New-York tribune., 1919-05-13
Theatre Guild Presents
New Irish Plav

In "John Ferguson" a play of Irish
life, by st. John Irvine, presented by
the Theatre Guild at the Garrick The
atre last night, there is excellent proof
that the materials of real drama are
the same as those of melod.ama' There
is mortgaged farm, the black hearted
villain who wrongs a girl, and the re-
venge, but an ironic twist makes them
new The events are the measuring
sucks which these people use to plumb
the depths of their faith in life.
John Ferguson, man of stern
orthodoxy, tries to crush a confused
swell swell OF events into the rigidity of his
Biblical faith. He accepts without
niasphemous questionings the misfor-
tunes which beset the latter years of
an upright life. His farm is mort
gagged to John Withrow, a cruel bully,
who is not willing to wait for money
that is expected to arrive from Ameri-
ca. But his son and daughter do not
share his hard submissiveness. To
save the home, the daughter accepts a
mean and abject little shopkeeper, who
cherishes malignant hatred for the
landlord because Of many insults suf-
ferad at his hands. 1t is the brother
wno refuses to accept his sisters sac
rlfice and insists they must let the
farm 20.
Then when the grill goes at night
alone to John Withrow to tell him that
ne may take the farm he injures her
1t is this outrage to the woman he
loves that finally rouses the abject
little shopkeeper to momentary
heroic stature, and he rushes out to
murder Withrow. But not even the
wrong to his daughter blinds Ferguson
TO the ain OF murder and he follows the
| tn l.
brooding boy meanwhile listens to a
half-wit who cunnnigly surmises that
the grocer will not Kill Withrow; hit
rage will cool and his customary terror
will overtake him in the sight of his
enemy, and the boy himself goes ou,
to make vengeance sure. The eroce,
is arrested, notwithstanding his terror.
stricken otestations Of innocence, bu,
no one believes that he did not commit
the murder. The girl arrives at sor,
OF love for him because he has demon.
strated his latent manhood, but Johr
Ferguson is unforgiving, strangely anc
ironically. when the money comes from
America that, had it come by the earl
Ter post, would have saved this cycle of
tragedy. 1t is then that the son and
daughter turn and deride their fathers
faith In an all-wise providence, and the
son, unable to let an innocent man
60 to his death, confesses the murder
Then for the first time his Bible fails
to clear for John Ferguson the malig-
nancy and stupidity Of fate. For a
moment he faces squarely the enigma,
and then returns for comfort to his
Bible.
The play does not 60 unfa1teringly
1t halts good deal here and there
but in the last act it picks up strength
and speed and, pushing aside a senti-
mental solution, thrusts out for the
deeper romance Of truth.
Augustin Duncan was an impressive
and genuine figure as John Ferguson
Henry Herbert gave an unusually fine
impersonation Of the somewat symbolic
figure of the elfine half-wit. Helen
freeman was excellent as the girl. But
Rollo Peters played the son with little
assurance. and Helen Westley seemed
to miss all the values in the part of the
mother. She read the lines like an
automaton, and 1t would be difficult to
know just what she attempted to rep
resent.