Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-04-09
DRLNKWATER;S PLAY
ABOUT MARY STUART
The Man ho Drumatised the Soryyof abraham Lincoln
Presidency Has Tried His Hand Hih Considerable Sue
at the Story of the Tragic Queen Of Scots
By FELIX f. SCHELLING

IN tne tnlNtTNlN OI ttHHssNhh'
sight that failure is to be hers because OF
the insufficiency of any Of those VINO
love her TO fill the void Of her nature
with n great passion. Riccio Is mere
phrase maker and courtier in the con
Nentionalities OF courtship. His nature
is too shallow to stir to deep devotion
and a large sacrifice. The queen
scarcely interposes between him and his
fate and laments. when he has been
cruelty murdered on her very door silI'
that he might not have been nobler
cause for her great quarrel and redultal.
Darnley, the king and her husband, IS
merely contemptible with his rIoald
songs and his petty jenlousies. Even
Boutwell, who is Mt least direct and
! possessed Of certain bravado of mas
| terfulncss. cannot take the queen
whole heart. who. like Cleopatra. would
| Lave lover wholly, heroically hers y
lover who could feel the world well lost
! in the fierce joy Of possessing her, WHO
could dare all and lose all tor her sake.
And Mary. one of the grandcSt ot les
grandes amoreuses In all history
plunged madly into intrigue. crime
| imprisonment. death on the ScahoId'
because there was none among the men
who loved her who could hold out to
her the strong hand which she needed
and feed the hunger, the craving, me
magnificence of the great lover mlnd'
MIR. DRINKWATER' s play drama
lNl ties no more than the Rccio in
cidcnt. and its power Is in the as
closure of character through the clash
and personality Of his porsonaGeS
which Is the same thing as saying that
| his power is a veritably dramatic one
| ! have not had the pleasure OF seeing
| this play on the stage. II we did not
know il already, its success might hC
predicted from its very economy, OF
stroke. And, indeed. this is a feature
which will strike any careful reader
| ms likewise the circumstance that m"
| form Is prose. Ii is also noticcnhI"
that except for ono little touch ms TO
the advice Of one Hugo Dubois who
| "in an elaborate treatise on the cot
fure" advises azure or laZulnc gems
! for the hair of women Of fair com
| plexion. there is scarcely u touch OF
what might be called local coloring or
historical atmosphere in tho whole play.
! Possibly this is the moro justitiahlc in
that Mary's story is after all hero
universaiaed to be applicabl" to all
time. Most effective is the concluding
touch. Poor Riccio has fallen Darn
ley, the king" who weakly prctCnds
ignorance as to what he has procured,
has departed from the queens pres
ence and Boutwell, sends Mary Bcaton
to know il he can be admitted, to which
the queen replies: mot tonight, Rca.
ton" And once more the song rccurs
on her lips:
Not RicciO nor Dnrnlcy knew
Nor Boutwell, how to find
This Mary's best magnifcrnCc
OF the great lovers mind.
She opens the window as the candle
cutters ont and two "voiccS aS of n
dream are heard beyond. "lts a
damned silly song" says tho one.
Look at this queen. she tells you,
says the other. For. alas, this human
race OF ours goes on and on and learns
nothing.