The Washington herald., 1915-04-25
cutting the Press.

AoSNAAo
for any thing in the way Of rent to tide
them over the empty summer and when
supporting actors are out Of jobs and
willing to act for glory without much. if
any, pay. In such circumstances Ibsen
gets his chance. There is always some
aspirant who wants to thrill the public
by acting one of the famous Ibsen
parts. In setting and costumes the
cost OF producing an Ibsen play is a
negligible quantity. Any old clothes will
do and the plays can be readily staged
with domestic interior sufficiently COM
monplace and an outdoor scene suffi-
GENTLY suggestive of Scandinavian gloom
Foreign artists impressed with the Eu-
ropean vogue Of Ibsen, are especially
given to showing US Americans what
great dramatist he is and how well
they can interpret him. Then come our
own high-brow near-amateurs who seek
to gain a chance to be heard and pos
sibly glory by essaying roles in plays
that are supposed to have an especial
appeal to the cultured or want-to-be-
thought-cultured members of the COM
munity. The dodge has been OYER
worked. Ibsen is no longer lure for
either the intellectuals or the pseudo
intellectuals in New York. Even If Bern
hardt should try to play Nora in "A
Dolls House." or Hedda in ''Hedda Cab
ler," it is likely that even her stanch-
est admirers would neglect the Ibsen
plays for others in her repertory. Mrs.
Fiske is too wise at this late date to
attempt Ibsen again, although she was
among the earliest of his interpreters
and gained a large part Of her reputa-
ton as an intellectual artist by cater
ing to the Ibsen cult, when Ibsen was
fashionable among the American ollie
tamil.
We have just had two examples Of the
desire to thrive by the WORKOUT Ibsen
attraction. Mr.. Emanuel Reicher. of
reputation in Germany as an actor-man-
ager and known here only as the faith
err of Frank and Hedwig of the same
name. has given us a revival of John
Gabriel Borkmann." The play was done
ago, with the late Edward ]. Henley in
the title part. Since then it has rest
ed in what. from this much later inspec-
ton, seems to have been an entirely de-
served obscurity- There is a certain
fascination about the absolute natural
ism of all the Ibsen plays. but in the
case of John Gabriel Borkmann" this
is its only virtue and the complete IN
importance and pettiness Of its topic neg
atives the value of the atmosphere the
dramatist throws about his depressing
small-beer chronicle depletion Of small
beer occurrences.
For the Morbid.
We have also had a revival Of Ghosts"
to display the acting abilities of a young
man named Robert Whittier in the I'M
pleasant and unpleasing role Of Oswald
Why any actor should wish to imper-
senate this infected hero is a mystery.
and, in fact, real actors fight shy Of it. 1t
takes your Intellectual amateur to revel
in graphic depletion OF the symptoms
Of inherited disease for which Ibsen
has provided such extended opportunity
This Mr.. Whittier. Of whose previous
histrionic accomplishments there seems
to be no attainable record, showed in the
minor scenes all the ear-marks Of en-
thustastic amateurishness, and in the
supposedly thrilling moments, a perfec-
ton Of revolving detail which should
help to send Ibsen's Ghosts to a de-
served obscur!ty.
Ibsen seems to have served his purpose
when he demonstrated to dramatists and
actors that quite as much effect may be
produced by naturalism as by theatric
eNaggeration. He has fulfilled his mis-
sion, and its effect is to be seen in al
most every modern play. II he had been
big enough to arise above his Scandi-
navian environment or to go outside OF
it, 1t would not be necessary today to
force his plays on an unwilling public
Judging by the difficulty of securing audi
ences to witness them. it would seem as
though the Ibsen drama. in America at
least. was destined to be relegated to |
the top shelves OF dramatic libraries.
Right Up to the Minute.
All of the energies Of the Charles Froh- |
man theatrical machine were turned |
loose in a speedy production of Mr.. Jus |
~.
AS may be inferred from the |
title. the theme of the drama is the
position of our hyphenated American citI-
zens with reference to the present war
Affecting the European countries of their
origin.
The confusedly-told story of the play
deals with an American citizen born in
Germany who has grown old and rich in
his adopted country. Still German in
he has contributed a million
dollars to the war-chest of Wilhelm Of
Prussia. To his home in the Middle West
come three Germans to bestow upon him
a decoration in the name of the Emperor
AZ recognition of his service to his
'ormer country's cause. The three are
-eally conspirators bent on stirring I'D
American-Germans or German-Americans
20 doing things in America which shall
violate our neutrality by helping the
70 the only really dramatic episode in
he play. when the old German. admir-
IDLY tmpersonated by w. H. Thompson,
hows that his sentiments have changed,
hat he Is an American first Of all. and
hat his love for the Germany Of his
'outh does not carry on to the militarism
md ruthlessness Of the Germany Of to-
lay. From this the plot wanders on into
complications and wordy (
explanations which puzzle the audience ,
tut fail to stir up any excitement or j
over the up-to-date question {
f which the play treats. In fact, before 4
he final curtain drops, no one knows II
xactly what the story is except thar I
in its folds b concealed q
ove interest. and that the three German
onspirators had very malevolent inten-
ions of blowing up factory founded by Ii
heir former compatriot. and In which
rere being manufactured war materials =
meant to be shipped to France to be used 4
gainst the soldiers of the Vaterland.
Audience Enjoys 1t.
Rarely does . frst-night audience ger n
o much fun out Of an intendedly serious Il
rama as this one had with the first c
of The Hyphen." The au-
hor has a wide circle Of acquaintances,
nd they were apparently all on hand to '
clip his undertaking. There were also [
dvance rumors that the play was likely III
o be the cause OF trouble because Of c
he offense 1t might give to pro-Germans
4 New York. II there were any consider
bic numbers of such sympathi1ers In the I
udience they were disheartened by the b