New-York tribune., 1920-12-23
MARY Rose Seen
AT the Empire,
Is disappointment
Barrie's Fancy Seems Often
Muddled in His New Play
and Ruth Chatterton Is
Insuited to the Title Role
THE CAST
By Haywood Broun

The tirst performance Of Barrie s
Mary Rpse" st the Empire last night
marked for US the most devastating
disappointment which we have ever ex-
perienced in the theater We had been
told by @those who saw the play in
London that we should sec Barrie's
loftiest flight OF fancy, and yet 1t
seemed 10 US a play by a man con-
stantly ready to meet the objection.
This doesn't make any sense" with
the reply. "But, my dear fellow it's d
fantasy"
True fantasy. We tqnk, is some
thing which scars above the clouds
and not~ into them Mary Rose iS
hopelessty muddled Again We were
prepared to find a new Barrie Z Bar
rie who had shaken himself Sree from
sentimentalty and this time told bitter
things for the excellent re Ason that
they were true things. AS matter OF
fact, AZ nsuch times as we werc able
20 understand the intent Of MARY
Rose we were not convinced OF IS
truth, and in all Barrie's various rose
-colored guises we like hin leas. Of
all in his latest appearance as SEN
timentaN little atheist l. may be
true thai all love is finite aa1 must
die, but if so then Barrie has made
a quite unjustitiable to do IN the past
moment.s4 We are not poin., t. be
fooled again, and when he tells us
now that the one comforting hope Of
the future is of place Of nothing
ness and of sleep we are prepared
merely to lift our eyebrows aud re-
PLY: 1--WE don't believe IT.
Regarding such things as life after
death we are willing to admit the pos
slbility of many opinions even in one
mind, but for the performance Of
Mary Rose and more particularly
the performance of Miss Ruth Chatter
ton, all our notions and impressions
US most impressive. We think it q
very bad performance. Most of all we
disliked Miss Chatterton's set deter
mlnation to help out every whimsical
line by reediItg it whimsically, as if she
could not trust the original impetus of
the author to make it reach. 1t is d
quaint conceit, not unlike that Of the
man who said he was sure he could
cap the chasm because if his first
jump did not take him far enough he
would simply augment his effort with
another jump. Some of the worst
tricks of Miss Chatterton are not her
fault, but arc merely studious obedi-
ence to Barrie's express directions.
Barrie has thought of Mary Rosc
as she first appears as q young CIR
upon whom there has come through Q
strange experience a certain retardins
touch OF frost which has kept her
girl as we'll as woman. Accordingly h
had provided that Mary Rose shall
make her first entrance on the dead
run across the stage and that she shall
perform several clumsy childish antics
during the course of the act. In spite
of the fact that Barrie has certain
advantage over us because he may
know what he is driving at, we still
maintain that all this is i'll judged
The complete and supreme parental
authority of any artist ends from 1hs
moment, he stands back and says TO tlc
public ''This is it, We now feel g
direct license to look and answer, "Oh,
is it," 80
At any rate, the effect of the 2nt.cs
prescribed for Miss Chatterton was not
to give the picture of d curiousiy
youthful woman. but OF a mature per
son with an inclination and deter
rpination toward cuteness. For the rest.
we can hardy believe that Barrie in
tended that his heroine should be q
person x)larp edged in all her emo
tions. It ought not to be in anybody S
intent that Mary Rose should be COM
pletely Sophisticated and hard and self
conscious. We think that Miss Chatter
ton is just this. To us there was moth
ing in her performance which would
not have fitted brilliantly into brittle
high comedy. After watching her Mary
Rose we are extremely anxious and
hopeful that she will some day have
the chance TO 90 Lady Teazle
Tom Nesbitt is pretty good as the
young naval officer VINO narries Mary
Rose, and much better than that as the
Australian soldier. Here it might DC
we'll 20 Note a quaint and amusing i'm
peyiai touch of Barrie's. We are asked
to be sorry for the tragic fate of ths
sweet little son of Mary Rose, whe
altogether excellent performance Of The
evening" was that of Ada King as tn
old housekeeper. Winifred Fraser wa
fearfully soft as the mother of Mar
Rose, and both the old men were con
ventionaily handled to the last degree
1t is only fair to add that here is hac
work by the author. The quarrel scene
between the old cronies are quite i
the spirit and the manner Of Samue
: Shipman's "Friendly Enemies" Eve
the old device OF showing a quarrel an
= then HAVING II repeated twenty year
~ later with exact the same lines be
ing spoken is employed. The settin
10 poor and may have been done b
Raphael Tuck
Here there should be a pause 10 pei
nit the Statement that even in our vic
lent rage and disappointment owe