New-York tribune., 1921-03-22
Mary Stuart
Brings Fine Role
To Great Actress
John Drinkwater's New Play
at the Ritz Gives Clare
Eames Chance to Shine in
Part of Many Dimensions
rran CAST
BY Haywood Broun

AiNAAtSCtuidtiy 1NAiy GIldIt 0OSS
not altogether satisfy us, but in such
a blazing palace we are not disposed
to quibble over cornices. The new play
by John Drinkwater, which was pro-.
duced at the new Ritz Theater last
night, seems to us more vivid and
imaginative piece than abraham Lin
ccln.' This, to our notion, sets it def
nitely among the finest of modern his
tcrical plays, second, we should say,
to Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra" but
to nothing else. 1t is more eloquent
than Lincoln" and touched definitely
with rhythm of humor which human
'zes it. MARY Stuart" is a play with
= pulse. Mr.. Drinkwater has not only
succeeded in holding up the mirror, but
when he turns it there is mist upon it.
AS for the architecture of the play,
we have fixed notion that good
way to start play is to begin at the
beginning and to end at the end. Mr..
Drinkwater has not been quite content
to do this. There is a prologue. In
this the author seeks to point moral,
or rather to show just how the life
OF Mary Stuart may be applicable to
problem faced by folk of to-day.
There is little too much of altrusm
IN this for artistry. The play does
not need the almost apologetic excuse
that it points moral. "Othello" is a
successful work of art even if some in
the audience go away unconvinced
that smothering wives is mistake.
Nor can it be said that the problem
which Drinkwater seeks to solve by
his story of Mary Queen of Scots is
thoroughly untangled when he is done.
he begins with two men of our day
who are discussing the question of
whether a woman can truly love more
than one man at the same time, and
ne sacks to throw light on the ques-
ton by pointing out that Mary did not
find even one real love.
The mistake, if it is such, is brief
Once the preface is over and the theme
has begun magic is achieved. 1t is
twofold magic. Not only does Drink
water give US character with all it's
dimensions, but he develops it in ac-
tion of the most engrossing sort. More
wisely than in Lincoln" he has confined
himself to a short span of time in the
life of his character. To know every
thing which person thought and did
In one special set of circum stances is
to know all about her that anybody
needs to know. The rest is only detail.
Drinkwater has chosen to build his
play around the murder of Riccio, and
he has accomplished some of the most
thrilling moments we have experienced
IN the theater by the manner in which
he has manipulated it. This is
murder which approaches mincingly,
on tiptoe, slowly but always it is COM
ing on. The inevitable, as Drinkwater
reveals it to us, is fringed in velvet
He shows US the kinship between fate
and peach skins. Indeed, the poignancy
of the tragedy which he has written
lies in the defeat and downfall of q
woman through the agency of soft and
feeble folk, jointless like Time.
Still, Mr.. Drinkwater out of common
gratitude should not speak quite so i'll
of Fate. In this production it has
great woman, he has been able to find
great actress to play the role. Clare
Eames is superb as Mary Stuart. There
are not many regal persons in the
theater, and few of them can burn
This time the miracle has happened
and spark and fuel are combined in the
same person. Few speeches have ever
blazed as did Mary's speech about the
Kings honor when Clare Eames spoke
last night. There was tenderness in
the performance and passion and CO.
quetry and grace and fury hot enough
to warm new theater. Fate has been
kind to this playhouse. On the very
first night an actress came upon the
4 stage and the place became at once no
l mere building of brick and gold paint,
II but a theater
n, Nor can Drinkwater complain of his
Y luck with the rest of the cast. Frank
Reicher as Riccio and Charles Waldron
rs Darnley were magnificent In
much lesser degree, but still good, were
Thurston Hall and Leslie Palmer. John
Drinkwater did not solve for us the
question Of whether woman can love
more than one man at the same time
The problem of critic is much
simpler. The Mary Stuart of Clare
Eames is enough for his worship.
AS a curtain raiser an amusing pan
tomime called "a Man About Town"
was excellently played. Austin Strong,
who devised it, was amusing and Deems
y Taylor helped greatly with his accom-
paniment, but the supreme hit of the