Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-11-18


a New England farmer boy
saved the violin at village entertain
~ Tan years ago he had worked his
p''-'s ,..o harvard. Five years ago he was
". instructor in the art department
+ ,,,tversIty. Today he is the fore
.,,v. scenIo artist OF Americai the
.,,.,ican to be called upon for work
", ss,nvfllo Barker in his New York sea-
n. only American aid to Joseph Urban
n. scenic side Of the great Snake
r,asoue OF "Caliban" last spring,
~. Ae.isner OF 600 costumes for IL,
-, the only non-Russlan artist to
~ o,oved by the Ballet Russo, through
,,h Bakst won his world-fame' Next
~. IN NIjlnsiis new ballet, TIL Euien-
s'-rolp philadelphia VIII see ule cu,l',ll,s
". .s-or,r---so far--in remarkable career
~ Svas n. picturesque figure at college
son's y" corrected the drawings OF stu
nh.o \. ,ne art department, he spent most
e.. e.pss ~ aaarev on such things as making
~ " - actors in the Harvard Dramatic
W a sbows and sketching Vaieska SuIatt
s,roe Boston theater lie had no e"r'1,y
s,sire 10 be successtul peuasVe
,ns. MI. any too much energy into at
eNns 70 make posters and cover designs
,snp.s .s,,nes He wanted something with
" ,-~er aweep and more life to H. Huht-
w ~ n. ,ried sewing costumes onto women
~ nss.,-,sn. of vaudeville, and window dress
~ when the department stores wouldht I
~ ~. blnr a real chance to make their VIM
s.ws over into\ n flash OF beauty, OF pas
~. ~ n deeent wage for drapinB "oombinn-
~ ~ " a,,cr rocking chairs-well, there was
uoSI .si.S for II but the theater and New
ig,n, Do, New York held little for Jones. even
~ ~ patronage of n theatrical pro-
49,, with moro artistic impulse than COM
s."rd Of resources. The new stagecratt
- ,oo new for America. Jones TOOK
...s,osr for Europe For year he lived
..S .hout Max Reinhardt's theaters In
S.,iin watching, watching. with that rare
"a d.rnerate devotion of the artist. The
a,s.t war drove him back to America,
=. /, committed to the new art or making
- - ,,sga and it's scenery beautiful. eN-
s-...,vs living part of the drama. BY the
s,,assst of good luck. Granville Barker
ssrtInr his season at Wallacks In New
York took over Anatole France Nan Nan
M Married a Dumb wife" from the New
~ stage Society and took over with II
,s,.. and a wonderful set OF scenery and
.,ssnmss which he had designed for II
IN which we saw last winter at the Adei-
m Jones's fame was made-but not MS
Commissions came very slowly. In fact
,nIv one man. that singularly Intelligent
M snterprising young manager Arthur
HopklnA wanted Jones to paint scenery TOT
Ain But that man gave Jones courage
y valI as commissions; and while the
vaunr artist worked on the problem OF
maklnr realism expressive and beautitul
A aTha DEVILS Garden" he found and ac-
oornoIlshed the herculean labors OF making
tAe oostunes for "Caliban." Then this
ssa,on came 1.-THE Happy Ending which
ended unhappily for every one but Jones'
Good Gracious Annabelle." farce pro-
ductlon, and then Diaghilevs BaiIet husse'
Nav England contributes fine restraint
and dignity to balance Jones's longing for
ia dramatic. But the best thing about
this man and his work Is that he Is no
aadscapist portrait painter or poster
Artist tacsllng the problem of painting
hnee canvas as big as a back DROP he is
An allround worker In the theater' VINO
Appreciates all the multitudlnous aspects
q stage art and uses them for the single
end OF representing in the environment OF
lha actors the spirit of the play. His set
tngs act dramas Even when he must
'Nlye the problem OF realism. as in The
Devils Garden" he demonstrates that the
color OF the wall paper in n third-class hotel
czn express the passion Of a scene enacted
ntra Just as well as the words or tho
ieicrA To make a play live Jones uses
t7ery means. He Is not tied to the big
lprn surface of the Russians, as Is Bakst;
a uses FLATS" ''plastics," "drapes,'
saures' or props as he needs them. He
b not tied to beautiful color or striking
lsFspectfve, as Bakst he knows that
llght plays the biggest part in the theater's
ut and some day he is going to make
PRODUCTION in which not an inch of canvas
slll be painted. in which colored and
a.asned light will do all the work.
Jones's recund imagination is usually
scout block ahead of his last production.
when all New York was talking about the
escolatons of THE Man Who Married a
Dumb Wife" Jones was talking about a
nsrle production of "The Cenci" in an
.peliorium built like the ringside OF prize
lthL and exhibiting clay figures which
ftprssented the evolutions of chorus-hgures
rnieh SHOULD surround the principals and
~ out circular embodiment of the action
y y proceeded in their midst.
ioness genius for color and line Is un-
4ntAkaoly great, but he has a feeling
~ me theater as a creative instrument,
.nl Keen. daring Imagination which are
s.eater still. He is no strlver for mere
slsety; but the democracy of his emo
npn4 keeps him close TO the immediate de-
sH'a and impulses of American life today