New-York tribune., 1918-04-30
THE CAST
By Haywood Broun

NINE. Nazimova was inefficient in the
easiest scenes of "a Dolls House." at
the Plymouth Theatre, last night, but
ranged from passable to excellent in
the moro difficult portions of the play.
Inc final impression was good. for she
played The last scene very we'll indeed.
The first act Of "A Dolls House"
should present no great difficulties to
the average actress, but, unfortunately,
for the moment, Nine. Nazimova is not
an average actress. She is o special
person. Of all the women on the
American stage she has perhaps the
least ability to be kittenishly sent-
mental. Nothing much is needed for
iirst act Nora but an active ingenue.
Mary Pickford probably could do it
about as we'll as any one Now Nazim-
ova Is active enough. lut she is not
an ingenue. II she had been willing
to accept this fact the early part Of
her performance might have been bet
ter. AS it was, she worked very hard
at being cute. She did tricks with her
shoulders, bounced about on sofas,
glggled incessantly and rough-housed
her children like a tigress on a spring
her as doll child. She was more
nearly Hedda in apron strings.
however, as force Of circumstances
changed Nora from doll child to woman
IN revolt, Nazimova improved remark
ably. She was good as the distressed
Nora and did particularly brilliant
work in the scene in which DR.. Rank
tells her that he is about to die. The
wild frenzy of the dance was another
colorfut bit in her performance, and
she was best of all at the end when
she played with simplicity and power.
Curiously enough Lionel Atwill
played on a descending scale. His early
scenes as Torvald were admirable, but
IN the last act he betrayed the char
acter. He seemed consciously to make
an effort to stress the faulty of Tor
valid. 1t was almost as if he was try
ing to make out better case for
Nora by making a worse one for Tor
vald. There Is no necessity for this.
right to go out into the night, and
even slam the door behind her. An
actor should be an intense partisan
Anvil rather plainly indicated in an
important scene that he didn't think
much of Torvald. The major part of
his performance was good.
Roland Young did we'll as Nils Krog-
staa' MS merit lay largely in what he
did not do. In the hands of so skilful
player as Young, Krokstad may
easily be stressed for more than he is
worth TO the play, but Young did not
yield to the temptation. Katharine
Emmet was sincere and sympathetic as
Mrs. Linden. Her performance helped
a good deal. George Probert played
Dr. Rank with admirable feeling. but
ne lacks certain distinction of man
ner and utterance which belong to the
role. VIC
On the whole the performance NAV
De set down as good one. 1t is played
wlthout reverence or any Of the other
backward looking qualities which mar
many productions Of Ibsen. Arthur
Hopkins produced the play Just as he
would handle the scrip of new play-
wright whose work was not clogged
with tradition. And we may say of this
new author that his work seems nrorn-
lslng. OF course, there are certain
matters in which he resembles Eugene
Waiter. The revolt of Nora is con,-
parable to that of Nancy Lee. Apain he
brings to mind George Broadhurst
me scene between Tovald and Nora
IS not unlike the big moment Of
Bought and Paid For" But for ali
OF his own, and the warmth of the an
plause for "a Dolls House" last night
probably indicates that Ibsan will 90
tar on Broadway