The Washington herald., 1915-12-19

ling. Of the mob motive 10 most ar
tisticaily handled. We have had two
eminent mob:handlers In recent the.
atrical history. the late Steele Mack
aye and the present William A. Bray.
In their. productions the ,inobs were
Incidents used for momentary effect.
The mob spirit 10 the keynote In 'The
wesvers" from It's inception In the
early acts through its growing mani
, festations on stage In the intermediate
episodes and finally in full violence
In the later scenes. This Is admirably
done at the Garden and at moments
gave the audience q realistic sense OF
mob terror.
The acting Of the characters 10 OK
tremely uneven and rather .polyglot In
speech from the absolutely not UNDER
Reicher to the pious utterings of
Hilse. an old weaver. for some reason
delivered with an Irish brogue by Au-
gustin Duncan. brother ofsthe terpsf-
chorean lsadora. Adolph Link In the
German contingent did not have to
be understood to show that he Is q
finished artist Etith Randolph show.
ed remarkable emotional ability as .
young mother driven by the starving
Of her children to Join the mob. and
other~minor bits were excellently
done. On the other hand some OF the
more important parts were in the
hands of actors who had evidently
never made the most distant acQuaint-
ance with the arts of elocution.
Outside Of the technique of presenta-
tion there is little in The Weavers"
to interest the present-day American
public. Industrial oppression has be-
come a wearisome topic in daily and
periodical prints. and 1t Is being con-
stantly brought to our notice in agi-
tation and legislation. Pictures Of II
half century ago In . foreign coun-
try. although dramatic in presentation.
are not likely to proye largely at
From Grave to Gsy.
In no other Of the worlds great
cities except New York. particularly
at the present time. could there exist
an entertainment In just the ctrcum-
stances Of that given nightly on the
roof of one OF the Forty-second street
theaters under the title of "Ziegfeld's
Midnight Frolic." The nature Of The
performance is not greatly different
from that to be seen as parts OF many
Of the usual Eirl-and-music- shows.
Beginning at twelve o'clock simply as
a performance 1t would. probably not
draw supporting audiences although II
aged with an unusual amount OF dash
and vivacIty.
Twelve o'clock issnot a late hour in
New York for great many persons,
but II is too late to attract them to
the same show regularly presented.
Dependent only on admission fees to
a comparatively small gathering place
the enterprise would very soon go,
broke. What makes it possible. and 1t
has become almost an established In
performance of dancing. by such of
eating and drinking with the list
prices at figures which must help very
materially on the financial side of the
undertaking.
Bar the late hours and extravaeance
II inspires, there is nothing intrinsic
ally bad in the entertainment. Drink
ing Americans have greatly improved
in their manners in recent years. ana
the vociferous or quarrelsome inebriate
Is not SO often in evidence as OF yore
in places devoted to public amuse-
ment. In spite of the proximity of the
eating and drinking audience to the
alluring young female persons Of the
performing company. the tendency TO
over familiarity on either side Is kept
under pretty close control. and the
prevailing spirit Is almost entirely of
jollity and good nature instead OF the
disorder that might be expected in the
What such a combina
tion at such an hour might have been
in New York fifteen or twenty years
ago is another story.