New-York tribune., 1918-11-19

F inc Performance of The
Betrothal'' at Shubert
Theatre
By Haywood Broun

hnck continues the tradition of beauty
and humor and fine free sweep which
"The Blue Bird" brought to the the
atre.
and finds ind hsw her Ray bu hs yy y ne sesKs s T oT
story. The boy finds that the choice
is. not his alone, but that of all those
who have gone before and who come
after him.
I'VE have always lived in each
other" says the Great Ancestor, the
spokesman of the forebears. "for vol
were already living in me when I wa;
on earth; and now l live in you while
you are still on that same earth which
we seem to have Quilted"
The responsibility of Tyltyl to those
who come after him is emphasized
equally, and indeed it is The Smallest
OF Them All who recognizes the true
love before Tyltyl can pick her out.
Once again it is the Fairy Berlune
who starts the boy on his journey. His
companions are Destiny, Light, six girls
from the countryside, whom he loves
lmpartlally, and a veiled figure, whom
he cannot recognize. She, of course
proves to be the woman he seeks. But
! there is no lack of dramatic suspense
Tor all that. since the search is beset
with all sorts of difficulties The An
c5estors cannot nelp him much. They
hnow mat the appointed one is not
among the six. They also know the
right mate is present, and yet thew can
not come to decision, for Tyltyl is
unable to remember or recognize the
yelled woman. In the land of the un-
porn children Tyltyi is again bafAed
put here The Smallest of Them All. who
is to be his first born son, comes tc
his aid. He knows his mother and
points her out Even yet Tyltyl cannot
remember re- her. and, as in "The Blue
Bird" 1T is at home that the story
comes to successful conclusion. Here
ne NJ flnds that Joy, the daughter of Nine
of his life. Already the Fairy has ex-
planned to him: Each man has only
one. II ne misses it, he wanders miser-
ably over the face of the earth. The
search goes on till he dies. with the
great duty unfulflled to all those who
are within him.
I Maeterlinck's story as unfolded last
hlght was imaginative and interesting
although 1T seems to hav, no very pro
found philosophic foundation. He
seemed hardly fair to Destiny, for in
stance. mat grim person began as q
monster eight feet high and dwindlet
into baby clothes in the last act. As
he dwindled he kept repeating: 81
never change, am always the same
l am lnsuperable, insensible, invuncr
apie, lmmutable, ineXorable, irresist-
able, invisible and inflexiblc!"
lie provided an amusing figure in the
play. but we rather think that wher
people make snoots at Destiny he has
a rare chuckle behind the palm of his
hand. Certainly it appeared to us that
ne had much to do with the choice oil
lyltyl. The lad seemed no very free
person, with all his ancestors and de
Scendants crowding in upon his choice
but If "Ihe Betrothal' is not work
OF profound philosophy, it is a play Of
eStraordlnary beauty and charm. Te
see 1t is to pit all the blind. At this
as beautiful, and all the effects are
gained from comparatively simple com.
olnatlns OF curtains, even though these
are marvellous fabrice. Herbert Paus
IS the artist. The performance has ar
admlrable orchestral accompaniment
by Eric Delamater. And, best of all
the play has many moments of fine
dramatic intensity. Perhaps the best
OF these was in the Abode of the An
cestors, where the various candidates
tor the hand of Tyltyl passed before
the assembled council. Part of the
credit for the thrilling and enthralline
nature of this scene should 90 to Au-
gustln Duncan as the Great Ancestor
Mo1 M many performances we have seen
thls year have so completely dominated
scene. Reginald Sheffield docs well
as Tyltyl, and there are vivid perform
ances by June Walker, as Roselle, the
lnnkeeper's daughter; Boots Wooster
as Mllette, the woodcutter's daughter;
Cecli Yapp, as miser; Edith Wynne
Matthlson, as Light, and "lvia Field
as the Yelled Figure.
=, "A III the girls in the little group OF
1yltyps sweethearts play pleasantly
and they also dance attractively ir
some numbers put on by the Isadora
DUNCAN dancers. All in all, "The Be
trothal' is one of the most successful
combinations of many art forms which
the theatre has seen.
VI course, 1T is a play which should
please all ancestors, since it hatters
them SO; Few parents probably have
the hardihood to think that ANYBODY
has deliberately chosen them as fathers
and mothers. Sometimes the theory
seems little short of incredible. but
perhaps there are not quite enough
trst class parents to go round.
1heatre du VleuX Colombier-"I "a
Femme de Claude" play in three acts
by Alexandra Dumas, the Younger.
THE CAST
Charles kuper .........,..,....... Charles Dublin
Gantaghac ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Marcel Millet
pahlei Robert Bogaert
1tnaiho Ds ''''....''. Van Dorcn
Edmse Elnreea suzanne Bins
1'unee .Jearnlne Bresanges
Despite the admirable performance
of the younger Dumas's spy melodrama
given at the Vieux Coombier last
evening it is doubtful if this or any
other of his plays, except "Camille, +"
will live. A dogmatist rather than a
playwright, he used the stage as pull
pit in which to preach on law and
morality. He detested realism in
drama and called the Theatre Librc "a
literary charnel house." The prefaccs
that he wrote for his plays show that
he took himself seriously. His char
acters, often unreal, were created for
purposes of symbolism and to solve
problems determined in advance.
Many Of the processes and methods
used by Scribe are apparent in LA
Femme de Claude,' Convention is
piled upon convention, the unlikely
heaped upon the real. The characters