefniteness in the wav Of
an ending .haracterizes ''Narie-OdiIe ..
the drama. by Edward Knoblauch which
David Belasco has just put on as a new
vehicle for the acting abilities Of Frances
Starr. The curtain goes down on a sis
terhOOd Of nuns sending aimIessIv ont
into the world a novice who in the condi-
tons Of the FranCO-Cierman war Of 1870
has become the mother Of a child. Her.
again. we have the end OF a play DrO-
vidinE the conditions for the beginning
Of another. and the audience leaving the
theater left to its own imaginations TO
figure out the future of the characters in
whom It has become interested during the
progress OF the authors three acts
1t seems doubtful that with the custo-
mary effectiveness of detail that Mr.. Be
lascO has bestowed upon ''Marie-Odile."
and with all of Frances Starts personal
and artistic popularity, the play can find
a place in popular liking. II shows the
stern qualities of the discipline in a con-
vent at their harshest, which is not like
ly to make the piece gain friends among
Roman Catholics. Germany may or may
not have many friends in America today,
but the picture Mr.. Belasco presents Of
the methods Of German soldiers in occu-
patton Of convent is calculated to irrf-
tate the feelings OF pro-Germans. al
though the picture he presents is con-
siderably milder than many 10 be found
in the newspapers today. Moreover,
Mr. Knoblauch gives us a personifca-
tion OF virgin innocence which, in this
sceptical age. even in the religious
surroundings OF the heroine. is more
strongly provocative of mirth than of
credibility.
The hOnors of ''Marie-Odile" go to
Frances Starr rather than to the pro-
ducer or author of the play. Only her
simplicity. her naturalness and her
pathos in the role OF the little convent
drudge, the victim OF pious austerity
and the cruelty that so often goes with