New-York tribune., 1916-02-29

a. DO 90
Princess Nenia. .....-.--.. Nine. l"rsNa
Alan Of DOnau. william fiii't.
captain Waller. .Pire esh
Lieutenant Lombard. .............-.+ +'nad.> Ml's
JsfToS .....-.t..s. =. T.. fttNt
Baron saizs zs......................R Roland ka.Aion
count Brockion ............--.-..- Henry pgsssn
Vatow Observation-Disclosures. Nsl FoEtie
,;erer,l Hewitt ............... Edward wade
General Mont ........... william ". trniais
Guard nary fN'.r
The scenery Of Josef Urban last
night registered another complete and
glorious victory over the great Ameri-
can drama. Although the laws of New
York State prohibit a decision in such
matters, thee never was a particle Of
/ doubt about this encounter at the
Booth Theatre. THE Greatest Nation"
went down early in the evening and re-
mained there while the audience count
ed 10 and IL o'clock over its PROSTATE
form.
Now, that must not be taken to mean
that "The Greatest Nation" is utterly
and irretrievably bad. 1t comes peril
ously close to being so. as matter OF
fact. but, nevertheless, II contains an
idea. 1t is not new idea, but It is
one that might have been moulded into
fairly respectable play If regular
dramatist had had charge of matters.
Miss Marian Creighton. who wrote The
Greatest Nation" must at least De
credited with sincerity. Whether she is
10 be credited with anything else Will
be determined by the royalty state
ments.
IL is Miss Crighton's notion that the
way to avoid war is simply Tor the SOL
diers 10 refuse TO fight Instead OF 60
/ ing to war, says Miss Creighton, let the
prince of the one country marry the
princess of the other. Thus the coun-
! tries would eventually be one. Whether
the supply of princes and princesses
would hold out under these conditions
| is problematical, bu., on broader
grounds, there can be no fault with her
argument. II men would not fight, then
certainly there would be no lighting.
Not every ideaiist, unfortunately, can
persuade men not 70 fight SO easily as
| Miss Creighton persuaded them between
! her second and third acts.
A great deal happens between the
second and third acts OF Miss Crigh-
tons play. William Elliott. as the
young king of the warred-upon coun-
try. rounds up all the citizens of both
lands and convinces them that war is
foolish. Other important and interest
ing things happen off stage and be-
tween acts. They happen. presumably
SO that the characters may come upon
| the stage and annoy the audience by
talking about what has happened. Nor
are they content with talking about the
occurrences themselves. They inquire
minutely into the motives which
prompted them and the probable con-
sequences. The result is that "The
Greatest Nation" is undoubtedly the
most consistently monotonous and dull
est play of the year. As a discourse
upon the wickedness OF kings il may
possibly pass muster, but as drama il
is utterly worthless.
One gathered from time 20 time that
the play was intended as an allegory
but this feature was never particularly
emphasized. Possibly the belligeren'
| king who threw crockery and pro
claimed his love of peace was lntC ndeC
70 suggest a figure now well known II
political and cartooning circles. Pos
sibly the heroic King Alan was Alber'
Of Belgium, or the Car of Russia, oi
somebody. II was really rather diff
cult TO tell. And it was also difficult
to take any great interest in the af
fairs of the minute mythical kingdom:
in which Miss Creighton placed her "ac
ton" Instead of profiting by its time
illness. "The Greatest Nation" will
probably suffer. Its infsntile intrigue:
and trivial diplomacy are unlikely tc
compel attention in these days wher
battles are being fought by millions.
William Elliott, according 20 the pro
gramme. shares the authorship anC
culpabiity. IL is assumed that Mis-:
Creighton wrote the play and that Mr.
Elliott rewrote II. Remembering his
success with Experience" Mr.. Elliott
may have been attracted to the play
by the fact that il is or endeavors tc
be an allegory. Experience" frankly
representing itself as a second class at
traction, is now making large sums OF
money on the road. Probably "Tht
Greatest Nation" will do likewise. The
experiment should be tried immedi
ately.
As the hero who stops the war Mr.
Elliott acts a shade better than NJ
writes. A resounding speech at the END
Of the second act. for example. wa, vel
delivered. Many of his other lines
] however, were spOhtn III tnc Styte pup
ular with fifth grade pupils on FRIDAY
afternoons. The best acting of ths
evening was done BY Nine. Yorska
making her first appearance on the
English-speaking stage. She succeed
ed in making the Princess Xenia q
pathetic and interesting figure.
Olive Wyndham. as always, brought
beauty. eernestness and intelligence "a
her role. The qualities were not really
needed, for the authors neglected r.
write a part for the character Row
land Buckstone, an actor OF long ex'
perience. gave a performance that car
only be called wretched. Hal Fords
Vas a wicked old crockery-hurler, apc
Sydney Mather and Roland Rushton
made the most of their roles.
But the victory. as has been said, i
Josef Urban's. He has taken full ad
vantage of the regal surroundings, anc
several gorgeous pictures greet the
eye. The scenes, in fact, should sue
eeed in drawing thousands Of persons
10 the Booth Theatre, If only Mr.. Ell
lott will agree to omit the play.