The evening world., 1922-05-02


HsNext TO jam there is nothing, per-
haps. that the English public gen.
erally wants so much as sensation. In
It's own quiet way II is instinctively
loud. Now, being something of a spe-
!cialist in jam himself-though Max
Beerbohm has described him Ms a
worker in worsteds--Mr. Bennett
should be qualified to gauge the Brit
ash appetite. Accordingly the circula-
don figures he sets forth may be ac-
eepted as authentic. Whether his
play is accepted here without oues-
ton remains to be seen. II has little
erama,ic form, but a good deal OF
eharpcter. and the vigorous acting OF
Charles Dalton gave 1t considerable
vitality. fr.. -, -...--
Material success cannot be denied.
II looms up like building and con-
fronts the passorby as a solid ana
stupendous thing. Only spiritual
crack IN the walls can mar its i'm
posing aspect. Mr.. Bennett makes 1t
bis business TO show this crack, even
though by doing SO he doesn't seri-
ously weaken the structure. Nothing
on great Importance happens. After
ali, the only big thing In the play Is
the forceful publisher, who is not to
be despised, no matter how much we
may despise the methods he employs.
Sir Charles worgan, owner and d.
rector of forty publications., Is an in
xeresting study. Except for his
egotism there Is no nonsense about
him. Starting as the editor Of boys
paper, he prides himself on his ability
to give the public what II Graves. He
can't explain exactly what this is, but
he has never made a failure, and
that's enough for him. But with all
his success, he realizes that he stands
outside the circle OF finer things and
cannot break through, Although he
may he the hardest man in London
to reach, as he boasts, he has no real
friends. This. of course, Is often the
penalty of greatness, but his loneli-
ness is not OF his own choosing. Like
our hairy ape. he doesn't belong"
and this fact makes him bit sore.
Scoff as he may at superior intel
lectual people, he envies them just
the same.
University training cannot wholly
explain the vast difference between
Charles Morgan and his finer-grained
brothers. Yet II Is impossible for him
to get their point-of-view when he
goes back to the family home In one
OF Bennett's beloved Five Towns and
finds that a neighbor who Is to take
supper there is likely to have her
feelings outraged by the revival of a
A.. s.Na k.o Hoa In AvaA
OF his newspapers. He regards this
attitude as provincial. and in sense
he Is right. The trouble with him-
as the woman he expects TO marry
tries to make him understand--is that
he "can't see It," SheVis a poor--d
very poor--actress whom he has saved
from penury by taking over the
theatre in which she appeared and
changing II from an artistic failure
into a financial success. In agreeing
tos stop publication of the murder
story. he merely yieldsste her caress,
and this thought troublu. her. She
awakens in him nothing more than a
response to herself. fes Z
So much for character. But the
play gains no dramatic strength from
this remote murder business. II. by
some chance. the scandal were brought
home to the man there might be more
than feminine tears. However, Ben
nett obviously Is not intent upon
rerelation nor reformation. He leaves
his man as he found him. after the
actress has left him TO fiud UNDER
standing and sympathy with bis
brother, a casual dramatic critic. You.
an turn. are left to conclude that
~What the Public Wants" Is a matter
OF taste.
Nearly all the actors were inclined
20 be a trifle uncertain In their lines.
Yet Mr. Dalton gave a broad. full