The New York herald., 1921-01-30

admired to-day in THE First Year,
1t Is not so dscernible to spectators OF
both works. But it happened that the
time was up. Realism was entitled to
its periodic discovery.
Lucky Mr.. Craven!
Lucky Miss Gale.
Theatre Guilds Escape.
1t was fortunate for the organization
that the esoteric rites of the Theatre
Guild were practically held on last SUM-
day behind closed doors The members
alone were able to enjoy the first per-
formance Of John Hawthorne" and thus
a deadly blow to the popularity Of the
society was averted. 1t is not agree
able to think what might have been
said about this enterprising body IL
David Liebovitz's work had been pre-
sented as one Of It's regular offerings.
1t happens that for such theatre So
cieties there is positively necessary at
stated intervals a certain amount OF
gloom. 1t Is as indispensable to their
existence as vitamines to the human
organization. There has been so much
brilliancy about the Bernard Shaw play
that the members grew to long for their
allowance of the food on which such
societies subsist. There just had to
be something dreary to restore the men
tai balance Certainly there could be
nothing better for that purpose than
"John Hawthorne"
The piece has been extensively tout
ed. It was originally Intended for pub
lication and submitted to one or more
publishers, who refused to be bowled
over by the masterpiece. They did not,
of course, suspect its potentialities as
dispenser OF gloom, which would nat
urally appeal to a stage society before
all other human entities. In addition
to the form Of prose In which the author
has clothed the speech Of his charac-
ters, there Is an episode In which two
acrobats who have come to carry Off
the hero, talk In rhyme Maseheld's
the model of the playwright, who was
plainly inspired to write an American
tragedy OF worthy" nature.
The piece was wholly without humor.
Indeed. that deficiency seems charac-
teristic of the Yiddish theatre. Ben-Ami
has not exhibited a trace of IL, and
young Joseph Shildkraut was equally
destitute of a CLEAN OF fun. Perhaps 1t
Is just as well that the Yiddish trage-
dian is not endowed with sense OF
humor. He might find II at times diff
ficult to abstain from laughing at HIM
self
Theatre of Eugene O'NetIl.
The dramas OF Eugene O'Neill in spite
OF the present fame of the author still
seem to approach the theatre centre Of
New York with unexplained indirectness
of progress. Adolph Klauber. ever seek
ing to put the interestingly artistic be-
fore his patrons. is now TO bring TO the
uptown theatre world "Dlfrent," which
the alert Prov vincetown Players have
been showing In Macdougal street. 1t
was to the enterprise of Mr. Klauber
that emperor Jones' travelled north
of Fourteenth street. 1t was through
Witnessing n representation OF that
powerful study of terror at the Selwyn
Theatre that one realized how much the
regular rather than the amateur stage
could do for Mr.. O'Nell.
OF course there was no question OF an
elaborate investture OF Emperor
Jones' for those few afternoon represen-
tations, but Il was plain that an imag-
inative and sympathetic stage designer
could have vastly Increased the effec-
tiveness of the play. Mr.. Gilpin, on the
bleak stage with the gnarled trees here
and there to represent different vistas
of the lmpenetrablc forest was alto
gether capable OF delivering the message
of the author. He did not fall In this
purpose. Yet the cooperation of some OF
the other stage arts might have made
his work profoundly more Impressive.
1t is through his contempt for conven-
tional form possibly rather than for any
other reason that Mr.. O'Neill finds ac-