New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-03-21
In the Play World
By HAYWOOD BROUN

No play has aroused such diver
gent comment this season as "Ths
Fugitive" We a-e quite alone in
thinking Mr.. Gslsworthy's tragedy re.
stricted IN theme and strained n
treatment. bu: even among the sup
porters Of the play there Ia little una
nim.ty o. opinion. Mr. woolcott. Of
The Times" fourd tina. Miss Emily
Stevens plays win a power snd
penetration ana an unerr.ng precision
tina; are an unfa.Ang delight. Her
performance is one Of the fine achieve
mer;s Of the season.
On the other hand. Mr.. Towse. Of
THE Evening Post" thought the star
"but insdequately fitted for such a
part as that of Glare, either by tenn
permanent or artistic qualifications"
Her performance seemed TO hin.
"colorless and dim"
Mr.. Woolcott and Mr.. Towse have
been recording their impressions OF
plays for a good many years. and such
a divergence OF opinion among vet
Grams only proves the danger Of being
dogmatic about the drama, and yet
we will risk the unqualified statement
that "The Fugitive" is by no means
zone of the deepest and finest plays
Of our day and generation" as a dis
tinguished enthusiast would have it
When he says a little later that "A
Galsworthy play should never be act
ed. IL should be lived" we don't quite
understand what he means. Our in
preston is that when man walks
across stage he performs a bit OF
acting
II the critic means to contend that
THE Fugitive" is free from trite and
obvious stage tricks we cannot agree
with him. Paynter, the butler. is
speaking to the maid and most oblig-
ingly talks in expository vein. "She
and the governor don't hit it," explains
3 Paynter. OF course, the maid knows
/ that Just as well as the butler, but il is
certainly considerate of him to go out
Of his way in that manner to enlighten
/ the audience. Somewhere or other in
the theatre we have seen that device
before.
Nor were we swept altogether beyond
/ the confines OF the theatre when the
husband started to walk down the hall
70 his own room, only to turn resolutely
and with an emphatic MOI enter his
wife's room TO point a telling curtain.
/ In Broadhurst's play he kicked down
the door. but that's minor matter.
III
/ cries the heroine. And again we could
/ not convince ourself that we were in
untrodden fields Of drama. Moreover,
i there seemed TO be not little ghostly
rustling OF characters gone and TO come
when the high-minded and penurious
author thanked heaven that his was not
[ the house of gentleman"
Such comment is somewhat petty. IL
/ is true, for the best case against "The
/ Fugitive" lies in the sketchy and I'M
/ fair manner in which the theme is
I twisted to meet the will Of the play
wright. We take il from reading vari-
Gus comments on the play, as well as
from watching and reading the play it.
/ self. that "The Fugitive" is a protest
against binding a woman in matrimony
/ by making her economically dependent.
/ In other words, n plea that woman
should be trained for some other pro-
| fession besides marriage.
Galsworthy manipulates this theme in
/ q wholly theatrical way. The pity Of
| the subject lies not in the fact that a
/ few well bred. Entertained women can
not manage 70 1--we at all. but rather
that many manage to live meagerly and
miserably The possibility of life of
shame is not nearly so much to the
point as the certainty of a life of
dreariness. After all, the tragedy does
not lie in drinking little poison, but
rather in drinking much bad milk and
worse coffee. Galsworthy has chosen
the minor matter of suicide rather than
dealing with the more difficult, but
much more worth while affair, Of those
who live on and on
He is not even fair to Clare. If the
important fact is that she is not fitted
for any gainful occupation, and GER
tainly this rs implied again and again,
we ought to see just why she fails. II
would be more interesting TO see what
happened in the big shop where she
sold gloves than to hear her tell about
/ it. The inevitable portions Of Mr. Gals
worthy's tragedy are off stage. II is
only the fortuitous events in the life of
Clare which the audience IS allowed to
see.