Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-11-22
GILPIN CHIEF ASSET
OF 0'NEILL'S PLAY
Negro Actors Acting Puts
Power Into emperor
Jones"

Walnut Throughout the unreal
gloom Of a stage made West Indian for
est. and above the much more vivid
gloom of soul tormcntcd by terrible
fear. the genius of great actor stood.
safe and inspired. and wrought reality
out Of what was otherwise often moth
ing more than childish attempt to
stage the unStageable.
Philadelphia has heard much Of ''The
Emperor Jones'" and Philadelphia
crowded TO the doors this historic play
house last night to see Eugene O'Neill 8
strange play acted before the foot
lights. There was some of that same
Philadelphia that got up and left before
Rufus Jones, Pullman porter and tin
Seled emperor. lost his silver bullet and
met his doom in the Black Forest. Some
more Of that Philadelphia had made
up its mind to laugh and ridiculc be-
fore the final curtain fell. The rest
remained silent and paid real tribute to
play which strovc for everything and
achieved not all. but much.
It may have been easy for a man
Of the mind of Mr.. O'Neill to sit down
Mt his desk and write 1.-The Emperor
Jones" In doing so he created two
things-an unusual study in the psy-
chologv of fear and an oppressivcly
and impressive,y real picture OF n
tropical setting. Strange as it may
seem. the former phase has been faith
fully and gripping'y transferred to the
stage, but the latter fails of its pur-
pose.
The answer to this apparent anom-
a'v lies in the fact that D N"ill eX-
,rCsted the imnoSsibc. His first scene
was masterpiece; the rest was the
stravings of an intense imagination
into fields that no artist or stage di-
',n"tor could successfully reproduce.
Panler- ullgNtorS and futurlst
stage sets are worse than nothing. A
norson with any kind Of an imaglna-
tion can paint for himself n far more
real picture of the happenings that
hcfcll Rufus Jones after he fled his
throne than the most up-to-date stage
artist.
II IS true, Of course. that this physl-
cal nsnect of "Thc Emperor Jones' Is
NOT its important side. Yet without real :
ity of the physical, it Is difficult, II
nHt imposSible, to achieve the psyche
io~icnI And. furthermore. 1t seemed n
shame that after the KiplingeSquc nc-
tun' 'Ity of that first scene. the succeeding
scenes should lose their power because
thcy ATTEMPTED too much. No one cX-
nccts romance from Eugene O'Ncill.
hut there is 10 getting around the fact
thot in that first scene there is all tn"
,rnnhant forcpfulncsS Of the author of
"Soldicrs Three" and in the snarIing,
cockney Smithcrs hint of the shadow
of the gaunt II. l.. S. pceping in.
But If the author banked too heavily
Nm mechanical aid in his plays prOduc-
zion. the theme of his drama. the ter
ror and power of fear, found unbelicv-
able reality in the acting of Charles )
Gilpin. the Negro actor, OF whom TN
city has heard so much. Even thoS"
who failed to be impressed by the play
marvc'od at him.
Infection of voice that should serve
rs n model to AL young actors, beauty q
tone. clearness, intensity, sympathy
rnntomime--he combined them all as no
acton has done here this year, and it
, is his voice rising to an agOnizcd scream
which Impresses and thrills in those pre-
nostrrous Jungle episodes He even mas
to,s some of the lines of the author
wbich should never have been written
for stage produrtlOh'
The provincctown Players who stag"
.,Tnr Emrrror" also hav" provided
"Gmrnrcssrd Dr,irrS' lOnly seen her
IN ounirur rirvlrSD IL Il curtain raiser,
NH. clover satire bWtic"rgc tlnm Coos
and Susan GlNsml' gave the only Iighl
tonrh TO rhc evening. Cecil ClovcllN
who made the part of Smithers stan
out in the O'Nelll drama, had part in
the comedy.