Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-12-17

how the little pocketbook is going to b
avsn 70 Grentaunt Matilda, that no on
for amusements.
U,HEATRICAL men know all this
from long and bitter experience. and
,hor bepin to get glum two or three
...ocks before the week before Christmas.
Msoy do their Christmas Cumming
sor,y. as It were.
e"r'S Ts.o houses-the Walnut and the
chnhert--wil he dark. Only one show
Iii come to town In the legit: Ihat
wiz ,s Ethel barrymore in ''Dcclasseo,'
,nS onS Miss Barrymore's popularity ought
ao ho oble to overcome the traditional
10 sonal hoodoo. If the play is only
s.an"holf Ms good as advance reports
;nd;catc, It IL altogether likely that the
rhristmns present slump will not be
felt at the Broad Mt all:
You might not believe 1t after read
Inc what producers OF revues ana ped
room farces have to say, but tnere are
some people VINO
a,;eo RnrrynOre stick close to their
n.S..,,e iffer fircsides when the
ne. SL..,co "grcatcst musical
Long Ao'" melnnges' come to
,.., and say with both hope and
town, In their tone, "We'll wait for
pr"' nort Warficld show, or Maude
tns as.ns % show or Ethel barrymore
show. 49,, ,oon,e as are Phila-
,.iuh;ons hnve had TO wait a good long
., oet n chance to see the deep
tir,e Miss barrymore, who used to De
V,,,.nr VolIeW almost es faithful and regular
ViS,Io, ,,,..r,a. n. G.. Cartons The
ms 9s T TChanre" marked her last appear
un a. here, except in vaudeville, some
inaro ah.v around four years ago. since
Mns ,Sa. proodway has seen plenty OF her'
,n', ,n." proad street has been neglected.
ous Sow she is back to fill an engage
.nt ,t" cot for last year. but upset pE
men. serious illness. Her vehicle
,he ,he...nac,assee. IS built much on the orde:
tho Arthur Wing Pinero sequence III
,nbich Miss barrymore scored SO SUI.
.art,,,v Wnt in the old days. The strange
.s;nn 10 however, that the author OF
;I "peelassee" is n young St. LOUIS
,,oman whose acquaintance win Ens
I;sh aristocracy has been through tne
,nodhm Of extensive rending: Her na'nc
s. Zoe Atkins, and sho Is OF almost , ns
much interest to PhiladelphiahS us Mi''
Barrymore herself. % tit,ed
HDeclassee" is the story or titieu
English woman fallen on syli duSs nmu
S.ar Helen Hnden is not unlike Zoe
p,nnds,l Did or Paula Tanqueray or Iris.
o.. 10 not exactly Of the "hearth-rus
ouS a.,, Sorietv of Pinero heroine since she
t 70. ,roro Initiative and determination,
hu h"t aside from that she belongs to the
.n,a ~. aeneral type Of character. IL Is
San Sa -octlessness and rashness that Drlng
.hart her misfortune. but, once down.
sp sbs makes plucky fight to rehabiil-
snto sn. herself and seems almost on the
uo,nt ,% Of achieving the happiness she
rravss when fate steps in and trumps
Miss Akips has had the terrible
charge thrown Mt her Of leaning TOO
heavily toward the romantic school. A
very small minority of critics have said
that "Declassce" was the Laura Jean
Libbey conception of English aristoc-
racy, but the others have welcomed her
enthusiastically and gratefully as
member of that small circle OF American
playwrights-Eugene O'Neill, Edwara
sheledon. Langdon Mitchell-who stand
out above mediocrity. The public tIo
iudpe bv it's reception) has allied itself
nrmly with the majority. Miss Barry
more herself may or may not be the
cause Of that pleasant reception.
The fact remains that Miss Akins
has placed two more real .p1S,u ply, or cono an
boards recently one, DaaIS ~ . Nnw
a:Huntins, Is complet,hs; 81; 'ons nsd % ths
YORK run % at the presen,. ST. .a''' =; ',';th a nj.
sic Ferguson, is just settling down for
probable winter engagement. The
arst Of these two inclines to the real
,stic screea the seeonu 40 "sA'
lavender-scented romance
mildly interested in MISS st Akns ooutipa anu heg
ouoe ouoeesS, 80, arc sos t;mos tbev,vc seen
T,ho, M Ro rrrrora muo VI tt is of course, ouite
nntmroi Co.. foIi,s bere to bc especiaily
W w