New-York tribune., 1919-12-23
Corki's Might Lodging
Is Difficult to Define
Excellent Cast in Well.Staged
Play, Which Is Profoundly
Moving
THE CAST

Michael 1vanov Kostiliov keeper of the
Nasssha Nassisa karpoyna Sar his wife Gda varss
Medvindev, their uncle. Charles Kennedy
Vaska Pepel. D;neho -
klestch Andray Nitrich. a locksmith. ''
A -: Hans Robert
fubnov, capmaker Cecil Yann
hvashnia, market woman Lillian Kingsbury
San'ia ........... Pauline Lord
satin' sU '.'....... Edward G. Robinson
CO. Co ............ Edwin Nicander
.uka' wanderer. w. II. Thompson
AA'oyshkn. a shoemaker. E. j. BalIantine
hrlvoi LOB, a porter. ......... Louis Alter
tartar porter. Alexis M. Polianov
II is difficult to define Gorki's "Night
Lodging" in the terms which we use
night after night for the usual run of
plays in the New York theater. for
temptuous, Of what we call technioue
that his play is almost another form of
expression Probably Cork has tech
n1que OF his own, but at any rate he
uses loose rein Most of us who are
accustomed to our own dramatic forms
are likely to be somewhat puzzled and
perhaps a little distressed by the abb
sence of any smooth running, coherent
train of incidents which we call a
story. We are including ourself among
the perturbed. for it would be sheer
knavery on our part to attempt to con-
ceal the fact that long stretches of the
play baff1ed and bored u.s.
Yet it would hardly be fair for us to
complain, therefore, that Gorki was a
dull fellow in the dramatic field. Prob
ably he is little awkward, but. after
ALL he has never prayed for grace. He
has had rather too much to say to
mould and shape and fit it into a story
with beginning, middle and an end.
Life does not always lie in such con-
venient layers. Nor does everything
which happens in the world bear on its
back yellow label upon which is
written the explanation Of the incident.
ihere can be no question that Gorki
has attained close and pressing grip
upon life in his play. And. of course.
there is klnshlp enough in life through
cut the world to make all fundamental
best, then, might Lodging" is pro-
foundly moving At its worst it gives
US dim figures on darkened stage
shouting and raving at nothing at all
or at something obscure beyond all rea-
son. At such moments the play might
AS well be Saturn's seven-ringed circus
and the audience so many willing as
tronomers with inadequate telescopes.
Arthur Hopkins has gathered an ex-
cellent cast for this picture of the
mishaps of the soul in the land of
bodies and staged the play we'll. Per
sonaly we would have preferred
somewhat more diluted darkness for
the first act. Late comers grouped
down the aisles of the theater rope
together like Alpine climbers with a
sure, footed usher for guide. After
all there IS excellent authority for the
use OF hight. even in important creative
achievements. For the rest it seemed
to US chat the setting of the play was
imaginative and the direction general
ly of high order. There are in the
play a number of truly inspired bursts
Of acting, and the matinee was
punctuated with sharp conflicts be-
tween those who wanted to halt the
proceedings on the stage long enough
for round Of applause and those who
insisted on things keeping right on.
The performance of Pauline Lord
vas the one which impressed us most,
but we also found Gilda Varesi very
striking particularly in her first scene.
Rosa!lnd Ivan was also good and Ed
ward &. Robinson carried off scene
m the last act with a true squirt of fire
Eva Macdonald gave a sincere and
telling performance and there was also
good work by Alan Dinehart, Cecil
Yapp, ". II. Thompson and Edwin
Nlcander was conspicuously excellent