Evening star., 1915-03-07

Shaw are among the few
For long time Shaw plays
were considered suitable only for the
bookshelf or the armchair: chiefly the
bookshelf. They were produced in {
spirit of highbrow whimsicality for thu
benefit of those who were willing tt
laugh at gayety of thought without
waiting for grotesqueness Of physica
demonstration to impress 1t.
y
One of the early discoverers of Shaw
was Richard Mansfield. whose keen ART
perception found the material i'm
mensely congenial. Mansfield was him
self a man of lively and often au-
dacious expression. His favorite atti.
tude was that of hopeless despair con-
cerning some tri1e which he assumed
to be obliterating his happiness. He
could pay cynical compliment, too
Much as he admired Shaw as writer Il
Is evident that he did not find him tenn
peramentally soothing. I'VE must have
good plays" he is quoted as saying
but why, oh. why. do they have to be
written by G.. Bernard Shaw"
x
The delightful play ''Pygmalion," is an
the oft-exploded fallacy that man Is q
creature of superiority and strength
fitted for leadership and dangerously
prone to tyranny. The triumph of
woman's wit and will over mans blus.
tering pretense is a theme capable OF
endless variations each conveying a
novel and distinct impression. The
combined industry of Mr.. Barrie and
Mr.. Shaw has not exhausted it. In
Man and Superman" it was show
that when conflict of purpose takes
place between a man and woman of
equal station in life the feminine vic
tory is as easy as 1t is inevitable. In
order that sport may not lag in
'Pygmalion." the woman is handicapped
by every disa dvantage of birth, ard as
sociation and given only the slender
weapons Of wardrobe and superficial
schooling to meet man of vast philo-
sophie equipment and leave him van
auished in his own esteem.
The portrayal of The Dustman.s
Daughter'-if the author had been a
writer of real melodrama or real ro-
nance he could not have resisted tho
title-reveals Mrs. Pat Campbell hand
some and impressive; competent to en-
act the role which tells most of the
story without relapsing into hoydenish
realism at the outset to secure contrast
for the later scenes. The most daring
attacks on English grammar and on
the accepted standards of social de-
pertinent are made with exouisitely
humorous effect. but without the least
risk of culti 'ating a taste for Mrs Pat
Campbell in low comedy SO strong as
to jeopardize her position as a deIin-
Gator Of society types.
X II
Having labored for years to get the
center of the stage, Lew Fields is now
engaged in a determined effort to
throw 1t away. In the High Cost of
Loving" one of the farces that esca ped
from Europe before the war broke out,
Mr.. Fields strives to pass the laughs
over to the other players. when the
audience would prefer to have more of
the brand of personal humor adver-
tised on the labels outside the theater.
The piece is described as being, not
from the French. as usual, but from
the German. 1t might be called an in
delicatessen. The fun is emphatic and
incessant: fun for the moment that
takes into no account the Impressions
that may linger after the auditor
leaves the theater and thinks over the
precise nature of the topic that has
been so lavfshly exploited.
Moving pictures are now making the
same distinction between legitimate
and popular price entertainment that
the dramatic stage makes. "Hypo-
critics" Is most elaborate film pro-
duction which has caused remark by
the display in misty shadow of an un-
draped figure supposed to symbolic
Truth. 1t is an example of the care
and expense that may be bestowed on
performance for the films. The pres
entation Of moving pictures in compe-
tition with the regular theatrical at
fractions and almost on the same foot
ing is one of the numerous curiosities
Of the times. The strangest thing is
that the tendencies of the pictures are
more classical than those of the dra-
matte presentations
PHILANDER JOHNSON.
A washinEton June.-Isabelle Lowe,
who plays June in The Trail of the
Lonesome Pine" is Washingtonian.
and possesses the distinction of being
great at-great-grandniece of President
Polk
My grandmother was married at the
White House, she remarked. "and my
grandfather actually appointed Ad-
miral Schley to the navy He was the
Youngest Governor of Maryland | be-
lieye-only thirty.
Il went on the stage when my fathers
fortune was wiped out in a wheat panic
in Chicago. she added. Il had been
doing a little act in d sort of club af-
fair. something like the modern caba-
asked TO take Nina Blake's place in
Coming Through the Rye. Then they
planned to make me feature in a new
musical show, which somehow failed
TO materialtze. Later I followed Flea
nor Robson Gold in The Dawn of
a Tomorrow After that Klaw & Err
LANCER engaged me, and / have been
with them for three seasons. playing
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
Miss Lowe says her mother, who was
Mary Anderson by name, Is a relative
of Nine. Navarro.
The consequence is" she says, "a
curious difference of attitude on the
part of my people. My mothers folk
think my stage success wonderful. and
encourage me to stick, while my
fathers family frown upon 1t as out OF
keeping with my position.
Miss Lowe has a keen sense OF humor
and knows how to tell good story
After discussing humor from many
angles she told this:
Il remember my father telling me one
day about humorist who was billed
TO lecture in Baltimore. AS he fingered
behind the scenes a telegram inform
ing him of a death was placed in his