Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-13

1ot\C.NSS Nh4Nt
* arise i'll connection with al
! undertaking. to all outward
appearance SO simple and SC
facile as the presentation OF Heller
Hayes in a James Barrie play. are i'll
dictated by the announcement on
Shubert- Belasco program that WI
liam A. Brady. iii association with
Lee Shubert by special arrangement
with Charles Frofman (lnc.). are
united OH terms OF business agree
ment in the enterprise. Incidentally
there are authors royalties to be met
and numerous small items that would
make list as long as a week bill
III Paris pension
4 y
Some OF the above mentioned man
agerial names are represented III tho
organized effort TO carry out the
wishes OF the New York authorities
that the stage restore the decenter
standards Of former times. The dis
tinguishcd welcome accorded Miss
Hayes was All assurance that the as
sumption Of degraded public taste
that reduces managers to moral des-
pcration is fallacy. Nothing could
be more gentle and idyllic than the
story OF What Every Woman
Knows and nothing more satisfying
than the artistry OF Miss Hayes.
Her performance renders her worthy
TO be classed in affection with Maude
Adams. who reigned so long i'll un-
varying pre-eminencc as the high
priestcss of the Barrie cult.
y * = X
Players sometimes shy at the CT
forts of the home folks to shower
honors on them after they have
worked their way to distinction
tudes of the road" and the "Rialto.'
There is possibly latent feeling of
resentment. partly justified. that the
prophet feels when compelled to find
his honor away from his own coun-
try No such experience could mar
the appreciation of Miss Hayes as
honors apart from applause were
showered upon her. She was adj
mired in her native city through sew
eral seasons as member Of the
Columbia Players in Summer stock
y x X y
And Summer stock experience
means ability and reputation, as Mr.
Steve Cochran will tell you with spe-
ciai earnestness just now. Mr.. Coch.
ran is engaged, even while the snow
is expected TO fly at any minute. if
organizing his company, under direc-
ton of Clifford Brook. for the Ma
tional Theater Stock Co, to open
early in May.
The theater seasons divide dis
tinctly on lines which il has proved
impossible to efface. Summer is the
time for the stock company. and
projects to extend the enterprise
over into the season for the usual
road bookings always prove waver-
ing and uncertain, if not wholly dis
appointing. There are certain times
when audiences desire certain types
of entertainment, and they refuse to
mix their dates, in the same spirit
that they would ignore Christmas
trees on the Fourth of July. The
May date for Summer stock is, how
ever. something of an advance of the
usual beginning time of the Summer
theater.
Miss Hayes prohted we'll by her
experience here requiring versatility,
quick study and swift apprehension
of artistic significance, such as has
enabled so many eminent players to
make their way from stock to star.
At first she cast her fortunes with
songs and scenery, being credited
possibly by producers with no more
than an engaging personality. She
quickly turned to the dramatist
whose lines she now delivers, and
played in Dear Brutus" in associa
ton with William Gillette.
Much OF the luck in the theater
depends in this matter of association.
A sma ASKING success III musical COM
edv may mean All annual fortune in
salary and publicity swift and spec
tacular But the speaking drama
means an association with the best
literature and thought III companion
ships that promote interest and make
the understanding easy.
!, X X
Like SO many plays that have been
welcomed Of late. What Every
Woman Knows" turns our PAGES
backward through a decade or so.
It is pleasure to loiter back through
the maze of unexpurgated dances,
into the old family album and look
at the pictures like the one Miss
Hayes so daringly makes as she
fn,,cy x-h,rt 3ftxy
conceaIs her ankles. She is charm
ing, although if she were to wear
the same attire i'll a shopping thor
oughfare some enterprsing alienist
would probably have her under cx-
animation. The sweet simplicity of
her appearance may afford All inter
esting suggestion TO cynical observ-
crs as to why grandfathers fell in
love with grandmothers.
A contrast in methods OF varying
the presentation at SO close an in
tcrvaI Of THE Constant Vile and
What Every Woman Knows. The
change in the morals OF polite au-
diences within a score OF years is
strikingly evidenced. The wife OF
Tohn Shand was quite as well aware
of the egoism and the tendency &c
domestic unfaith which grieved her
but could not destroy her devotion
as was the smart and daring femi-
nine psychologist rmpersonated by
Ethel Barrymore in The Constant
Wife" The temper of Barrie's au-
dienoe was such as to require him
TO work the story into a sedate