New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-27
CIR HERBERT TREE
ON MARIE ODILE"
,,,ot. Manager Tells "The Lon
don Telegraph" of His
New Venture.

sIv.oblsuch's Marie Odile" in Lon
" 80 10 a representative Of "The
sop, TELEGRAPH" he has discoursed
VaA! "a. al length lie likes Marie
. ON. and writes the man on The
lts.tafasnlot' without the Prince Of Den
a js almost as unimaginable as a
- his Naicstys lacking the pres
pc. - Sir Herbert Tree in the cast
sl'' ding. Of course, has happened be-
~, hit sufficiently rarely 70 make the
". ss..nr,stance not only noticeable, but
90 inouiriug into. Two reasons
'.yyslly occur az once, either that Sir
g.rbsrt is suffering from illness or
~. 10 has been imperatively called
a., from town. Neither applies in
t'..se OF MI Edward Knoblauch's
~ s...o-o.- niece Marie Odile,' the first
h..So-rarcc OF which we are to have at
"a. vsiestv'S next Tuesday evening.
r.. noiut is easily settled remarked
e.. Eerbert Yesterday, by the state
-. O.. ,bs. was so deeply impressed
:. -ea3ing the manuscript by the
S,,,tv and the imaginative quality OF
~, Odile" that ] promptly decided
..Jait And surely no better proof of
~ 6isirtcrestcd nay admiration is
go he offered than that its presen-
-, excludes me from the stage OF
nv own theatre.
81, Is not Tor me- he continued, TO
..,;r;nate or PREJUDICE coming events.
s.;r NAV be permitted to say that II
,ts nublic are IN mood to enjoy a
lev touched with the profound calm
~ charm OF religious life, then this,
E..;,c,ly. is .he very piece for them.
lis IN idyl, the plot developing IN the
.i,,;S atmosphere of the convent world.
Tbe story could be written on the
is.k NJ postcard, as most Of the
,rest stories that have held men and
sonen spellhound could be. II has all
80 attract,veness Of simplicity. There
ave no melodramatic etfects-there IS
"a clement Of stage sensationalism. A
granger contrast 10 the piece | am now
,ppesrinc in, The Right TO Kill" you
tsuld no. possible have
a'The latter, observed the inter
viewer. YOU frankly spoke Of as "a
NAV for grown-up people Have you
thought Of any like phrase TO describe
Marie Odile"?'
Sir Herbert reflected for a moment.
chats rather a difficult question to
answer" he said at last. But II l
we're obliged 20 give q categorical re-
,lv think I should call il a play for
Young girls And for this reason
which. however. may appear TO some
rstber a strange one that II deals
vita the theme not only of the beauty
Of motherhood, but of the right OF
fyerv woman 20 enjoy its privileges.
fully recognize that there are. many
rersons who consider the discussion
a such O. subject hardly fitted for the
ears Of Young girls To their way OF
,lirkiug, Ignorance is the best, if not
the only. preventative OF innocence.
0f course. every one has right TO ms
q her own opinion, and ! should be
he las. 20 force mine upon anybody
else. But even such people will find
nothing in Marie Odile' TO offend their
u,ceptibilities or arouse their resent
rent. If there Is q moral TO be de-
1Uccd from the story It IS conveyed
with a delcacy and an absence OF IN
Gs.suce that must surely dlSarm ad-
verse criticism. In the heart OF every
inc WORK Of art there dwells a little
moral.
"1he longer live the more my be
LIEF o simplicity is strengthened. And
Implicitly is the chief characteristic Of
81 Kroblauch's piece. II is also the
quality which ] am most concerned to
secure in its staging. In any attempt
70 TcCrCate the inward lie OF the con
vent there must necessarily be a GER
,sin amount OF Church ritual, but in
that particular We shall not 20 beyond
the actual needs Of the occasion. In
this connection, may ! for moment
return 90 the subject Of the story? II
e OF a kind which. if reduced 10 the
hints Of q paragraph, is almost certain
% produce "a wrong impression, FOR It
u only when Judged as q whole, with
al the explanatory little details filed
liz, that It's true meaning can be right
ly understood.
THAT it viii appeal 10 everybody |
scarcely dare 20 hope. Il certainly was
never intended for those critics who
Do not love the theatre or who have
70 taste for the portrayal OF simple eX-
isienCe on the stage-critics whose
won't il is TO quote the dead languages
10 order 20 hide their Ignorance of life.
Do not think ] speak in any spirit OF
Bitterness, but had these gentlemen
any zeal influence upon the public there
would be no art az all. For their crit
ieism, launched from the heights of a
tonplscent superiority, is purely de-
siruetiye, and, therefore, worthless. In
at the superior person is more deadly
han the anarchist.
Such plays are not for him How
With this rage should beauty hold a
Plea, whose action is no stronger than
flower" Curious, isn't it, how, when
N search Of a smile, one inevitably
turns 20 Shakespeare. VINO seems TO
lave pressed the whole vocabulary Of
metaphor into his service? Than these
Ines nothing could more aptly describe