Evening star., 1925-05-10

Perhaps one reason for the pub
hes willingness to be treated rough
IN the matter of stage dialogue or
else in extreme contrast, its demand
Tor the intellectual courtesies of the
classic drama, is the formalized. and
perfunctory method of stage story
telling, which has grown stronger
season by season. Since King CO.
phetua saw the beggar girl from his
window away back yonder in hc-
tion's musty chronicles, the story of
the charming girl who loved above
her station has been related in every
form from farce or comic opera to
tragedy. 1t revealed the gentler,
more sympathetic ph;s. of Mr..
Zangwill's authorship in Merely
Mary Ann" after having run for
centuries through the English
speaking novels. This season it has
appeared week after week in deft
variations until, perhaps, pardon
should be extended to the playgoer
whose exhausted patience can find
4 certain relief by attending dramas
such as Rain or White Cargo"
with their facilities for an evening
of vicarious profanity.
= y . =
Cosmo Hamilton's new play, sub
mitted at the close of the present
season with experimental intentions
looking possibly to the beginning of
an extended run next Fall, is a de-
lightful literary production. The
author proceeds under the restraints
of scholastic refinement and permits
himself no broad strokes of humor.
no passions torn to tatters and no
very intimate revelations of charac-
ter, as they might verge on rollick-
ing gayety or on the grotesque. The
play is highly polished plane sur
face, which reflects a group of ,peo-
lie whose chief responsibility (and
no light one at thaD is to display
the manners and customs of, a
circle accustomed to luxury and
with a sense of social superiority
which rather disdains the morals. as
well as the manners, of usual hui
manity.' This group forms the back
ground for Ruth Chatterton, who
appears as the little gardening girl
and typihes the elemental prole-
tariat with her customary charm.
X
1t is an easy, graceful flow of mar
rative which ripples sparklingly at
many turns, but never causes any
). spectacular emotional splash.
The. story of "The Family Up
stairs" again brings to the footlights
q little girl who loves beyond her po-
sition or, at least, who thinks she does.
he
young lovers fortune the mythical
product of hopeful imagination on
the part of the Family The fun is
direct. in the spirit of broad farce.
The characters are natural and so
multitudinously available to the OBJ
servation OF, any book agent or bill
collector that they leave the specta-
tor with the impression that there
is little imaginative effort involved !;
that the author has merely photo
graphed from real life. This I'M
preston is superficial. The play re-
veals keen perception and a very
human understanding of the social
struggle in circles quite the opposite
to those depicted in the Cosmo
Hamilton play. Some very appeal
ing sentiment is disclosed in the pic
ture of devotion of the two young
lovers, whose perfectly sensible at
tachment is nearly wrecked by, the
impetuous aspiration of their well
meaning parents.
X
Estimated as prospective COM
mercial property the Family mas an
advantage over "Abie's Irish Rose
in that the role of the father gives
scope for dominant personality,
who is waited for with confidence
that his every demonstration will
create glow of interest and prob
ably a laugh. The public dearly
loves star. The same comparison
gives 'The Rose" the advantage of
more incident and consistent
scheme of broad caricature.
+
A..''Walter Wilson is IN every sense
of the term the head of the Family.
Fastened to the orchestra chairs