Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-27

BOTH SIDES
j. eHe


AAb----~-DS
pI on miniature playhouses. Notwithstanding
looking looking systems that are in some ways
IS improvements over the old chaotic
Ioutings OF stageland interesting attrac.
tlohs are still occasionally homeless. The
success OF Lonely Sold ,ers" at one of our
centrally located playhouses is not arguable
nut such a theatre for the time Miss Ang.
lin had allotted 10 This cit,, y,as No. o,ai1
able WIS NV
The long runs now In vogue here nat.
uraily reduce the number of attractions
each season, Startling as It may seem
10 pullback' citizens, Philadelphia actual
" needs more hrst-class playhouses in her
theatre district The strain will be ap.
pIeclaoly relieved when the rebuilt Chestnut
street opera House and the new Shubert
are opened to amusement patrons. But the
lotmer theatre Will not be ready before tho
END OF November and the latter for several
months afterward. Miss Anglin could not
wait upon building operations more than
ordinarily handicapped because of the war,
one must therefore thank the Little Thea.
tire for saving the situation
The virtues OF Lonely Soldiers" are oil
KIND that only whets the appetite TO see
It's chief performer in variety of roles.
skillful revamping of the eternal "Dl.
vorcons theme, cleverly adapted to war
times, the piece sparkles and snaps with
crisp dialogue, but it is extremely light,
extremely fragile The tax on Miss Ang-
Inns abilities is thus comparatively small.
No more delicious Betty Tarradine than
hers. no more engaging a Captain Rymili
than Edward Emery's, could reasonably be
desired.
But the scope Of the talented stars abn-
tiles is one of the loftest on the American
stage. Attestatlon of this is easily found
in recollection Of her Ruth Jordan In THE
Great Divide In her Mrs. Dane In Henry
Arthur Jones's stirring drama. Reports
of her eloquence, passion and poetry In
the Shakespearean plays and in the classic
Greek dramas are substantially verified.
Her contribution to Lonely Soldiers" re-
veals polished. fluent technique, but the
depths of an artistic endowment, exquisite
ly attuned to the supreme beauties of the
theatre, are suggested only by indirecton,
Philadelphia has had far too little of
Margaret Anglin In recent years. To the
playgoer who has not forgotten how charm
ing drawing-room comedy can be, Miss F.
Tennyson Jesse and II. NJ. Harwood's little
piece may be unreservedly recommended.
The exhibit, however. far from satisfies the
art lovers enthusiasm for a vivid histrlonlc
genius.
TT SHOULD be stated that Miss Anglin
feature of varied repertory which she is
eager to build up Her ambitions are
suitably in keeping with a nervous, dy-
mamie, artistic temperament, alert to in
wade the noblest fields of enterprise,
These are rather perious times for
the stage" she told the writer one day
this week, "and yet I believe that some
of the highest forms of art have a chance
for existence in spite of the war This
is particularly true Of the Greek dramas
and of Shakespeare.
81 exploited the former at the University
of California's lovely Hellenic open-air
theatre during the summer Of 1915. a visit
to the Berkeley institution involving long
ferry trip, trolley ride and steep walk
up formidable hill. eXacts considerable
hardships Of pleasure-loving San Francis
cans, and yet they poured forth by the
thousands to behold the moving tale Of
Antigone' enacted beneath the >cloudless
California sky.
This season, when I reach New York.
I am going to try the Greek plays indoors
at Carnegie Hall / hope to do the 'Elec-
ira of Sophoces-to my mind far better
play than Euripides's work on the same
theme, which Gilbert Murray has popular
ized-and the Medea' Of uripides.
MY first endeavor will be to convey the
universality and intense humanity OF these
masterpieces Absolute historical accuracy
Of presentation Is of course rendered i'm
possible by modern taste and theatrical
standards. 1t would be foolish now to at
tempt to act these plays with masks as
the old Hellenes did. But their eternal
spirit of beauty can, feel sure, be pre-
served even in the face of acknowledged
and unavoidable anachronisms
Undoubtedly Greek musical expression
differed greatly from ours of this day
Nevertheless, Walter Damrosch has writ
ten incidental scores for the classic dramas
which emphasize their poetic atmosphere
and inextinguishable appeal despite the
employment of modern orchestral methods
| shall use his admirable compositions when
I present Electra and 'Medea.'
MY other bills of the year will seek
to express my views on stage taste in
wartime. Perhaps my judgment is faulty,
but l believe that modern theatrical We
hicles lust now must either be highly
colored dramaticaly-in a word, exciting
or else so light that they will seem a
relief from the strain of the most tre-
mendous ordeal in history. Lonely Sol
d!ers,' of course comes in the thistle
down category. I am not yet at liberty
TO divulge what my more serious dramatic
offerings will be, but l can say that If
present plans go through one of them
should stir the passion for freedom and
human rights on which civilization is now
stalking it's existence