New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-03-10

seventeen SuHefS only OCCASIONS
ally from staginess. 1t suffers more
often from lack of theatricality.
STANCE and Mears have put most Of
the material of the book into the play.
The first act, indeed, seems little bit
crowded from a perhaps too obvious
effort to get in all the good things
of the book. This is not the case in
any of the three other acts, and we
wish that room might have been found
for the scene between Jane and Mr..
Parcher in which the information is
impaired that Willie Baxter will do
no more evening calling.
There could not be too much of Jane,
for this is remarkable performance
at the Booth. Lillian Ross does an
amazingly fine piece of work We
understand that she is less than twenty
and an actress of brief experience.
She played the child so we'll that we
were sure she must be at least forty.
1t seemed incredible that youngster
could do anything so finished. There
is no accident in the achievement. Of
course it is fortunate that Miss Ross
is small and childlike in appearance
and that her voice has a treble quail
ity--if that is her voice and not a
miraculous bit of mimicry-but beyond
all that is the sustained quality of
the performance. She holds it up
throughout. Almost any other actress
who played the part would yield to
the temptation at one time or another
to get outside the part and laugh at
it little bit, but Miss Ross keeps
her sincerity unimpaired. She gets
everything possible out Of her lines
listens with extraordinary skill. Any
body who contemplates going on the
stage, appearing in amateur theatricals
or becoming an elocutionist should 60
to Seventeen" and study Miss Ross
in the scene in which she sits eating
listens to Willie talk about her spinal
cord
Gregory Kelly is very good indeed as
William Baxter, but there are a few
moments when he mars fine perform
ance by patronizing his part. But no
wise person would welcome the task OF
recasting either of these parts. Ju-
dith Lowry also seemed to me to be
just the sort Of person l had always
pictured as the mother of Willie
Baxter. and Neil Martin was at least
close kin to the Johnnie Watson OF
~ -
rest are not so good. The baby tall
lady should offer no great difficulties
Any one of a dozen actresses could Dc
this part effectively, but Miss Ruth
Gordon certainly falls somewhat short
She overplays pretty badly and wher
is too much to ask that an audienc.
should accept a nice looking youni
woman.
1t is unfortunate, too, that Mr.
Parcher should be inadequate. Quit
the best scene in "Seventeen" is tina
in which Mr.. Parcher blows up afte
listening overlong to Wille's discus
sion of the sacredness of love. Eugen
Stockdale hurts the scene. Gregor
Kelly is at his best in this bit. w
must mourn for the Big Fat Lummo1
They don't even pretend he's fat il
the production at the Booth, blu
merely call him the big lummox an
let it go at that. We had no idea tina
fat was so hard to find among tn
player folk.
Of course, most Of the play falls t
Jane and to Willie, and Miss Ross an
Gregory Kelly make Seventeen"
play that every serious student of tn
drama should see, even if he has t
rub elbows with the merely frivolou