New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-04-02
BY Haywood Broun


Is.s, possy, t,snto Lillian KsaSS Cooper s
BY Haywood broun
Henry Miller opened a new theatre
last night with new play, and at the
end of tho third act he said. sI'm going
to do my best, because Pm not great
enough to afford not to-" Thus the
new venture begins in the right spirit.
1t is an excellent thing FOR New York
| that Henry Miller should have his own
theatre, for he is good actor and a
Henry Miller. is delight, if you don't
mind the curtain too much The smok-
| ing room is certainly the finest in town.
Tne new play, which is called 1.-THE
Fountain of YOUTH does not rank so
high, 1t is a poor piece of work
| throughout Louis Evan Shipman has
endeavored to create an atmosphere of
mellow gayety. Instead he gains the
effect Of a middle-aged Methodist min
lister making his first address to the
young men of the Boys Club down in
the church gymnasium. He attempts
TO slap his audience on the back, but
action is "Ouch!"
The play tells the story of man of
! forty-odd who comes back from Fan
zibar seeking to recover lost illusions
and finds them by falling in love with
8 young girl. He falls in love early in
the second act, but naturally he does
not win her until two and half Sec
onds before the final curtain falls. His
success came just in time. He was
booked to sail back to Zanzibar at $3.50
the next morning. Undoubtedly the
\ no H.
in the New York office of the steam
ship line which runs to Zanzibar have
learned to be more than doubtful about
the men who are going back there to
| forget. The head clerk tells me that
they never sail. The heroine always
appears in time. In fact, he says that
J the line loses passengers every month
who are dragged right off the gang
plank as the whistle is blowing. But
then, as he explains, the line doesn't
mind very much. They make almost
all their money out of the freight, any
how.
to Zanzibar, did not understand
Neither did the heroine. He misin-
terpreted something that she said and
she didn't quite get the drift of one
of his remarks. Our friend the Fan
zibar clerk says that is the story that
he always hears when the hero comes
to the office to get the passage money
back.
eff people would only just talk out
love you,' it would save US lot Of
trouble down here in the Office" the
clerk told us.
"This business Of some day there is
something want you to know is
always confusing. believe in putting
everything straight in the beginning.
When anybody wants a stateroon, for
| instance, l get out the chart and show
them just where it is and then there
can't be any mistake"
However, there is a good deal of diff
ference between selling steamship tick
cts and writing dramas there not ?
Mr.. Shipman was able to do whole
last act around the explanations Gre
ated by the misunderstanding in the
second act. The one novel touch in the
play is in brief scene in which the
middle-aged man is stirred to hope for
success by the outspoken jealousy OF
rival who is twenty years his junior.
Not enough was made of this POSSIBLE
ity. For the rest, the play was abso-
lutely conventional in story and stilted
in dialogue. The strain for epigrams
was terrific. Most were written around
the formula of paraphrasing some of
the better known passages in "Bart-
let's Familiar Quotations"
Since the material was so inadequate
it may be unfair to judge the acting
over severely. And yet it seems just
to say that Henry Miller was badly
cast in light comedy role. Mr.. Mil
Ter can be angry and exalted and grim
and passionate and many other things
but he cannot be coy. At least, no
place but in his own theatre. In an
effort to be light he became poisonously
artificial He used falsetto for some
points and also relied frequently. upon
a fake laugh most gloom compelling In
it's effect. All .the actors were upset
again and again by jumping heavily
upon lines which promptly broke be-
meath their weight and sent them
sprawling.
At no moment, however, did the arti-
ficiality of the play shrek aloud to
such an extent as in some brief
snatches where the characters were al
lowed to all talk at once. Just as in
real life. These were scenes around
the tea table, with "No cream for me-
mingling with "Two Jumps, please.
and "a slice of lemon" They stood
out like trenches in Central Park.
Lucille Watson played with her &C.
. customed authority. Olive Tell looked
exceedingly pretty once she had gone
through TWO unDecomlng hats. one
played moderately we'll in spite Of the
fact that she has begun to do things
with her eyes. Frank Sylvester did g
good deal with the part of theatrical
manager which offered him little good
material. A young actress named Lii
l-lian Kemble Cooper was charming in 8
short part Frank Kemble Cooper, ar
excellent actor, was thrown away on 9
colorless part.
Palace Mass Meeting
For the Liberty Loan