Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-01-19
|p.re and Maude Adams
TJnspeakable Darlings''

4 L - NAAAAeA -
IL such charming feminist,
pankhurst only understood him
,id call him just what he calls
2 and Maude Adams, IAN unspeak-
s.rling." was there ever such de-
! vonanl No matter II she Is all
-, creatures rolled into one that
M " ~ heroine of THE Legend of
~ 49, woman with no sense of
lAop woman with too much of n sense
l.e, n suffragette, very woman"
siingIng kind, n mother-and-noth-
VIZ a coauette. n murderess-he Will
Nam ali, feel for them all, know
w nav ali are eternally right in their
N IN. with men. and in the end bring
~. ~ o,t on top by means of their most
snlnne virtues.
Tstc the two plays by which lie In
a ~ Waude Adams to show us all this
( Y, he Broad last night To begin with,
u ~. 1apend of Beonora" and the legend
l..sap,s Influence" Influence" we
y .y ,ono heard from the ladies who have
!. o,,t on the platform to prove that
ss.n should stay at home; that is all
T s. ...n needs, No votes. No rights. No
lam lust domination by Influence"
y pssrie gives us good dose of It and
\ III Ne he is going to do it by writing In
sa' Y. rrogram How Leonora influences
s,s.s and jury and human sympathies
l,rrph over the laws of men,"
tsonora. you see, killed man the
~ day. And now she is being tried
y, Il by the rest OF these silly, blind
n s,,rs In trousers. But what Is a little
+ XIX like n court to her? She brings
+ s-lss and bows into 1t. and has the com
4 4 ,,,I lnV gta O.,
4 s'silv knitting for the Belglans while she
. IA, the Judge call her by her Christian
s,me-"everybody does"
IA the result of all this Influence" is
+ A. most delightfully."- upside down court
\ s0oun any one ever saw. 1t is stranger
4 IAN any court room in even the most
i sIolent Of melodramas. The lawyers of
. solh sides try to prove Leonora never
+ ,ommltted the murder The Witnesses
4 i-sudng the prosecutors wife-try to lie
2 t,r out Of 1t. One of the solicitors swears
+ 4 played golf with the victim when
+ ihs murder was supposed to be taking
A ulace After Leonora insists on con-
4 i,ssing the Judge explains that the pros
s ,,utor has removed all possibility of mo-
4 I've BY his admirable summing up. And
y De fury ends by asking Leonora to as
. III in their deliberations and very
Eunptly acquittlng her.
I Eay, irresponsible little lesson In how
ny woman can play hob with the law
4 only she rs IAN unspeakable darling
/. ni II only she will commit her crimes
+ tsause the brute of man insists on
opening the window and endangering her
A thnd with Its "sniffy little cold"
Score one for woman! On to case No. 2!
j And what should that be but force and
4 Eulel And who but Shakespeare's Shrew
. AG prophet?
But Maude Adams as Kate? Yes, for
+ .his Is a Barrie Kate, a sweet unrea-
Nnable bundle of feminine charms, WITH
hsf eye on something and bound to have
Il Without letting the men know. DO you
+ g,t the point? Sothern tried to sweeten
+ that unleasant old tract of the anti
feminist of the Globe Theatre by letting
+ he audience see wnat Shakespeare
Epias couldn't show, that Petruchio was
( rally In love with Kate all the time
ND suffering the torture of torturing
taly to win her. Well, that is Barrie's
i'lon upside down. For his Ladies'
faakespeare"-as the second play last
. EgAl Is called-shows us Kate bent on
atching Petruchio, and doing it by the
f MY simple process of pretending she
ccen't want him. Only three words of
VIII Shakespeare altered, only three lit
u Introductory talks by Kate and ner
iaiher-and we see the wiles and force
q Woman carrying her triumphant to
hsf ends. This. says Barrie, Is the real
Tanning of the Shrew," that comedy
eoonet to be misread by all until women
eone into their own"
AID why has nobody noticed this ram
pant femlnism of Barries? Because his
women have such an engaging way of
saaling Just what the men want-'peace
y love and quiet life"
L ever they don't want these things,
nsy 80 on the stage like Maude Adams
- give charming performances of
lAming plays, and have peace and love,
any rate thrust upon them.
sof though these slight little plays
nsy % neither fish nor flesh nor good
.aooOd meodrama, and perhaps a little
eiagn out In the playing, they are most
Ssashuul entertainment of a kind, They
h's not us, but themselves, to the top
y nelF bent. Our theatre must always
aais such gay make-believe and people
pay i as dead earnestly as Arthur
So Morton Selten, Fred Tyler and
sy'gn Carter, and as fairy-lighuy as