The Washington herald., 1920-03-30
MONDAY THEATER OPENINGS,
Poli's-sTweIfth Night
By GEORGE PERRY MORRIS.

ny 0EOhGE fEnht AORhASs
Loyal friends OF an earlier day
and a new group OF playgoers who
had foresworn hope OF ever seeing
the veterans. but who welcomed
with delight the unexpected chance
combined to fill the theater last
evening at the opening or the So
thern-Marlowe Shakeaspearean sea-
SON. They were cordial at first.
but not effusively 80. Even Mr..
Sothern and Miss Marlowe had to
run the gauntlet of proved merit.
But once IL was clear that several
years retirement from the public
stage to take up service for the
men who fought In the war had
not lessened the technical skill of
the favorite players. then the ap-
plause was as copious as 1t was
discriminating. Recalls were many.
and were responded to in a way not
to destroy illusions created by the
acting. There was no egoistic
ispeechmaking preceded by pressure
from the crowd, pressure of a vul-
gar because selfish kind, which
finds some stars that might be
mentioned weakly susceptible to
flattery and prone to crate "out
of part" All that happened before.
on and behind the stage last even
ing was seemly and in order.
Shakespeare was not Cohanized.
To an excellent cast the man
ayers had added mountings. cos
tunes and settings that were new
and lacking in the tawdriness that
often follows much touring. The
scenery. while not of the latest mode
a la Craig and Jones. nevertheless
was far removed from that which
Irving and Mansfield gloried in in
their realistic day. Here Mr.. Soth-
ern and Miss Marlowe have taken
the middle road; and they utilize
the better possibilities of each sys-
tenn of staging; but not forgetting
of course to make the latest devices
of stage lighting add beauty such
as they did not dream Of getting
when they began to tour together
in 1911.
The comedy of the Twelfth
Night" is one that any group or
Shakespearean players is polite in
selecting for a first performance OF
a run. First rate comedians and
first rate modern comedies are so
rare today that the tale that
Shakespeare tells Of Italians whose
loves were tangled up with comic
errors comes like balm to a soul
sick of current introspective drama
and current shallow frivolity. II
fortune is kind enough to provide
for the parts with humor exuding
from them players like Miss Mar
lowe (Viola), Mr.. Rowland Buck
stone (Sir Toby. Belch). and Mr.. J.
SaYre Crawley (Sir Andrew Ague-
cheek), then an audience seeing
the play is thrice blessed. Miss
Marlowe's humor in her part is not
quite as infectious now as II used
to be. What she used to do with
her voice she now does in part by
facial by.play. But Roland Buck
stone, being younger, is still ro-
bustious as well as Infectious. still
the unrivalled interpreter of the
clownish, sensual, coarse-humored
and wench- -plIilandering funmakers
of the days that are past.
Mr.. Sothern, through most of the
earlier scenes of the play. is a minor
figure. But with the change of the
prim, stiff, conventional steward,
Malvolio. into the deluded lover OF
Olivia, and ultimate inmate~of a
madhouse he claims attention for
subtle playing that finally wins him
exclusive curtain calls. But il is in
the tragic not the comic that he is
at his best. as those who see him
tonight in Hamlet will note.
AS of yore, so now, the managerial
and playing ideals of-these stars"
are still such that they gather about
them excellent players. who can use
the glorious speech of the plays in
telligently and carry of the parts
handsomely. 1t is a cooperative
not a competitive one. |
The atmosphere Is reverent. Tradi-
tiOn is not spurned. The aim is
art. and education of the public |
through art.