El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-05-03
"Papa, " Announced AS
"Amorality," Seems More
Like "Abnormality."

NEW YORK. May arthur Hop
~ kins' most wonderful production.
The JEST but recently introduced at
the Plymouth theater. is not only one
Of Americas strongest OF modern
plays but. in being superbly acted, in
cludes two OF Americas very finest
players, John and Lionel Barrymore
With all Of its bloody tale OF love.
hatred. jealousy and revenge, it Is
none the less the dramatic event OF
tie season II we may borrow the
shredded phrase further, Il is an
occasion OF triumph for the two
Barrymores, happily vindicatinE the
pre-eminence OF the Drew Barrymore
family on the American stage
In its original italian. The Jest
BY sam Benefit. was known as La
Cena Dele Beffe," meaning The Sup
per OF the testers Wnen done mo
French by Jean RicheDin and pro-
duced by Sarah Bernhard the title
was The testers" But the American
title seems more aproDos OF the melo-
drama tragedy in which the two le1d-
ing characters. Giznnette, the weak
ling artist. and Neri. the brutal mer-
cenary. played dia5olical jests upon
one another. because these jests were
far from being in the true sense OF
the term Jest.
Almost Inspiration.
John Barrymore's Giannette-the
fran young painter with the face and
physique OF a Raphael, who, goaded
by the physical and mental fortunes
] heaped upon him by the narparous
[ ChiaramenteaL matches his wits
against their strength and accom-
plishes a revenge or the most cum
ming and fiendish cruelty-goes FAR
Z beyond what he accomplished in Peter
iIbbetson" and Redemption
] IT seems something akin TO inspira-
I tion the way he embodies and visual
I ICES the poetic nature IN which tear
struggles with hatred. and IN WhicE
ian iudomitahle burning for revenge
I carries him through mental and phys
I ical torture until he has brought one
I OF the Chiaram entheal TO death by the
hand OF his brother at the bedside OF
the latter's mistress. and the SLAYER
goes mad upon realizing 70 is his own
flesh and blood and not the hated
stripping OF q painter whom he had
KILLED.
/ Another skilled Portrayal.
But-Lionel Barrymore's portrayal o.
the brutal Neri is none the less skill
/ fuL All the necessary physical power
. IS there. all the lust. the sensuality.
I the cruelty Though brothers in blood,
I the two actors seem the very antith-
lesis Of mind and spirit
"The Jest" is a truly astonishing
drama in its grip and power. Succeed
ling events are so sEillfully hidden as
I to leave all in doubt until the FINAL
curtain At the end OF the first acr
there is no telling what viii happen
IN the second The climax OF the
second leaves you equally in the dark
as 10 what viii happen in the third.
The tension Increases during the third
act and yet the denOuement cannot be
foretold
q -. q
touched with that Imagination and
poetry which transform the sOrdid
for the time being almost into the
sublime. The spell Of the medieval IS
there. that curious combination or the
cultured. the artistic and the barbara
which made the age OF the Medici
and the BorEias at once the most
splendid and the most terrible In all
the glorious history OF italy.
Deep knowledge Revealed.
Not only the author. but the pro-
Queer. Arthur Hopkins and the stars
revealed deep knowledge OF the cruel
culture and cultured cruelty: the eE-
Quisite dlabiere and diabolicai cum
ming: the odd combination OF the spir-
itual and the gross the exalted and
the debased. which characterized the
Florence OF Dante and his successors
In this production the illusion OF the
18th century is COMPLETE The brothers
Barrymore might have stepped right
down to us out OF that age. and Ar
thur Forrest. Arthur Gallentine and
Cecil Clovely. too, are well within the
spirit Of the play.
The plays direction and setting fur
nish all the necessary background for
completing the Illusion OF such acting,
and while seeing this performance one
is looking at the material Florence OF
the middle ages as we'll as a revela-
ton OF its spirit and life.
Hence ia Is not difficult TO under
stand why it is that Gotham audiences
are responding with numerous curtain
calls after each act and why. staId and
cold they may be. they have actually
been guilty Of standing up from their
seats and shouting for another re-
turn and acknowledgment Of that
most wonderful pair Of actors. John
and Lionel Barrymore.
Papa Seems MisnOmer.
Miss Zoe Akins's attempt TO drape
n family skeleton in camouflaEe is a
new idea more or less capably eZ-
pressed in Papa" which had its re-
cent premier at the Little Theater.
The author calls Papa" an "amorst-
lity." but II Is Eafa TO say that a Een-