New-York tribune., 1917-04-09
By HEYwOOD BROUN

By HE1 WOOD BRot
"Grasshopper" was produced az the
Gsrrick Theatre Saturday night, and
there was that about the play which
made Us think IN terms Of entomology
rather than drama. !, seemed % us as
if portly and persistent collector were
IN pursuit Of particularly lively mem
Der Of the family Of locustide. He was
a mocker. this dramatic grasshopper. He
would wait until the man with the net
was upon him and then he would hop
Il OF harm. Once the entomologis ST
almost had him. but the grasshopper
slppct away and disappeared The
tragedy is founded on play by
kcyscrIing and is written BY Psdrsic
Coluu and Mrs F. f. Washburn
Frclnd. Bat three nets are not
enough. The play escapes.
That is rather a pity, for ,hc theme
Of "Grssshopper" stirss emotion. IL is
play in which the will 70 die for an
other is suddenly paralyzed by the de-
sire 10 live Tor some one. Poor, little,
unhappy Grasshopper, a hedge child,
prays 20 the Virgin that her life may
30 taken and her foster mother spared.
The Virgin gives a sign that she Will
accept the sacrifice, but little later
there comes to Grssshopper the hope
OF love. and now she would not die,
though she must. Al least she can by
no means reconcile herself 10 death un-
I'll the Spring is done Only when she
hndS that her hope Of love is a slight.
false thing Is shc crushed into sub
mission for sacrifice, and so she drinks
the strong drops aud dies.
Certainly, there are good dramatic
possibilities in this theme, even when
outlined briefly and barrenly. but it
seems incOnceivable that n dramati -
should devise a play around this plot
and leave out the scene in which Grass
hopper prays 70 the Virgin. Padraic
Coum and Mrs. Freund have done that.
We hear much abou, the scene before
il occurs and a great deal afterward.
but with almost deliberate malice we
are denied the privilege Of seeing the
scene itself. or course. this is a text
book question which is ticketed under
the heading. THE obligatory scene"
but il is reasonable and sensible TO
demand that the most important part
o. a play shall not b. left out
The story IS badly told in good
many other respects. Exposition Is
often unduly prolonged and the end
ing is needlessly stilted and conven-
tional. Colum is distinctly one of the
lesser men I'm the Abbey group, but
there is in his work here and there a
trace Of Yeats. a suggestion Of Lady
GregorN and once o. twice the soul of
Synge glints.
We doubt if this CLINT Is in the
lines. More probably II is in the
eyes. or perhaps the smile. of Miss
Eileen Huban. who plays the Grass
hopper. II Is a fine smile, a smile
half way reluctant as BELTS woman
OF a nation which regards JOY 2.
something like home rule. thing
seemingly attractive. but probably
only dlabol;cal lure.
Some Of Miss Huban's quick gest-
ures are excellent. The moment ir
which she sits out with lad for tie
first time and takes his hand in hers
was finely done. as. indeed. was :,
later bit with a necklace. This yOuny
player is by no means finished. To
our ear her vJice is az times thrOaty
and she leaped somewhat TOO tiercely )
o. ono on two opportunities to show
flares of passion. And yet her per
formancc We. striking even without
regard to its promise. Mss Hubsli
was cheered at the end of the secon
act. and We can remember no other
evening i'm the theatre when a practl-
callv unknown player has been ac-
corded 30 warm a reception. Lord de
liver this young person from the
movies. for her eyes and mouth arc
eloouent. Indeed. there IS quite a
striking suggestion to Mae Marsh IL
this face across which impression
and moods shoot - wildly and 50
rapidly.
Grasshopper does no. take poison
we'll bat this scene il conventionally
devised. and it would require enor-
nous technical facility TO rise above
the material. John p. Campbell, as
Matt O'Connor. did nicely, although
he was obviously too old for the part,
and F X. Cowley was effective IN .
bit as a gentleman rider. The sci
for the first and last acts is beautii'!
and the lighting extremely telling
Rollo Peters is the artist.
lden Poyne. who produced the play
ras done his work enormously wei
in one direction, but less so IN others
~be lines Of the play are well spo ken
VI. Payne understands line values
and shadings better than any dlreeto'
in the country. but he is much less
skilled in devising business. More
over. he can do all sorts OF effective
things when he has only two or threro
characters on the stage and do badlV
with larger numbers. One % t"'
oroun sc,tcs in the play were qui'a
o., Of nand Saturday night