Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-02-04
-~x HILE The Flame" by fire.


perhaps glimpse the future.
The Great Lover turned attention to
the past Peggy O'Neill, feathered and
beaded a little brown. good fairy safe
guarding the destinies of her fellow
wonran through natures most usual yet
most mysterious perils, was figure OF
Quaint CHARM, She supplied the ele-
ment OF fantasy and romance which
the stage must have even in its most
instrlctive moments.
4
Peggy >O'Neill is one of the numerous
clever feminine artists who are com
ing to Inc front Leo Dltrichstein IS
ono OF Tn, few great actors who bring
int toe present day the facile tram
ing and conscientious STANDARDS OF the
past In the especial field which he mas
made dis own, he stands with but one
parffteI IN recollection, the late Rich
ard ACinstield. Mansfield and Ditr1ch-
st4in ara not unlike in appearance ana
in-methO,l. Both have delighted TO por-
tray the butterflies rather than the
warriors DItriChstein brings to the
episode which reveals the tenor shorn
of his glory and listening to the trl-
umphs OF his understudy an over
wheIs.s.s.g pathos which for the mo-
mentary impression does not stop snort
Of tragedy Itself
~Cleyer" Leo Ditrichstein, How IA
mfliarll the phrase writes itself. For
years comment, wary of committing IL
SELF to significant an adjective as
great" has fallen back on the DIS
erect description clever Dltrlch-
stein, an actor and an artist. has never
beer an ass.ssstSe advertiser IN me
lines OF eccentric publicity. He has
never interrupted his labors to acquire
a personal pose. The slightest farce
has had the benefit OF the same close
Ia a
drama. at psychological subuety- HIS
acting rs not on the billboards and in
the personally conducted scrap book OF
press erfcomiumS. 1t is all IN the day
work, And every moment that Dltrich-
stein stands or walks upon the stage
carries the suggestion not of self-ag-
grandIzement, but of sensitive, CON
scientious responsibility to his audi
ence. Had ne been concerned perhaps
a little less with the stage as an art
and asserted himself more in raising
his voice above the theater's pande-
moniun of megalomania. he might no
doubt many years ago have made the
exchdfge that was his due in substl-
tufing great for clever
The Great Lover comes pretty near
~ satisfying the demand Tor truly
American play. Just why there should
be -s---s-nsc- of unrest concerning the
absence of a typically national drama
is not clear, since the supply of ma
teFial. polished and tested abroad, has
been q4si tie sufficient and endangered by
no embargo. a drama that thrills with
the spirit of native installation, one
that responds to the need of speech
from tire heart, by every availa Bile
means, will come when the people feel
the need OF thinking about and for
themselves. Conditions which threaten
at the-present moment may stimulate a
produSiiQn already voluminous toward
standaeas of quality which Will give
to the~American theater an authority
WHICH hitherto il has lacked among the
is by american authors, the Hattons;
the @5natist Mr. Ditrichstein, has
spentkS life upon this continent; the
actor-1gain Mr.. Ditrichstein, has been
a strndsrt of our audiences and our
times-The story deals with an in
stftutt0E notably American-the Met
ropolran Opera House-where operate
art has become the expression not only
of-taste but of opulence. 1t is at this
point that it sacrifices it's direct Amer
icanism, for there is no spot on earth
more cosmopolitan than the green
room of the Metropolitan Opera House
**
PERHAPS it lis unjust to, broaden a
refer sssGA to lack of American drama
so fasz-as to ignore the minute de-
ecripGors of life among the more or
less ssliSaerged element of the popula-
ton the crime play gives an init
mate acquaintance with types who
haze indisputable artistic possibilities
even though they are not strongly
Significant as regards matters of So
cia1 or nationalistic tendencies. Mr.. Be-
1asco brings madein-the-U.-S.-A
play to this city for another of the
series of first nights that he plans for
Washington each season Mr.. Belasco
does not falter at long jumps In The
Darling of the Gods" he gave glimpse
into raryana. He may be relied on as
no less secure and competent a conduc-
tor through what current fiction de-
scrib es. as the underworld"
PHII.ANDER Johnson