New-York tribune., 1919-05-25
By Haywood Broun

advocate in regard to "John Fergu-
son. in spite Of the remarkably fine
performance by the members of the
Theatre Guild and the soaring dramatic
quality OF the play at its best The
play has q worst. 1t seems to us that
this has been generally neglected. OF
course, we may have been somewhat
too alert to discover 1t, because we
saw the play some days after it's first
performance during which we had read
as mplimentary a series Of reviews
as any production of the season has
received. So much praise is always a
challenge, and we want to accept it,
for from our point of view "John Fer
guson." along with its virtues, con-
tains some of the most annoying affec-
tations of the new Irish school of
realism.
1t was entirely proper that q revolt
should have como in the theatre
against the practice of invariably end
ing an act with punch line, "I am no
German spy, but captain in the in
telligance service of the American
army "Not SO fast, Ralph Morgan,
here is the money to raise the mort
gage and so on. But the result has
produced some conventions just as ar
tihcial. According to the practice of
st. John G. Ervine, ~ am no German
spy" or Il am the murderer" is invari-
ably followed by please pass the but
ter" or at looks like rain" Certainly,
an easy and naturalistic act ending is
neither real nor natural if the authors
effort to make it SO becomes obvious.
At the end of the third act of "John
5 Ferguson Andrew goes out Of the
|. house to kill the man who has wronged
his sister, but Ervine is too proud to
bring down his curtain at such the
strically effective point and, adds
needless scene, in which the mother
comes down the stairs, looks about the
room and then goes up to bed again.
There is perhaps chance for dispute
as to whether everyday folk strike
heroic attitudes and talk loftily in
periods of crisis. O. Henry wrote one
OF his most effectiYe short stories
about this point and let the issue re-
main draw. Thomas Burke in "Out |
and About London" testifies that the !
cockney always dramatizes himself in I
moment of strong emotional stress.
"The illiterate do not quote melo-
n !, al Il
them And he reports the mother of |
"a deserted girl exclaiming in police
court: "Ah, God! an shall this villain
escape from mis- crime scot-free?"
A railway man giving evidence at an
inquest suddenly rushed to the body, |
according TO Burke, and cried loudly:
"Oh, my dove. my dear! My little
blossoms been plucked away!" We do
not regard Burke's testimony as final,
but VIC are inclined to believe that
while emotional stress may not pro-
mote highfalutin' talk in Irish peasants
it is at least liable to bring quality
OF excited expression to anything which
Is said Ervine's hero starts off for
Jail to give himself up as a murderer
with the remark that it is getting
much colder. This seemed to US as
posey piece of repression as we had
encountered in many an evening.
But ST. John Ervine is not content to
be entirely realistic. He wants a more
lyric quality as we'll and some sym
boism to boot, and so he introduces
Of int Il
lack Of sense is apparent in nothing ex-
cept that his talk has a much more
highly literary flavor than any of the
rest. The part affords Henry Herbert
EAn opportunity to act elfnly. 1t
seemed to US thoroughly insincere
apiece of work on the part Of both
author and actor, and we found the
tckaracter not infrequently destructive
OF strikingly dramatic scenes. There
can be no question at all that Ervine
has devised one Of the most absolutely
disturbing and stirring scenes of the
season at that point in his play when
! the girl returns to tell of the wrong
put upNn her by the wicked landlord.
az is expertly contrived by the play
wright and superbly played by Helen
k<reeman and Augustin Duncan.
Miss Freeman gave US the surprise Of
sour life by the intensity Of the emotion
Ewnich she was able TO convey by en-
t'rciy legitimate methods. Nobody all
season has made us quite so unhappy.
But IN spite Of this fine burst Of violent
but truthful acting by Miss Freeman.
rwe found the best performance of the
evening that of Dudley Digges. who
gooes marvellously we'll with a charac-
Ter an which he is often breaking new
ground. Moreover, no actor ever had
part which was more against the col
1ar,' and yet he ia able to win bis
audience away from derisive laughter
TO the keenest sort OF sympathy for tho
spisiabie, gabby coward whom he nor
rrays. 1t is one Of those absolute,v
Fignt performances from beginning to
rno. u is performance over which T.,
enarscl and to shout.
We quite sgree With all those wbo
Gay that the Guild has justified its ex-
astcnce by this one production. The
performance, we think, is considerably
Ds'ter than the play. In addition to