New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-10-21
By HAYWOOD BROUN.


actors in the programme Of "The Mark
/ Of the Beast" are added two verses
from the thirteenth chapter of the
/ Book Of Revelation. These verses
serve to explain the Biblical origin and
meaning of the title Of the play, which
was produced at the Princess Theatre
last night
Our text ia from the third chapter IF
/ the Book of Genesis: "And the eyes Of
them both were opened, and they knew
that they were naked, and they sewed
/ fig leaves together and made them
selves aprons"
If that particular incident had never
found its place in the history of the
I human race the world would have lost
some of its best poetry and most of its
worst plays. "The Mark Of the Beast"
has some technical merits, but It Is not
good play, because II is written with
! irritatingly acute sex consciousness.
Nowhere in the wide world except on
the stage arc women so frail and men
so valiant.
We do not intend 20 defend the
virtue Of men. Possibly they are just
as wicked as playwrights would have
us believe, but the pace of their pas
sion has always amazed us. Five min
utes Of moonlight and three bars Of
"Peu d'Amour" in the first act last
night ruined perfectly good wife. At
least she explained later in the play
that she was not a bad woman" II
seems that her husband was busy,
which, OF course, justifes everything.
/ The other wife in the cast was seduced
some little time before the play began.
She was also welded to q busy hus-
band.
In addition to these two lapses from
faithfulness. everybody in the play was
employed for the greater part of the
time in talking about when a woman
would be true to her husband and when
she would not. We are coming round
TO a point where we are unalterably op-
posed to the study of sex hygiene by
heroines. Sex" said Sir Marcus Or
deyne TO Carlotta. sis the fundamental
blunder Of creation" For creation we
would substitute drama. Plays about
adultery have a tendency to be dull
because there is 80 much talking before
and after
The people in "The Mark of the
Beast talked every minute like people
in a play. Up 70 this point we have
forgotten TO assign the authorship. but
need we say that the drama is from
feminine pen. Two. in fact. for til.
authors are Georgia Earle and Fanny
Cannon. Miss Cannon has been act
ress, stage director and playreader. and
she is thoroughly familiar with the
theatre. SO much is excellent. The
play has a story. IL possesses move
ment and dramatic situations.
Miss Cannon knows a good deal about
the theatre, but she does not know life
Her characters are not real persons.
IL is only in plays that women say 81
can't stand il; you are torturing me-"
As matter of fact, the people in "The
Mark of the Beast" did not converse
at all. They played for points.
All in all. they were not very in
teresting lot In particular. there was
one character whom everybody on the
stage dsliked intensely He was such
silly ass that the other people In the
play tried 70 run away whenever they
saw him coming. How in heavens
name if a character can't get along
with his own cast, do the authors
think he will please the audience?
Barring a clumsy handling of char
acters whenever they happened TO be
left alone on the stage the plot Of "The
Mark of the Beast" is developed with
some skill Robert Ormsby is q law
yer who has been engaged by Florence
g. q III bo Et,c hanAfc Ss,it for
divorce. In discussing the case with
his client the lawyer finds that she IS
guilty of unfaithfulness, and rather
than take weak case to court he
pleads with the plaintiff and persuades
him TO give the erring woman another
chance In the meantime his own wife
falls from grace, but when she con
fesses he is unwilling TO forgive her.
His own arguments are turned against
him by the husband whom he has in
duced to relent and the lawyer in turn
decides 10 give his wife another chance.
The actors in the play, every one,
we're artificial, but they could hardly
have done their characters in any other
spirit. Lenore Ulrich, who played this
wife Of the lawyer. showed ability ami
charm in some Of her scenes, but the
big climax when she made her comics
sion, was played to no great advantage
/ from full length on the floor. George
Nash was heavy, in addition 10 being
artificial, in the part of the lawyer, md
George Howard and Alma Beelwin were
also theatrical in the extreme. Horace
Braham was decidedly irritating, but
that may well be blamed upon his ma
| terial.
Miss Cannon is the author Of book
entitled Writing and Selling Play
/ II may safely be recommended to young