New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-10-06
CHRONICLE AND COMMENT OF THE STAGE
Plays and Players

change has been for the better, be-
cause it has been an intellectual one
you have only to compare sue
cessful farce or comedy of day with
successes of twenty years ago to see
the great change says Mr.. Collier.
THAT change has come about because
the people have progressed and don't
care for sapstick methods that used
the stage twenty-five years ago it was
necessary to accentuatc your personal
appearance to the point of grotesquc-
ness or use a slapstick That sort of
thing designated the comedian, and
audiences expected the man who was
dressed in outlandish costume to sup
ply the laughs, even if he had to do it
at the cost of his personal feelings.
"Now it is the funny line or the
funny situation that creates the laugh
ter. The latter day comedy or farce
is on a much higher plane than the
ones of former days. Stage business
is on a higher plane, too. l mean by
stage business the little touches--per-
sonal touches of the player and stage
director-that go to make PLAY
human that authors may sometimes
visualize but seldom know enough to
put in their script.
And mentioning authors reminds
mo that the author is the only indi-
Vldual connocteA with +Lo ,rol,,.4;.
OF the play who never loses. No mat
ter how much or how little business
the play does, the author gets his roy
atty, and continues to receive his per-
centage of the receipts until his plav
ceases TO be worth while EXPLOITING
Actors may rehearse for weeks with
out pay, and then find themselves in a
play that is a failure I like the bust
ness of being an actor, but the person
who has the surest thing in the the
atrical game is the author. He never
loses.'
Miss lmogene. who played IA small
bit and large thinking part in "shc
Walked in Her Sleep" severed her con-
nection with that company at the con-
cluslon of the performance at tho
Playhouse last night. She quit by NUT
ual consent.
The cause OF her elimination from
the cast of the farce was "galopine
growth garden variety of elephanti-
ass.
When lmogene first joined the COM
pany she weighed pound and half
and stood one and one-half hands high
IN her bare feet. Last night. lust be-
fore she left the theatre after remov-
ing her makeup she tipped the scales
at sixteen pounds and stood five hands
high in her bare feet.
Not only did Imogene get "too big"
for her part; she became obsessed with
the theatrical malady known as artistic
temperament and insisted on playing
all her scenes up stage. centre, antci-
patng cues and interpolatng facial
expression not in the script.
Her dogship left the cast with re-
gret. Her understudy, Miss Imagina-
ton. a French poodle, is now the rcgu-
lar incumbent of the part, and will
make her professional debut for the
first time on any stage at the Play
house tomorrow
/ In contrast with the player Of d single
/ line Of characters. the type imper-
senator" so much in evidence in Amer
lea in both musical plays and comedies,
/ Margaret Linden, who comes into the
cast supporting Mitzi in "Head Over
Heels" at the George NJ. Cohan Theatre,
is an example of the wide range of the
parts that fall to the lot of both the
English and Australian actor
An Australian born, Miss Linden has
been a prominent figure in a variety
of parts that would probably seem in
compatible to the average modern actor
on this side of the seas. Under the
Williamson regime in Australia she
sang the role of Dion in "The Quaker
Girl and the leading character in "The
Arcadians' and was a member Of the
company headed by Fred Niblo and Jo-
sephine Conan In "The Fortune Hun
ter" she enacted the part of Josephine.
And yet in her brief career she has also
played the pathetic central figure in
Madame X' and appeared in cycle
OF Oscar Wilde's best known works.
Since her arrival in America Miss
Linden has been seen in 'The Three
Bears with Ann Murdoch, in "The
Chinese Puzzle" and in several feature
illms exploited by the World Film Com
pany.