Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-03-25

X n which John Drew and Mrs. Leslie Ca
z Z to be acclaimed the seasons best her
|away. :,
I'm Aside from this Maugham play de
ssnt attractions, with one exception lii
/ |1rHERE have been in all thirty fiv
I'LL productions here this year withou
music, and of this number nineteen wcr,
AZ American authors. seven by English
three adapted from the French, two from
tthe Spanish. one by an Irish dramatist
ase from the Italian nnd two written II
Mis- country by foreign women, which
risht be classed in the first group.
But-and that word should be itaii
s.ed-a different complexion is discov.
ered when that list of plays is boilet
Sovn to include only those of substance
| and outstanding merit. Then we find
s.Nfsry Rosc," "a Bill of Divorce
nent," "The Skin Game" and 1.-THE
4 wandering jew" dramas by British
authors, as opposed to '"The Easies,
way" the pitifully constructed ''De.
elassee" and repeat from last year
sThe Famous Mrs. Fair" by Amcri.
cans.
The outstanding comedies have been
.Happy Go Lucky" .'Mr. PIN Passes
r." ffiEnglish), "The White. Headed
Nv" Irish), "Toto' (French), and
"Enter Madame" and "Thc Bad Man
|(Americanl.
81 In melodramas, VIC. share honors
With our English cousins. with 'The
Bat' to match Bull Dog Drummond. y
! Which leaves the score in favor OF
~ lands over the sea. When 1t is
|, considered that 1.-THE Easiest Way" is
: revival and "Mrs. Fair" belongs
a last season, it leaves Porter Finer.
son Brownies intimitable bad Man"
n bear the Yankee burden. though
lovers of Eugene O'Neill will insist that
tbe unactable but undoubtedly orig
|. insl emperor Jones" is the American
And. now we are to have Maugham's S
"Circle" and the following week 'Li-
iiom." BY Franz Molnar, Hungarian.
what is especially unfortunate Is that
the only newcomer of the American
ranks seen here this year, Zoe Atkins,
while she undoubtedly showed II lit.
erary distinction in the writing of
"Declasscc," also demonstrated most
miserable constructive ability.
srHE WHITE PEACOCK" which
! stays one more week at the Adel-
phi, though it Is not u translation from
/ foreign pen. might readily he COM
| Al S,,n,,;.I oIu
;'Spanish Love- and BLOOD and
Sand"
The first named. SO aptly styled "thc
most shoutin' est of melOdramas. had
gallons Of color and splashes of nlelo-
drama, but lacked something-perhaps
Il was dignity and repression. BLOOD
Spain, but was rather sketchily adapted
from lbanez' novel;, partially redeemed
BY SINNERS acting.
"The White Peacock" is styled on
he program as romance 1t is u
curious mixture of melodrama and
|, drama of purpose and character. I'm
fortunately. the two never mix. The
action in the first two acts is draggy
enough for the most subtle tract
play" There is un endless flow of
words, with only an occasional moment
or so of real cleverness.
The characters pause impressively
and enunciate some line or other in
tended to be sparkling epigram. A
dead stop follows. which is the cue for
the audience to absorb the scintillating
thought and applaud, but unfortunately
there is generally nothing to applaud.
6uch manifestly old SMILES us that of
comparing divorce to the washing of
dirty linen mark the apex of brillianc;
10 the plays lines. :
The last act rises to real dramatic
power, partly, 1t must be admitted,
because of the remarkable acting of T..
u. Fernandez, who gives as vivid an
intoxication scene us we have seen in
along time. But even that scene was
entirely too long. and almost lost It's
edect. How much worse was that in
tsrminable scene between the two
women In the second act which had
little or nothing to do with the ad-
sancement of the action.
scenically "rhe White Peacock" is
deserving of high praise, far more, in
!a;st, than either Blood and Sand or
spanish Love-
k'oNN1 now ideas and lines and
= things dramatic in general rotate in
regular cycles. There is striking
scene In "The Grand Duke" which
enters on its last week at the Broad
sionday, In which Lionel Atwill. the
var, says nothing but "Yis" for fully
I'VE minutes of dialogue with his former
name. The infections and intonations
with which Atwill colored that one
word very apparently delighted the au-
Sience, theatrical trick though it may
mention of that scene to another per-
son brought out the fact that in
.MMs1sodrama .Ms of nearly thirty years ago,
Inc Great Pink Pearl" an old Ly-
.ssm .stan company. production. one char
ssaer, a Russian, too, by the way,
.new but one word of English, and
ssia nothing but that word throughout
s ,ue Play. And the word there, too,