The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-05-16
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called The Lambs, that they might with
propriety instead of using the musical
title have christened themselves Tho
Ewes" The playlets were rather clever.
one showing the forms of a proposal Of
marriage fifty years ago. today. and
nifty years hence: the other a tragedy Of
the tenements. involving the question Of
prostitution with which amateur lady
dramatists and writers SO dearly love to
deal.
Maeterlinck's The Death of Tint
agiles" received. as said before. its Arst
American performance. Judged by Its
effect on even a friendly audience, 1t
seems likely to be Its last. unless the
precious thing be adopted by high-brows
as fit exposition Of their understanding
Of the mysterious thing they dub SYM
bolism. 1t was badly done in lighting
and in the delivery of the lines. but, pro-
duced in the very best of circumstances.
1t would remain a dreary and wordy I'M
folding Of a not especially dramatic. al
though tragic. episode in the indefinite
setting OF some beknighted country IN
known to history. In its gloom and for
bidding qualities it is Macbeth" but
without the genius or human and liter
airy interest of that tragedy. 1t il q
wordy tale Of kidnapping carried on
without a particle of light to relieve its
constant shadow. 1t is. in fact. a mo-
notony and not q play. abounding in
long speeches and the Maeterlinck repe-
titions In the darkened auditorium one
male spectator yawned so audibly that
his demonstration called for A few
hand-claps and a considerable volume Of
sympathetic laughter. the Death Of
Tintagiles" is not likely to find a place
even on the vaudeville stage. where
short plays are eagerly sought for.
More Gilbert and Sullivan.
Something seems to have slipped up in
the promised bill made I'D Of Trial bv
Jury" and THE Sorcerer," SO at its sec
ond attraction in the DeWolf Homer
season of Gilbert and Sullivan operas.
We are given The Mikado" instead. II
is too late to say much about the opera
itself. save that, in spite Of its years
and familiarity. it loses none of its old
charm, particularly with a sufficient and
well-conducted orchestra such as is pro-
vided for the present revival. Mr.. Hop
per kindly refrains from gagging, and
the original text is adhered to closely.
Just as Gilbert wrote II, the situations
and lines get more laughs than are &C.
corded to new musical pieces hot from
the griddle. which, with the evident de-
light Of audiences in Sullivan's melodies
and concerted compositions. Is proof Of
these compositions.
MIR. Hopper's curtain speech, which
has come to be regarded as a regular
feature Of the operettas in which he
appears, gives him an excellent safety
valve for his individual humor in the
way of the original composition which
otherwise might be used to elaborate
the Gilbertian text. He is so fertile in
new material that it il not robbinr
tn late &r1 ~ rokn -.
ton Of man so mean that he would
steal dead fly from a blind spider and
who looked over the rims to save wear
and tear on his spectacles.
The Little Theaters.
artistic ideals, also 10 q manager on q
commercial basis, has decided after .
couple of seasons experience with the
Little Theater, that the game ID not
worth the candle. In other words, with
the same exertion in a producing way
he could get a much more profitable re-
turn IL he had room for bigger audiences.
Therefore. the house which was a little
theater seating 2s9 persons. and for which
he absorbed that generic title. is to be en-,
larged and enter the regular ranks.
Those who delighted in the daintiness
and comfort Of the house as it was can
not help regretting this yielding to COM
mercial temptation.
The Bramhall, the littlest Of the thea
tiers, gave two representations Of its Sec
ond production. THE Lost Corespon-
dent" and then abruptly closed. The
decadent qualities of the play by Mr..
ger. producer. actor. and author. were
so much stronger than its literary or
dramatic value that the piece was hope
less proposition from any point Of view.
At the Bandbox the Washington Square
Players have put on another bill Of four
playlets, written. staged. acted. and man
aged on the same cooperative plan pur-
sued in their other productions. Anna
flourish in a way and crude in settings
and costume, there is back Of this enter
prise a lot Of shrewd sense and an I'M
usual spirit of youthful. artistic enthu-
STA sm Every one engaged In the work. in
every capacity from that Of writing and
acting to the more humble mechanical
functions seems to be moved by the love
of the work. 1t Is from an incentive or
this sort that much good for the stage
has sprung, and it may be that from
this undertaking there may come some
thing of genuine value to American dra-
matte art. 1t is thoroughly democratic.
and any one who can help In any way
10 welcome to the organization with q
chance to demonstrate his or her special
ability in any one OF NUMBER OF lines.
The latest bill. like the others. Is
made up Of sharply contrasting play
lets. The frsf is I'm April" an cpl
sode of tenement-house life by Rose
Pastor Stokes. The next Is fantastic
but dainty bit called forbidden Fruit
freely adapted from the French OF Oe-
tave Fenillet by . member OF the or
sanitation. Then follows an intense
little sketch Of today's morals. or i'm
morals, by Edward Goodman. the lead
ing spirit Of the players" Tho per-
Torrance concludes with . more am
bilious effort in the form Of legendary
playlet bysnMaeterlinck called "A
Miracle of st. Anthony" Some OF the
actors do their work very well indeed.
considered from the technical point.
and all Of them are trying hard under
pretty competent direction. The per-
formances have. at least. spontaneity
and vigor very much lacking on the
professional stage.
A. an example Of the spirit that ami
mates these amateurs (amateurs sx-
cept that they are all playing to swell
the box office receipts to provide re-
CONTINUED ON PAGE SIX.