The New York herald., 1921-12-18

naDlC WHICH the rlant young WOmd
for the sports Of the farm near New
Yet it was, after all, mistaken to
declare her then Of an unsurpassable
beauty of person and altogether in
comparable in the charm Of her bear
ting. Still. there remained the picture
Of hesitating and tremulous girlhood.
Miss Atkins can begin her play when
and where she will, stop it at the
beginning or in the middle and consult
only her own untrammelled will In its
arrangement. It is only imperative
that she obscure no minute Of the
three phases Of such varied and unique
loveliness as Miss Ferguson so tri-
Nmphantly displays.
Miss Akins's Merits.
There Is so much originality in Miss
Akins's separate scenes and so much
distinction in the way that they are
usually written, 1t is regrettable to
think that these qualities must be
attained at the cost of the technical
mastery which would reveal them at
their best. So many Of her dramatic
problems are adroitly solved.
The gift Of jules pearls. for in
stance, that her bankrupt lover may
not be dishonored when he cannot pay
q gambling debt to a young woman Of
the same loose kind as herself, but not
nearly so deserving of them and the
safety their possession implies; and
the intrusion OF the drunken English
man just as her lover had determined
to make an earnest effort to forget
what she had been and marry her
these episodes reveal what dramatic
expedients Miss Atkins can invent for
the details Of her scenes. even II the
general effective plan OF a piece
escapes her entirely.
Then. there is real distinction In so
much of her dialogue-not, Of course.
the deplorable fine writing which tries
TO sound like everything in the world
but talk. but genuinely characteristic
speech that defers to good taste and
working knowledge Of the language.
It is to be hoped. therefore. that the
conversion Of the last act Of THE
Varying Shore" into the first may have
the same effect that such a trans
formation had in the case Of success
tul pay Ol tWCHty VA AhOAO y OeAA - e-pO'
Marguerite Merington, who made no
subsequent attempt to enroll her name
among the great playwrights. wrote
"Captain Letterblair," which served Z.
III. Sothern most profitably during
some of the younger seasons OF his
career. Miss Merington. who was an
accomplished woman and a well
known educator, first submitted her
play to Joseph Jefferson for practical
suggestions. He urged that the last
act as she had written the play be
used for the first. She took that ad-
vice to the undying delight of herself
and Mr.. Sothern. That change may
not have made all the success OF Cap
tain Letterblair." Yet the fact ought
TO encourage Miss Atkins.
Result OF Prevailing Slacl<ness.
Undoubtedly there will be after the
winters leanness In success greater
respect on the part Of the managers
for the skill OF the experienced play
wright. The revivals Of two notable
dramas Of the last decade have served
to make one thing clear. No author
with a story to recite need begin 1t
forty years after the death OF the
great AUNT Of the heroine or tell 1t
backward or sideways or in any other
fashion than that Of the straightaway
story teller with something to relate.
All the sliding backward and for
ward. departing to the right or the
left, or telling stories In any other way
than they could possibly have been ex-
pected to be told-those are but eva
sions. They are efforts to get around
the simple fact that the playwright
has nothing to say and hopes by these
pblique methods to deceive the specta-
tors into the belief that there Is real
bit of fiction before their eyes.
This discouraging novelty acquired
its popularity before popular dramas
like Bought and Paid For" and Alias
Jimmy Valentine" were written. or
course there Is nothing In these two
efforts to excite the enthusiasm OF
the so-called high brow" or even the
most lukewarm of his colleagues. But
both are serviceable and effective
stories told in the idiom of the thea
tire. Managers are going to respect
output of this kind more than ever
after the extravagant and erring
manner OF the dramatists this year.
This has not bssn the tendency of