The Washington herald., 1922-03-12
Margaret Anglin's
Once Famous Art
Shows a Decline
Her Performance in Paul Kester's
Play Reveals an Archaic
Technique.
By EARLE DORSEY.

II
past generation. beginning with her debut 3
Shenandoah" in 1904 and continuing up TO and
including her appearance in Lady windemeres
Fan" IN 1914, her last major contribution TO the
histrionic annals Of the day.
In that period of time. approximately ten
years. Margaret Anglin achieved a fame and a
glory that must be well-ngh immortal though
it fails 70 alter. in the slightest measure. the
grave suspicion that Margaret Anglin,
thester star, is now in marked decline.
Less than dozen years Margaret Anglin
of the really important figures the
American stage. No further. back than 1910 she
achieved positive fame as a member of the
famous Empire Thester stock company
leading woman successfully with L. H. Sothern
and Richard Mansfield and before that with the
iIustrious James O'NeIll in The Courier Of
Lyons" "virginius," Hamlet" and Monte
cristo." with this training and background she
appeared in 'Zira" and in 1867 achierCJ hsF~
histrionic opus with Henry Miller IL ne Grs~i
Divide
This. however. was the sng OF her
career actress for a Of 'hr world and
a trip Australia preceded her ppssTancs On
The Awakening of Helena Richie"
a rather odd assortment OF .-ssc and
popular drama.
The year, 1914. Furthermore, Miss AngIin
in another play which will always be highly
Identified with her repertoire. Lady winde-
mere's Fan" though it appears, from { arE. nj
record. to be among the last noteworth or"a~.-
tions to engage her professional attention.
This Biographical data, bonoI dnd s.rr.a7s
xnder ordinary circumstances. Is iHtrodUcsr 'UBiy
to reveal the remarkable Background Of experience
and a-1Sstio effort that Is definatey associated
toith the meme Of Hdrodret Anolin AVID 10 ezpldsH,
q measure; the degree Of generation AVID olrnost
sacrosaRct Immunity from analysis that seems TO
srTound the Anolin nopse IN MANY quarters.
IN view of her really remarkable achievements
in the ten years of her more active stage
career il comes not only - something Of
u shock but as a matter OF more than passing
theatrical interest to discover that the latter
day histrionic force Of Margaret Anglin. re-
vealed in The Woman OF Bronze" seems alto
gether incommensurate with the fame so
definitely associated with her earlier endeavors.
To come TO the point, the Margaret Anglin,
who appeared at Polls last week in The
Woman of Bronze" is more the Margaret
AngIin Of 1910 than the Lily Langtry Of half
dozen years back is the adorable Jersey Lily OF
a generation ago. And when one considers what
Margaret Anglins name stood for and how
far short of actual achievement she falls in
The Woman of Bronze" one comes 10 the per-
fectly natural conclusion that the bright star
that Margaret Anglin is dropping
swiftly toward the horizon
The AngIin decline, however. is apparently
no myth is il any longer rumor. 1t Is
condition of affairs most definitely revealed to
Washington for the FIRST time last week when
Miss Anglin appeared in the chief role Of Paul
Kester's French adaptation. and while some
attempt might be made to lay Miss AnElin 5
shockingly unconvincing portrayal to the general
triviality of the play itself there were other
evidences which clearly brought home TO her the
responsibility for performance ineXcusably hoI-
low. antiquated in manner and treatment ana
motivated throughout by her calm command
Of a role, but apparently by the forlorn hone
that through some miracle. ii might be made to
live and breathe an Interpretation
In brief. the Mdrooref AAotn Of "The Woman
Of Bronze" is actress 'oith ma Vtsible oppre-
citation Of or familiarity ,cith the modeTr,
naturdistic and subtle methods Of obtaining "e'no-
tionaIv cftects. More imporrdMt still, her veTV
'sernotionGEsT" a stiIted archdic qEdlsty smack
ing strongly Of the sdsc-nnsH school, AVID II "7hs
Woman Of Bron<e" be sold 10 hare proved
any thing It proved this great foso 80
the Anoin emotional rnonner.
"o be frank. time has taken heavy artistic
toll OF Margaret Anglin. Overly fond OF
roles of an emotional erotic, tend
ency. accumulation Of avordupois. a
fateful blending of back and shoulder. an newt
able impression Of tdipose rse1y have . all . IN.
fancies. Add to this the sero-comic refusal OF
humanity to take seriously the troubles and the
emotions of the adipose dowager. either in real
life the stage, and you have at least q
physical reason for the failure Of Miss Anglin to
achieve the semblance of emotional force
secondarily. her accumulation Of embonpoint
las increased the apparent maturity OF her forty-
six years and the result is a stage character who
justify emotional -acrobstics though still too
young to play grandmother roles. The result Is
"emotionalism" that in its efforts to achieve
pathos, ranges dangerously close the ground
of absurdity.
. This manifest shortcoming of the Anglin art.
however. is really altogether minor. The inn
portant defect Of her histrSonic style lies in
her apparent ignorance of indifference TO the
fact that emotional drama of the Empire Thestcr
is emotional drama longer acceptable
to a latter-day theater nursed il was the
Ibsen bottle and grown cynical on Eugene
O'Nein. Nor has it become clear TO Miss AnElin.
apparently, that emotional effects in the AnGlin
manner are highly artificial, even when achieved
and that her manner Of achieving them fire.
quently leaves much to be desired.
1t seems rather odd. though. after all her
achievements, that Margaret Anglin should be
carrying on the old banners. Furthermore. IL
may seem odd hhd her ranking far below in
the character Of her technique Barrymore. Uric,
Starr Rambeau- Yet so evidently was
this the case in the revelation of The Woman
- Of Bronze" that Is reluctantly forced 10 the
one outstanding conclusion that once-briiisnt