The Washington herald., 1921-12-18
Tragedy
Hard to Analyse
At First Glance
Two Trips to the Theater Advis-
able in Case of "The En-
peror Jones'"
By EARLE DORSEY.

Eugene o'Nein has written into his much-dscusscd
play. The Emperor Jones" II is a play that will
sustain at least three visits the theater without
eNhausting ones interest and IL is certainly play
requires least inspections to properly
grasp its full dramatic significance
The story concerns one Brutus Jones negro.
who Kills another in a gambling fracss.
kills his prison guard and escapes TO the West
Indies where he establishes empire by the
superior cunning and shrewdness that is born 4
the negro's contact with the white Bosstful
his powers boastfuI OF his ability Outwit his
subjects when they rebel against him. the ncgr"
emperor is eventually revealed in conflict with
those fearful mental forces OF superstition and fear
that shred out his pseudo-culture and reduce him
the mental level OF his black island
subjects.
The FIRST act atmosphercslly as bleak winter
sunshine. reveals the negro at the height Of hfs
powers. hlled TO the brim with bravado. cEoIsm
and fixed belief his powers outwit rnos.
forces which his rebel subjects about to bring
against him. lie has provided food Tor flight
through the jungle. his Baptist culture guards h.
against the voodooism of the islands and without
he blatantly boasts Of his proves
empire builder and a poneer-in short black
with a white mans faith, faith that bred
Of contact with the stronger race.
Then. bit by bit o'Nein slowly strips him of
the veneer. the artihce the initiative culture. th-
specious hardihood that in his heart the negro
fancied his First his food has been
stolen. The darkness falls. The jungle is inn
penetrable He coIlides with trees and hurts him
self. Run madly as he Will the menacinE tom-tom
by his Of culture fall from him.
His physical plight is bad but his mental plight is
terrible His fears mount like a holocaust. His
guile hardihood. his Baptist doctrine his Pull
sophistcation. fall from him like garments.
The woods peopled with the fantasies OF his
fear-tortured Imagination. Always the tom-tom
beats, ever nearing he wanders in wide circles
through the jungle. Finally reduced the brute
level OF his black pursuers his centuryold veneer
OF civilization to the very bone he is shot
like rabbit by his followers who IN their racial
habitat. prove not his equals but his superors
do not profess to know whether OXEN in
tended the metaphor. but seemed that the
beating tom-tom. nerve-rsckinE to audience and
Brutus Jones alike. might represent a symbol or
the neEro's course through civilization. ever wing
ing in wide circles but returning, apparently IN IN"
end. to the cultural starting point. This may be a
darker picture than ONeill himself imagined. but
it is there If one cares to read it into the story.
EVEEY once in while one feels it nscesssrv
- ing drama extend a measure Of sympathy
to those less-sophsticated producers OF stage
merchandise who frequently brought to the
foreshores Of madness by the conflicting. incorn-
petent and. occasionally. downright insincere
criticism" voiced by provincial reviewers
4 recent unfortunate % this type is Charles
l. Wagner. the who advanced the funds Tor
the production Of Clare RUNNERS recent stag.
backhre The Mountain Man play which was
set forth at the Garrick here weeks ago under
such weird and extraordinary critical circum-
Moving his play into Atlantic City FIRST. M
Wagner's hopes scared. high the scashore
critics Eravely enunciated their several pacans
and paneGyrics Being a producer OF small cNp'-
rience Mr.. Wagner may be excused for the natural
enthusiasm that mounted in his breast he read
these hymns Of seashore priase but he must h.
doubly excused in the light Of what followed in
Washington, for his contemptuous indifference &"
the warning Of his plays inconsequencc that ws>
concurreutly sounded in these columns.
seems impossible believe when looks
hack in
paper in Washington labeled The Mountain Man"
another charming comedy refresh
ing romance a story OF unceasuE in
terest and increasing charm" Louder yet the
chorus the same afternoon when another local
journal called The Mountain Man" a play "thst
promises attain the dramatic heights" ones
amazement. however. increased when third
journal raptly called "a delightful triumph
well conceived, finely wrought and vol
executed" To cap the climax, the public -ints
famed forth message from he Garrick nas--
ment in which The Mountain Man" was h -a.led
in not short of classic drama.
Mr.. Wagner was bit surprised. Of COZ e. 90
this column calling his play "incon, ocut
and trivial" but he was confidently assure that
all drama snathema in this journalistic sTctor
and that he had nothing whatever 10 fear ~ his
plays future
Under such circumstance fancy the sn9assi
surprise, the mounting CONSERVATION, the -ene
dismay experienced by Mr.. Wagner when, T-erinE
through the New York newspapers the day follow
ing his plays Manhattan premiere he fauHd
Mr.. DeFoe OF the World calling The Mo-i.ta'n
Man" play which seems ineXcusably c'1r lsy.
mystifying and worst of all. shopworn"
play OF "soggy sentiment with irritatiu- and
unsympathetic collection OF people" In short, -
play that did not afford a profitable night in the
theater"
Mr. Lawrence Reamer in the New York Herald.
in turn, found that for short play IL has -
number OF impossible incidents" and that - - n
play quite obviously written for one-syllsble
minds" OF a number of mysteries concerned with
its production Mr.. Reamer found that none is
deeper than the fact that survived first
rehearsal" Sidney Blackmcr. he asserted. could
perhaps have proved the salvation OF anything less
hopeless than Miss RUNNERS play" but or Mis-
Catherine Dale owen. whose hoydenishl,
acclaimed street, ne declares that "no lovclior
incompetent has attempted leading role th'
metropolitan this season
Mr.. Wagner. would SEEM has mu,'
about the business of play producing. I~..
of which is the matter "criticsrf ,s q ls