Omaha daily bee., 1917-02-11
Music, Art and Drama

is meant by Stuart Walkers Port
manteau Well, Mr.. Walker himself
is an audacious impresario Ga grad
uate from Mr. Belascos academy OF
acting) who has hit upon the idea
OF taking his own stage with him
when he goes out TO play, some
thing like that ancient historian who
packed his works in a portmanteau
aad sought public in Olympia. 1t
is a commodious recticule carried by
Mr. Walker, containing as it does
dozen dramas and twenty FIVE actors
70 act them. Since the playhouse has
stage with proscenium and other
accessories, the utility OF the Port
nlanteau there is not great. But as
stage within stage it adds to the
theaters intimacy, and its novelty
provides new emotion for the jaded
clientele of that headquarters OF en-
tcrtainment
"Mr. Belasco's influence is easily
discernibe in Mr.. Walkers endeavors
except in the repertory. The pre-
liminary chimes. the lightning. the
rich accout-ement. the ritualistic at
mosphere are all reminiscent OF the
Broadway master, and the acting, too,
especially that OF the distaff side, is
adept and Belascoan. Miss Nancy
Winston, ior example. is typical
Belasco ngenue, full OF tricky little
airs and graces, almost kittenish
enough to be classified as cute. 1t is
going TOO far, no doubt, to say that
Mr. Belasco never contrived a picture
more opulent than the gorgeous min
iaturc in the second act OF Lord Dun
sany's King Argimenes and the I'm
known Warrior.
Since the portmanteau's gonfalons
ilaunt the plays of Lord Dunsany as
its chief attraction, something must
be said about King Argimenes. 1t is
one of those legends OF the authors
own invention, described by him as
happening on the Rim of the World.
shall have to see it again before |
acquire for it the enthusiasm of the
pontitfs However, its gaunt poetry,
its simple story. its Maeterlinck-with-
substance manner and its happy ter
minal proved most interesting to the
audience. 1t is all about captive
king, who, roofing in the slave fields
of his naughty captor, finds the sword
of an unknown warrior, and with it
dethrones the tyrant and his false
god. Quite impressive are the pas
sages about dead dog as comestible
which occur between the slaves as
they wait hungrily for the kings pet
TO die of an illness, so that they may
eat him. believe we have not had
this theme in play since that other
favorite of the cognoscenti, The
Weavers.' At the end of King Argi-
menes' slave rushes into the throne
room to announce the death of the
dog. Whereupon the triumphant
Argimenes, standing over the body
OF his predecessor, shouts, as the cur
tain falls, Let him be buried with the
late king!
"The other plays were The Birth
day of the Infanta, a dramatization OF
the story by Oscar Wilde, bereft of
all its velvet language, but skillfully
acted; and two charming and friv-
olous little interludes, Nevertheless
and The Very Naked Boy In New
ertheless' Miss Winston and Mr..
Kelly caught the manner of preco-
cious children beautifully, and Mr..
Morris was amusing as a quizzical
burglar. The Very Naked Boy the
scene of which is half way in a pro-
posal,' was played engagingly by
Miss Mary Coates and Mr.. Freeman
Wood"
The plays to be offered by the
Portmanteau players in Omaha are
Dunsany's Gods of the Mountain
Wildes The Birthday of the In
fanta" and two interludes by Mr..
Walker, Nevertheless and The
Very Naked Boy"