Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-12-31


now have five shows here that are wei
not counting the musical comedies, Of
prefer that kind Of spice to their menu,
TIME Incompatible Ethel Barrymore
J. remains ut tho Broad, her glowing
personality and her keen art lending n,
semblancc Of vivid life to "Declassec.
which would be anemic without her.
''The Wandering Jew gem Of its
kind, continues at the Forrest. with
Tyrone Power in the lead "The Ia
nous Mrs. Fair" with Blanche Bates
and Henry Miller. remains at the Gar.
rick. "The Bad Man." one Of the very
best pieces Of technical stage writing
and mounting seen here In long time.
stays at the Walnut. and "The Bat.
which needs no further commcnt, re-
smashed the smithereens out of our
theatrical marathon records.
There is always n temptation Mt this
particular period Of the year to indulge
In both retrospect and prophecy. The
retrospect is easy
o,,l f. enough. But there
Future Is season in tho mem.
Much Brighter DRY Of the Oldest
inhabitant W b on
prophecy with any degree of authority
--.was so difficult. The theatre going
rublic Is. and has been. In most pccu-
liar mood. shopping" for amusements
has become the custom. and every cn'
terprise designed TO entertain has felt
Tho effects Of this more careful selection
and more conservative buying.'
But this much prophecy can be ven
cured with some degree of certainty that
II will be fulfilled: The remainder OF the
season will see fewer new plays aud
more revivnls of old favorites. and the
public will go to the theatre more lib
orally because Of this. There is strong
undercurrcnt of optimism in the profcs-
sion. II is felt that the worst has
passed and that there is going to he a
gradual resumption of theatre going on
a large scale.
And there Is another favorable angle
10 this. Earlier in the season We were
getting plays that had not been tried
out: that were largcl ~ experimental :
that had not "found themselves so to
sneak. Now, however. the plays that
We will get will be those that have
stood the test of road or New York
engagements.
AND yet VIC have really had some
n excellent plays this last four
months. I'm not going to put my head
IN any ones moose by vcnturing on the
favoritc critics pastimc of listing tn"
"tcn best" But there are some that
come to mind Immediately in looking
backward over the half season just
past.
with n full knowledge of tho fact
that It's only n matter of personal
opinion after all. ! admit that "Mr.
PIN Passes BY" gave me, more genuine
and that Erskinc Sanford. in the role Of
the quaint Mr.. PIN. gave me the best
bit Of individual character acting have
seen in long while.
Among the serious plays. find it
hard to choose between "a Bill Of Di-
vorcement" and "Thc Easiest Way. -
Naturally, that will arouse the ire of
the Barrie fans. but confess that
MARY Rose" did not impress me as
Barrie at his best by any means.
We have had some good mclodramns.
Naturally. "rhc Bat" heads the list. .
but Bulldog Drummond' was good
show of its type. and "Thc Night
cellently put on.
Muslcally, "Irene" and "Thc Merry
Widow" stood out against all new COM
petition.
And last, but by no means least, there
Ia "Thc Bad Man. now at the Wall
nut. Here Is whole college course in
playwriting. SO far rs construction is
concerned. "Thc Bad Man" is as near
ly perfect technically as anything !
have seen. And. best Of all. it IL II
swift moving story, with II hint of
mclodrama in il, but its main ingredient
IL vein of satiric comedy. which per-
mits Lopez. the ignorant Mexican ban
dit, to point out with the kccneSt pos
sble satire some of the absurditics of
the system of law and conventions un .
der which we live in the United States.
THE Bad Man" is the one show |
ran recall which absolutely conforms to
the much advertised three unitiCs" OF
timr, place and theme. Yet it is done
without forcing. The three acts all
take place in the Same setting and on
the same day. The whole play cotisd
MS matter Of fact. be given without
the falling of the curtain. And. in ad
dition, it has so much real drama aud
such a wealtk of real comedy that it il
enjoyable whether you get the point OF
the satire or not
ET'S all make Ncw Years rcSoIU
II ti0ms. For the theatre. gocr: II 4
Show Is advertised TO start at SIS,
rcsolre 10 be there at S:6. For tn,
manager: II ! ddrCrtiSc 10 start 4
ssho,o at SIS, I rcsoire to start it Al
S;fj.
In spite of its defects of stage work
nanship. there $ an unusually fine lit
erary quality about ''Dccassce," il
which Ethel Bar
Fine Literary rymorc is appear,
Quality Found irt. lns at .u tnc dbr ihronu
Deef"SSee in keen cpiGrams
and there are time
when they reach fine lyric quality tha
'iSn I often heard nowadays. One notable
point of this kind occurs in the frs
act, when Lady Helen swings into
most stirring panegyric of the 'maC
NarriCks,' her ancestors, who blithel,
fought and died for all sorts of causes
but always in the interests of ideals an,
OF clean sportsmanship.
couldn't help thinking, as ! Sa
through the play, what a pity it is tina
Miss Barrymore doesn't give us 9Th
Second Mrs. Tanqueray''- or Lad
Windemere's Fan" She would be su
perb in both plays and they are bot
well worthy of such IA revival as sh
would give them.
"DeGlassee" tempts to quotation ever,
here and there. Of course, the lines
detached from their context and with
out the significance of human voice in
nection. must suffer in cold print, bu
some OF them are too good to be for