The Washington herald., 1920-04-20
MONDAY THEATER OPENINGS
BeIasee-.An SeuIs' Eve.s
BY EARLE DORSEY.

There Is nothing mysterious un-
derlying the reasons for the bad
production Of a. good manuscript
but when a producer like John D.
Williams. with such plays as
o'Neils Beyond the Horizon" and
Brieux's Letter Of the Law" al
ready to his producing credit ac-
tually invests time. money and ar
tistic energy in a manuscript Hike
"All Soufs' Eve" the Anne Crawford
Flexner play at the Belasco this
week. the reason therefor must, be
sought from the Ouija board.
Speaking of Ouija boards. "All
Souls Eve" appeared to be nothing
more nor less than an attempt by
Mr.. Williams and his playwright to
buy in on the rising market in
goose flesh drama, to capitalize the
vogue for the supernatural, and
gloss the whole thing over with
third act that Is. to quote the
trenchant Mr.. Woollcott. licked and
stamped on for revenue purposes
only.
In introducing her new play via
the program. prior to curtain time.
Miss Flexner has had recourse to
Barrie's Little White Bird" where
in, the author OF "A window in
Thrums' reflects that "the only
ghosts. believe. who creep
into this world are dead young
mothers. returned to see how their
children fare. There is no other
inducement great enough to bring
the departed back. They glide into
the acquainted rooms when day and
night-their jailers-are in the
grip. and whisper, How is it with
you. my child?' They bend over
him to see that he sleeps peace
fully and replace his sweet arm be-
meath the -coverlet. They open the
drawers to count how many little
! vests he has. They love to do
these things"
II Mr.. Barrie had known that
any one would attempt to fashion
play Of the type Vf All Souls
Eve" from that observation he
might have remained silent. Miss
Flexner. however. has fashioned a
| play, after a fashion, on that very
Barrie thought, and the finished
work is a thing to make angels and
dramatic critics weep. AS it stood
last night, "All Souls Eve" repre-
sented a shallow theme, developed
with a technique that should serve
as a horrible example to high school
| dramatic clubs and invested with
species of enunciation and direc-
tion that smacked of the explosive,
muffler-cut-out school.
From the beginning to the end
it fairly wallowed in a depressing
| sequence of sickness, superstition.
tragedy and despair. unmellowed by
the slightest relief either in the
form Of comedy or optimistic imag-
cry. Being gloomy, it failed to at
tain the stature of tragedy; at
tempting force. it attained mere
sound and fury.
Miss Flexner has attempted to
prove that mothers suddenly taken
from the earth by the auto accident
or other routes. force their mater
nal devotion into the body of a
substitute. presumably a nurse from
ireland, SO that such unwilling and
otter reluctant recipients of this
soul-transfer shine with all the ma
ternal beauty of the departed one,
even though possessed. originally.
of the soul of a slavey.
| Such is the idea that Miss Flex-
ner has attempted to convey and
her remarkable effort warrants a
swift descent of the curtain upon
the details of the development. The
cast selected for the effort. with the
exception of one or two individuals.
does John D. Williams producing
credit small favor. The enuncia-
tion of the dialogue is possibly the
most apparent fault of the piece.
lines being uttered in a furious.
hysterical fashion that makes 1t
impossible to hear the dialogue for
the mere detonation OF the words.
Skuh~rt- q rpfeE-aHs . U,laf-