The sun., 1918-10-28
FREEDOM REVUE OF
HISTORICAL EVENTS
Julie Opp Makes Debut as
Impresa in Century
Production.
APPEALS ONLY TO EYE
Lincoln Statue Scene With
Gettysburg Speech IntOned
Is Beautiful.

Julie opp. cnterprising vile OF Will
lam Faversham. supported by the ex-
perienced arm of Lee Shubert. made her
first appearance as inprssd at the Cen
fury Theatre Saturday. The two pre-
scented a series OF historical tableaux
called Freedom There are three acts
and twenty-three scenes in the perform
ance. which. in view of it's magnitude
moved smoothly. c. Lewis Hind and r..
Lyall swete. the actor, arranged the
piece. and Norman ONeill composed
the incidental music. There are many
tabieaux and much music, to which was
added at the first performance the
'Marseillaise, played by the orchestra
In honor OF Sarah Bernhard. q guest
In the box OF Mrs. Faversham. She. with
the audience. stood during the French
anthem and waved an eloquent hand at
it's conclusion.
In addition TO the authors. many or
the actors In the new pageant are Eng
lish. and out OF the twenty-five scenes
eleven are devoted TO depletion of his
torical English events. while two are
devoted TO France, and the others to the
United States. j. Monroe Hewlett de-
signed tue scenery. which was at all
points striking. but nowhere. perhaps. 50
beautiful as in the American episodes.
The interior OF st. Johns Church at
Richmond. the interior OF the House OF
Commons and the exterior OF the State
House In Philadelphia have the
mellow loneliness OF old paintings.
Bathed in the bronze glow that fell OH
the screen before them they were stage
pictures OF uncommon artistic beauty.
Gettysbnrg scene Splendid.
The spectacle never attained so near
poetry and biGh imagination in its proc
lsmatlon. however. as in the dedica tion
OF the National Cemetery at Gettysburg.
Here the crowd, facing a heroic statue
OF Lincoln. vaguely visible In the yellow
clouds, heard the words of the Gettys-
burg speech intoned as the light finally
grew strong enough to reveal the figure
OF their author Again. In the view OF
ST. Paurs Cathedral, Mr. Hewlett OBJ
tanned effects OF rich and subdued
beauty.
The hrst act included noted incidents
In the history OF England. the dream OF
King Alfred before the fire and the
burning cakes. Beckett and Henry H. al
Canterbury. Robin Hoods lair in Sher-
wood Forest. the signing of Magma
Charta on the Isle OF Runnymede and
the uprising OF the men OF Kent under
Wat Tyler at Westminster. Further
English episodes were the deck OF the
Golden Hind. Charles l. marching
10 his death in st. Jamess Park IN
winter and a summer vista OF the park
with Nell Gwynne and Charles III. nirt-
Ing there. A vision OF Joan OF Arc
after the painting by .Bastien LePags
and scene in the trenches brought
France into the panorama.
The pictorial side OF these tablesux
was sufficiently varied and there was nc
FAILURE in the appeal TO the aesthetic
sense To be sure. little had been done
TO enrich them In a way TO denote imag-
nation, and any recognition OF the i'm
portance that might lie in appealing to
any other than the sense OF sight. Even
the dramatic feeling was deep only in the
farewell OF Charles |. and in the scenes
with Lincoln and Patrick Henry voicins
the most sacred sentiments Of American
political freedom. The thread of COM
ment uttered by Freedom, who explained
every picture, alone bound the succeed
ing episodes to one another.
Play Is ChiIdren's Dream,
1t was the beautiful Marcia Van
Dresser who embodied with opulent
physical splendor the part of Freedom
She took from their beds two little bows
and carried them IN their dream-and in
psjamas--through all these moments of
! history. 1t was to them that she de-
iVered, clearly and beautifully. the words
which made the thread OF dialogue of
the evening. The two youths NAV be
interesting 10 youngsters In future au-
diences but the device is slight on which
TO rest such heavy spectacle And
whatever these young spectators OF
! Freedom" may learn In the future about
history. their knowledge Of their owr
| language will not be Increased The two
boys talked on about "pikers." "tht
movies. nesting time In Flatbush" and
similar sophisticated vulgarities tina,
were strange contrast to the back
grounds against which they were ut.
tered There was, save in the NOTED
historical speeches quoted, no other thar
| an appeal 10 the eye
f. Lyall Swete provides during III,
| pageant several vivid and highly char.
acteristic portrayals of noted figures ir
| history. Edward Martindel appeared
pioturesquely in various DISCUSSES. and
Henry Herbert gave touching pictur,
! or Charles !. on the way to his death
! Clare Games, niece of the singer
| showed her possession of the famIl,
beauty as distinguished representative
| or the Virgin Queen, while Arleen Hack
EFT and Eva Randolph added to the Ell
| cheney OF the representation The pa
! triotic interest Of the audience reached
its height during the singing OF "Th,
| Star Spangled Banner in the St Pam,
scene, aHS here Marcia Van Dresser,
voice was heard in something beside tn,
! continuous explanations 10 her boyIsf
charges
! Tompkins-SherN
!