El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-02-12
A Playhouse With $50 a
Week Salary Limit; Rose
StahI in a New Play.

TBW YORK, Feb. 12-What would
M YOU think Of a playhouse where
everybody - actors, actresses
scene painters and directors-get ex-
actly $40 a week. We have one right
here in New York.
It is the Bandbox theater. in Fifty
seventh street, not far from Third ave-
nue.. Here the Washington Square
players are dishing up strange and
wonderful things. They call them
selves amateurs but many OF them are
already quite as good as the average
professional and perhaps that $50 a
week strictly puts them into the pro
flesh" class. It is reported-you do
not have this incredible story on our
authority-that some Of the players
actually forget to call for their twenty
some weeks
The Washington Square players are
oftenest compared to Antoine and the
Paris Theater Librs Of 80 years ago.
However that may be- have never
been in Parasitic fact remains that
here is something New York has never
seen before, The now extinct New
Theater" tried to elevate American
dramatic art with lavish millions and
failed. The Washington Square play
ers are trying-and many believe sue
ceeding-ln elevating 1t at the end or
Time was when the players were
forced to hold forth in fearsOme holes
near the Square. Last winter they
were able to hire the BaDdbOx for a.
few nights and this winter they will
be seen there for many consecutive
weeks. The third of the five bills"
for the season is drawing we'll 1t has
Il haG n before
The players run to Maeterlinck and
Ibsen and Wedekind, to remarkable
and strange stage settings, which they
paint themselves, to anything which
will lead out of the usual paths OF the
Broadway theater.
Perhaps they are most felicitoUs,
however, when producing something
new of their own, such as the one act
sketches by Edward Goodman, the
director, and Philip Moeller.
They are a brave young band, very
youthful very artistic, very literary,
admittedly Bohemian; The girls smoke
men run their fingers through their
hair and speak of Gerhart Hauptmann
as if he vas a close friend
More power to them.
Hall Gaines first play Except dra-
matiZation Of his nOvels) was produced
here Monday night In Margaret
Schiller" he has the advantage OF very
fine acting on the part OF Elsie Fergu-
There are many improbably passages
in Mr.. Gaines work, but the audience
at the New Amsterdam, which included
many members of fashionable society,
was on the whole highly pleased.
Margaret Schiller" is a war play
Miss FergusOn's part is that OF an
alien girl in London, who manages to
take the place Of a SWISS gove;rness OF. on
her way to serve in the family OF Sir
Robert Temple. British Premier.
Margarets father has died in prison
under accusation of classifying pass
ports in previous war between zen, treat
SO she is filled with hatred against
England. War is about to break out
between the two nations again
The premier discovers who she is and
Wrings from her an admission OF her
errand of revenge.
She pleads for mercy and tells of the
hardships il will be to her family, IN
GLIDING a younger brotner she nas
heIDed to raise, If she is disgraced. The
Premier therefore gives her the place
as governess This Is one of the hard
est parts of the play to swallow
Later Margaret finds that her broth
er has drawn the lot among a group
of conspirators to assassinate the Pre-
mier. She is tortured between love OF
her brother and loyalty to her geneous
employer. She decides to sacritlce her-
self in an effort to save both
Margaret let's her brother IN by the
study window on his sinister mission,
cautioning him to shoot the moment
the door opens without WaitinB u
identify the prime minister positively.
Then she leaves and herself enters
the door through which the ASSASSIN
expects the Premier to come: lie
shoots and escapes Margaret dies IN
Sir Roberts arms, telling the tale OF
her martyrdOm.
Miss Ferguson. one of the most &C
complished actresses on our stage TO-
day. depicts the part of the brave gov
erness with great fervOr and teellns'
Her understanding of the role was re-
markable and she almost made the
play convincing.
The part of the Prime Minister was
another difficult one, but Norman IRE
vOr managed to attain the proper lev
ell OF intellectual poise which one eN-
poets in man of such position. Ex-
cellent work was also done by Gareth
Hughes, who acted the brother.
Rose Stahl has another play quite
fitted for her peculiar talents OF slang