The New York herald., 1922-01-04
Glare EameS
st liking Picture in
MaeterHnck Play
'Aglavaine and Selysette' the
First Offering of Afternoon
Theater Company.
BY LAWRENCE REAMER.

The Afternoon Theater. which appears
TO be designed as a species of puimotor
for noted dramas OF the disappearing
'9Os began its ministrations at Maxine
Elliott's Theater yesterday with per-
formance of Maeterlincks "Agiavaine
and Selysette." The play was last pre-
sented at the Bandbox Theater while
the Washington Square Players were
still its tenants.
Since that production. which had
some notable scenic effects. such as the
wind swept tower, the drama of the
distinguished Belgian has been com
PEELED to take the air. as Il were, having
been seen on college campuses and
brookside stages. Ibsen's The Lady
from the Sea-" which Eleanora Duse
has Just been acting again in Italy, and
Zola's "Therese Raquin," which was in
It's time almost as revolutionary as
Dumas's Hermann OF an earlier theater
age, are to occupy the future energies
OF the Afternoon Theater. so its policy
is not to be rebellious.
Every succeeding divulgence of n play
by Maeterlinck goes to show how little
IN harmony with the spirit of the con-
temporaneous theater. his theories were.
One advisedly writes in the past tense
since such plays as "Aglavaine anu
Sclysette" have ceased to possess for
the contemporary theater other than q
historic interest The staccato progress
OF their thin fables. glimpsed through
the ever rising and falling curtain,
never ,pauses long enough to establish
any enduring mood. What the author
sought to do by his own peculiar metn-
DDS. such as repetitions and monotones
is dictates by the jerky course of the
story.
The actors yesterday were quite quail
| lned 20 give every expression to the
autnors intentions. They moved about
on dimly lit stage. They faced an
audience Immersed in the cultural gloom
Indispensable to the Maeterlincl1ian
legend. When Melednder spoke of the
blazing sun the stage was so dark he
could scarcely see his hand in front OF
him. Thus were the traditions of illumi-
nation for these plays faithfully OBJ
served
William Raymond as the choice of
two loving women possessed distinction
in diction and action. He sounded elo-
quently the note of passion in the char
acter and would have won praise for
such an admirable performance of a
classic role even outside the eacrosanct
theater OF the Belgian Shakespeare.
Miss Clare Eames with her superb
dignity of bearing sailed triumphantly
through the play like some conquering
bird of gold and black plumage. Miss
Eva lie Gallienne's portrayal of the lit
tie wife had the necessary simplicity
and touching naturalness that seemed
occasionally out of place in the general
stained glass attitude of the players.
Perhaps Miss Eames was after all the
most plastic and could almost double up
in her expression of poetic llmpness
But Miss lie Gallienne and Mr.. Ray
mond showed they were not without
skill when 1t came to fainting in coils
Apart from the excellent acting OF
these three artists and the tragic GRIEF
of the grandmother, as Miss Caroline
Newcombe gave 1t in moving utterance,
there was little to be praised in the rep
resentation. Thin and wrinkled textile
or neutral shade. finished with high
dado OF black velvet, which dragged 1t
out of all shape, formed the background
for the interior scenes. A creased and
n1ildewed canvas of pale cobalt fur
nished the background. when the scsac
took place out of doors The tower
must have been indeed dangerous, since
the light was plainly visible through
various apertures. Maeterlincl should
at least be acted with beauty in the ac-
cessories.