New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-02-04
By HEYwOoD BROUN


TWIN SHAKESPEARE should be
T. ehewed. There are those VINO
swallow him whole. and one member
- his school scolds New York because
ne recent revival Of The Merry Wives
., Windsor" failed. He says that this
,rcv.s Anew York does not, IN ITS
b.a-t. care for Shakespeare.
". don't know about that, but It
seems 70 Us entirely possible that
,her. are a number Of persons who
are for Macbeth" or Lear" or
Twelfth Night or "The Merchant Of
Venice who don't give rap about
III. Merry Wives Of Windsor
Why should they? The play has lost
u SAVIOR. Az best it was a coarse,
u7de, hasty, made to order entertain
-snt. It is the play in which Shake
spears took on the hideous aspect OF
a professional lowbrow 70 please a
special audience. No one who delighA
in the character Of Falstaf cares much
about "The Merry Wives" for the
play is gross libel on the fat knight.
Fslstsf Of Henry "" is a decayed
gentleman. In "The Merry Wives he
s merely decayed.
Our ambition is TO be a dramatic
critic Ike Louis Sherwin. Not only
id Louis write the best review in town
about "The Life Of Man" but he wrote
il two weeks after il was produced
The point that our drama does de-
v.lop is best illustrated. perhaps, BIZ
tte fact that in "The Woman in the
Case" great stress Is laid upon the
sorrble ordeal Of the heroine, who
.ss 70 learn 20 smoke cigarettes IN
srder 70 pass herself of as a bad
romIa, for the purpose Of gathering
evidence
Walter Eaton, in selecting 'The Gods
q the Mountain" for "The Dramatic
Mirror as the most significant play Of
ne season, commented on the Dunsany
arsna as follows:
The Gods OF the Mountain is a
vuk Of singular dramatic simplicity
ard force. Il is a work infused with
he magic % poetic speech; it IS a
work full Of irony, touched with unique
auror, and carrying a depth OF sp-
peal limited only By the intellectual
tspseity Of the spectator. Above all
!, completes, in It's action, a cycle; It
tads rhythm with that sense Of sat
sfac.o-y hnslity we associate with the
psrfect work CO art, whether play or
Sosn or musical phrase.
-Tha. i is 50 utterly different from
ne realistic drama OF the day adds to
"a significance, for, 20 me, II seems 70
lave restored Imagination TO our stage
At,sr a round Of the Broadway play
hos,.s this fall came upon It one
Blessed afternoon as one comes upon
an oois 10 the desert, or into the
ssisv Of a great rock IN a weary
lAsa' Tired Of Sing Sing and Forty
sscSsa Street and An English Coun-
IT Hsuse," i vas good 20 be with the
got % the green peaks Of Marina
kxryare. wyeherly, who is nightly
hearing voices ~ the medium IN the
nnntny 18Th Chair" feels every now
saa again the inHuencs Of one Of her
cd esntrols-ths poetic drama Of
william Butler Yeats. Now that Miss
"yeesriy and The 18th Chair" are
'sstlsd here for season al least there
aa'ela DO an inKistent demand from
Us public for = specisl Yeats matinee
nis talented actress. Not only Is
ne leading Woman OF the WELLER
sfsna ons Of the best ezponen.s Of
san % TIE stage, bat she has a.
hsa1 sastssr IA Harrison Hunter. j.
'ai1 Be 10 troubis a. al for Euntsr
n-p snt Of Tim Donohue, police
scsoy, Tor ar sftsrn0on, and do the
ne Kan ~ ~Ths Ho1r Glass" And
I1np from Rosalis Ia Grange 30
aSas The Fool wouldn't bother Miss
"Ishsriy ia the l.s..
: Tests Bill, II one can be arranged,
1a tne!sds Ii. verse play, ~The
80. Of HEARTS Desire" and the three
prose dramas, the Hour
Ncssalssn ~ Hoolihsn" ard
~ Of Broth We are sure !.