Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-03-19


Merchant. ,dilapidated sentlemssn:
william Jones tBiiD.....'..'TpraSSey, paS,, serrow %,y,,
xSssst xsiSes smth ThGhhdes desniesers,. Gerald Prns
First Priest Of Kisssh: ;,.,... Charles Psytop on
Third Priest Of Klesh' A. x Rike, Shi, hent
Klsssh Kls.hn:A room al an Inn. inn. ' " '''"'
French lucidity of thought expressed in
terms of dramatic symbols takes on an
overwhelming and poignant intensity in
t5e very remarkable play by Henri La
veda-,, with which Mrs. Fiske both emo
tionally stirred and intellectually stimu-
lated last evenings audience at the
Bread Street Theatre.
n The manner of Service" its geomet-
vical exactitude. its mastery dovetailing
Of irrefutable logic with irresistible sem
timent is the manner of the best modern
parisian dramatists, of Hervieu, of Ba-
taille and of their gifted predecessor,
Henry Becque. But the original vitality
Of their self-imposed footlight problems
often evaporated in a sea change, It is
altogether otherwise with "Servir." With
almost appalling clarity. with unim-
peachable sincerity Lavedan analyses,
amid scenes of extraordinary power. the
conflicting doctrines Of war and peace.
The play. deeply pertinent the world
over, is at once a brief for the noblest
paclfism and the most militant patriot
Ism.
Every angle of these divergent creeds
. Is presented. And yet, through all the
shift and interplay of argument, the
/, wings of dramatic impetus are unclipped.
The piece, pared down to two tense
acts, surges forward to climaXes of ter
rible and soul-rending force. It's char
scters may accurately be rated as SYM
y bolic mouthpeces in the trial of the
most tremendous of all causes celebres.''
but they are none the less limned with
vivid strikes of portraiture. Their es-
sential humanity in a play of ideas is
the dramatlst's crowning triumph
Laveden is here a footlight mathema-
tlcian with heart
In the ante-bellum days. of which this
drama is a product, the author would
probably have frowned on any reduc-
! ton Of his views to a conclusive formul a
His ostensible aim, then, was to ex.
pound disparate shades of opinion as a
basis for dramatic situations and with
myeldng fairmindedness. 1t is cas-.
Ter today to read the perhaps uncon.
sclous meaning of playwright whose
touching one-act war sketches have re.
vealed him as a patriot of the most
ardent sensiblities. Service now
4 seems to declare that militant patriotism
under the cruelest provOcation, is a prod
uct Of exalted human feeling that paci
4 hsm has every battalion of logic on 1t:
Z side and yet at the awful moment oi
Z crisis must succumb and even rightly.
In development of this theme Lavedar
employs the brilliantly drawn figures Of
mother and son, who espouse pacifisn
both from broadly human and from
strictly personal viewpoints, and of q
father whose ideals of military duty ar,
irrefragible. The crux of the drama l:
scene in which the old army officer ant
bis son battle for the secret of a mar
velous new explosive, which the bo,
seeks to destroy to prevent the lust O.
conquest and which the father seeks t
preserve as patriotic duty to France.
X Complcating these large issues claim
~ Of personal affection are cunningly inter
h woven. The son learns that his brothe
has been slain In Morocco. The cloud
Of misunderstanding which colored tn
mothers pacifism are swept away
War, whose cause is vaguely suggested
Is arising from the North African EN-
broglio, breaks out. Fighting for Franc
becomes the unified sentiment of tn
4 three contesting kinsfolk. Externall
belligerency triumphs. But the force o
coptrasting arguments is not entirel
rol tad hx,t I'D
IN lies the wondrous art and acumen O
the playwright.
Deeply moving histrionic expressio
Of Lavedan's concepts was given by
ecast In which the burdens fell chief
upon Lee Baker. magnificently impres
nve as Colonel Euln; Georges Flatea,
impasslonated and stirring as hi
oungest son and Mrs. Fiske as Madam
Min, torn by emotions reflected
10Th her husband and her favorite chill
That an accomplished stellar actres
euperh as she was when the opportunit
arose. was willing to subordinate hel
self to the two principal male chara,
ters. as last nights performance d
handed, Is still another proof of Mr.
tnke's unquenchable artistic idealisr
is pleasure to record tina
coupled with her unfailing intellectui
erasp Of character and situation ws
ue most complete victory over certal
vocal mannerisrns that have occasional
g the past marred her work. Her woi
ecus art seepssto have burgeoned I'M
pliest flower.
Space restrictions forbid extended col
eAeration OF "A Night at an Inn."
Snique Lord Dunsapy offerings fal
n NY In which the practical cleyerness
nserupulous mankind Is pitted again
epd destroyed by spiritual forces
which preceded the major drama. I'll
pnylet takes the form of situation
mich, an Indian god exacts the penal,
W the theft of his luminous ruby e,
cm group Of English desperadoe
BY the polished, expert and ruthless
enti-moral ''toff
me episode ID wildly fantastic. ir
egnated with startling flashes OF Il
senascence Of wohder," which Dunsar
4s Coleridges and Watts-Dunt.
The unrestrained extravagance
He piece Is made convincing by tho
!nly admirable acting by Frank Col
'th and his associates.
Capital stage. management, notab
ur1ng the apparition Of the insatiat
~ the lonely English inn, whe
criminals have taken refuge, du
Ablished the eerle. atmosphere wit
which the dramatic fabric must Z,
va intspt. Elements Of mystical poet
~ sordtd realism are blended in tf
nsulars work as strikingly as In 4
writer's THE Glittering Gate"
ii. IT, c.