The New York herald., 1922-01-10
Andreyep's Play of
Circus Life Acrid,
But Interesting
lie Who Gets Slapped Ironi-
cal Drama, Produced by
Theater Guild.
ny LAWRENCE REAMEn.

Certainly the mutinous and anarch-
site philosophy of Leonid Andreyev Is
cost hopeless in "ie VINO Gets
slapped" which the Theater Guild pre-
sented last night. Already the play has
5cen, acted in Berlin and Paris. although
Il is said to be banned under the present
Government in Russia. but it was>heard
tarrick Theater.
II is the story of man OF high social
rank and li'erary Importance. The
world treats him with the brutality
which the playwright apparently as
umes to be a quality of fate. He loses
lis wife, and his work is stolen by
another. He will leave world that
handles him with this cruelty. So he
becomes a clown in a provincial circus
in France
The audience last night heard the
laughter which his antics aroused and
the amusement enthusiastically ex-
pressed when he was slapped. The new
clown was genius in making the public
laugh. Yet Il was also laughing at
itself. Such is the authors irony.
The Figures in the Play.
Maybe it is 4 part of his symbolism
CT his romantic tendency to demonstrate
fhe results of his bitter cyncisn against
The tawdry and spangled background of
: circus. Here the hero seeks the new
existence in which he will be applauded
and laughed at for the slaps ne gets.
There is a string Of characters on which
Re may sound the varying notes Of pes
sinism and anarchy that combine har-
inoniously to make these sarcastic
scenes
There is the youthful circus rider. al
ways reared in the strictest innocence
of life that she may find a rich husband
who will support her putative father.
The lascivious old baron wins her at
last, since she will not surrender on any
other terms than marriage. But the
clown will defeat life to the extent Of
haltiny the sacrifice of youth and pur-
ity: so he poisons himself and the girl.
But the rest of existence under the cir
Gus roof is just as distorted.
The trusting proprietor is deceived by
his wife, who combines the perils Of
training the tigers with the keeping of
The circus accounts. Andreyev draws
every character i'm the play with what
seems like hatred for the evil that is
In them all. Yet the pure girlhood of
csty of the clown brings him to suicide.
Pictorial Side OF the Play.
: The scenes of HE Who Gets Slapped"
are crowded with dancers, acrobats and
the motley circus people. Yet the pic
turesqueness of the externals do nothing
10 swecten the flavor of the drama. II
is always bitterly acrid In the note OF
tragedy on which the play ends is its
most elevated minute. Yet the four acts
hold the interest of the audience almost
unflaggingly.
How much more engrossing the drama
might have proved but for the killingly
slow progress at which Robert Milton
took It's tempo. Il is not possible to say.
But it's dramatic pulse should certainly
beat more stimulatingly. Inevitably
there must be condensation. There is
altogether too much OF the character
"f the Italian inposter posing as The
father of the rider. Whatever he may
symbolic in the playwright's scheme Of
worldly qualities, there is no excuse for
the length of his character in the
second act. Frank Reicher plays the
part well. But he is in no respect the
dominating figure in the action.
Decorations and Acting.
Lee SifnO0SOn mas ueSlgne0 plCtur-
es1ue background for the drama, which
j. supposed to pass In an antechamber
adjoining the circus arena. Then the
costumes are enthusiastically gay. The
acting was admirable. Richard Hen
meet as the disillusioned clown gave a
sIperbly intelligent resourceful and
sympathetic performance. 1t was not an
easy character to interpret. but he made
him altogether comprehensive. The un-
sophisticated girlishness of Miss Margolo
Gilmore kept the young heroine ire
sistfble. Louis, Calvert well suggested
the imperturbable concupiscence of the
baron. Miss Helen Westley as the lion
tanner seemed to be returning to that
line OF parts she acted years ago with
the Washington Square Players when
the men sat about. as she meditatively
smoked cigarette. and spoke long and
loud of her irresistible beauty and her
dangerous fascinations. Ernest Cossart,
Henry Travers. John Rutherford and
John Blair contributed effectively to the
unusual excellence of the representa-