New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-01-13
By HECTOR TURNBULL

Nathan Buell.. k.s.I'A 20.
Chc.e LPn Gfol' a.. E,,. Js t..
BY HECTOR TURNBULL.
It is to be hoped that busy New
York playgoers particularly those
patriotic defenders Of our home stage
who snatch time to write letters Of
protest against the British invasion
will take time to visit the Booth
Theatre and see for the first time m
years truly American play. IL IS
called "The Children Of Earth and
its author, Alice Brown, won the
$4,000 prize offered some time ago by
Winthrop Ames for the best Amcri-
can play written by a native play
wright.
One is generally inclined 20 look
upon prize winning books. short stories
and plays with some shepticism after
considering past performances. In
many instances the judges OF such
contests grow so dazed in their labor
over thousands OF pounds Of drlyel
that they have apparently chosen the
winner by the eaey-mene-mlne-mo
method Miss Alice Browns play,
however, proves that there are eXcep-
tions to this rule. Her work was
chosen by a prominent playwright, an
excellent critic of the drama and a
producer of some artistic achievement.
She has written many entertaining
and shrewdly analytical studies OF
New England life, and while we know
nothing Of the quality Of the other
/ .646 manuscripts contributed. we have
at least seen this play and can vouch
for its certain merits.
1t contains none Of the familiar
broadway" incidents and scenes con-
sidered of late TO be so vital 10 real
hit" nor has its fundamental theme
any marked tang of novelty. There
fore many will brand 1t as lacking in
dramatic force. The author has never
theless brought into her lines and
characters a ring Of truth that is far
deeper than mere Photographic realism
something resulting from keen m
sight into the New England heart
struggling with a broadly human and
vital problem. To any playgoer boast
ing of a taste in the theatre higher
than the musical comedy habit this fact
should have a stronger appeal than the
"kick" of a melodrama or the knock
OuL VI a DAUdANAF NDAAtNAgs
The plot or story of the play IS
founded upon the old, old truth tina.
none Of ur can strike away the cOnven-
tions and human connections Of lie
time, for q merely selfish desire. with
out grievously wound!ng others and
building a foundation of false happI-
ness for the future. The heroine, a
middle-aged woman, mas like ever so
many New England women sacrificed
her interests, her happiness and her
natural desires 10 become the drudge Of
a selfish father and brother. She meets
q long lost neighbor who Is unhappily
married. lie is unlike the men she has
known. He has what they call
soul, which means that he has
not depressed the best characters
ties Of the old New England pioneers
in order to give play to their worst.
He has a love of the soil and OF hui
mans that is too great for him 10 De
come as his neighbors stony hearted,
cruelty greedy and seeing women only
as cheap household slaves without
brains above baking boards.
The pair fall in love, and in the first
flush of their debated springtlme'
prepare 10 run of and begin life to-
rether like two sweethearts of twenty.
Bv accident they are brought to real
ize what their act would mean to those
about them and how their happiness
would be achieved only by others mis-
cry. and they return 10 their old lie.
There is secondary love theme in
the play. but this IS practically the
gist of the story.
The splendid acting so evident in
L. L., -, .rfy anI the nNpIffN
with which the scenes are presented
make this bare outline OF the story
take on a fitness impossible TO de-
scribe here. Fife Shannon gave the
character of the middle aged splnster
q gentle charm and sympathy that
might suggest strong overlay OF
sentiment were it not remembered
that there are many such types, not
only i'm New England villages, but m
other farming towns through the coun-
try.
Herbert Kelsey's portrait Of tte
grasping. selfish brother was hneIy
studied, and Reginald Barlow,.s Nathan
sincere and forcetuL A. T..
Arson played the lover well and Cecil
Yapp made the pitiful village idiot
startlingly faithful study,
Perhaps lue Dt3lf VI a. iN"' s,t,t
effective. acting was that Of Gllda Va
resi-. as the Portuguese wife. Her ter
rible intensity and consistently sus-
tanned sincerity made more than one
Gene real and telling. Olive Wyndham
gave the young Anita grace and charm
and Theodore Won Eltz injected vIgor
and an engaging frankness into his
playing of Adam. The play Is pre-
sented with no little evidence OF taste
and painstaking by Mr.. Ames.