Evening star., 1920-12-20
"Aphrodite." :"

| "Aphrodite.' romance of ancient
Egypt. which with its gorgeous scenes
astonished and. delighted New York
audiences for an entire season, opened
eor weeks run at Polls Theater last
| night. As scene after scene is re-
veaied, beginning with the forecourt
OF queen Berenike's palace in Alex
andria. and including the grove of
Aphrodite, .Aphrodite's temple. a bac-
cnanallau feast and the beacon of
Alexandria, the question the auditor
mas himself asking is. What next
/ wnat more can be devised?"
II is truly huge production which
r. Ray ComstoclS and Morris Gest
nave laid before the public: SO huge
that there must Inevitably be difficult
ties in road operation. The spectacle
rs neautifnl, Notwithstanding the fact
mat mere and there is a costume that
effect Of sumptuousness; Of regal
! spiender. of barbaric customs is car
FRIED out ,avishly.
The. play was written by Pierre
trohdaie and George e. Hazelton.
tr BASED on the novel of Pierre Louys.
klne' creator of the Russian ballet
and the music by Henri Feyrier and
Anselm Goetzl. The impress which
tIreece made upon the Egyptian port
vas marked. In the play it really
dominates.
The story presented in "Aphrodite"
| deals with the love of Demetrios, a
aFeeb sculptor. who has created a
:: wonderful statue OF Aphrodite, god
! cess OF love and beauty He is we'd
aea 70 ms art. and his love is for his
statue OF the goddess. In vain the
Queen of Egypt. Berenike. loads
favors upon him. even makes min,
ruler OF the land: yet Demetrios re.
mains faithful to his art. But
Chrysis. beautiful courtesan from
Galiiee. crosses his path. His passion
Is aroused. and under her spell he
promises her three gifts. whicl, call
for robbery. murder and sacriiese. He
commits the crimes. In a vision
Aphrodite appears to Demetries and
he returns to his early ideals and
spurns Chrysis when she comes Offer
ing love. He exscts from her an oath
to wear In public the gifts which he
has obtained for her by crime, know
ing that II means her death In the
end Chrysis triumphs, though she
dies, and Demetries is broken heart
ed. In her he recognizes his true
Aphrodite.
With such a plot and such set
ting, much is poSsible.@ The spirit of
! love and license which was rampan.
when Aphredite was hailed as god
dess. is everywhere. Only Demetrins
apparently has escaped this spirit
when the play opens. Love rules apd
cruelty is as commonplace. The
feast Of Bacchys, mistress to the
queens physician, marks the climax
Of the picture, though not of the play.
1t closes with the crucihxion OF
Aphrodasia, 9. dancing slave, suspect.
ed of one of the crimes committed by
Demstrios for Chrysis.
| Mckay Morris. as Demetrios. is the
dominant figure. and his character
! ization of the Greek artist is remark :
| able. Pauline Armitage plays ChFysis
with grace and abandon. Others in
i cluded in the cast are Patricia
OConnor. as Berenike, the queen;
Frederick Mscklyn, as Timon, a
| Greek gallant; William Belts. AS
F.; Theoxenes. the minister of state: v.
| L. Granville and ". Clay Inman. The
cast runs into the hundreds when all
/ the slaves. dancing girls, guards. etc,
are taken into consideration Live
/ cameis add to the favor of the east
conveyed by the play.
I The music. composed particularly
/ with q view to enhance the spirit Of
/ the play, adds considerably to it's sue
| cess.