Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-05
gtratford Players,
king Henry the Fourth"

rod when It was customary ior
first nighters 70 watch eagerly TOT
the opening OF a play
The parallel lies In the fact tnat
for the first time in history the
American Capital saw a Stradcro
production Of the first part OF king
Henry the Fourth. the gathering
had the privilege. last evening at
the National Theater, OF passing
Judgment on play, as II IL mao
only lust been written Wniie II
could not be ranked with the more
popuIar OF these plays in action and
material accompaniments, II offered
a generous allowance Of clever
phrasing. which. in fact. may always
be depended on TO furnish entertain
ment that is highly appreciated by
the true student Of literature.
Somewhat ancient conditions
were almost duplicated at another
point. for this drama comes ABOUT
as near as possible to the Snake
spearean. custom OF presenting an
all-mascdline cast OF players. Mere
IL incidental and limited TO total
Of three is the feminine contingent
IN This story Of one of the Shake
gpearean royalties.
GHlHI lilUFTGoL 0N1itCAo AAA GSAAAb0A
az one of the great creations of
fiction-and. according to deductions
nv some experts. of history also.
Occupant OF the throne, King Henry
shares part of the composite scene,
an example of the early dramatic
device. under the patronage Of the
throne of permitting such mon
archs to think in the presence of
the audience and to denounce their
wicked foes in thrilling and rhetor-
ical words, instead of beheading the
traitors.
This is one of the military plays
of the series, and its merit Is in
exploiting Falstaff, and a royal fam
ily. as we'll as an associate noble
line, literally endowed with smart
ness and courage The large con-
tingent that witnessed this first
performance" last evening still
further absorbed the fruitful words
of the great playwright. and greeting
Falstaff, already viewed Monday
evening. with the consciousness that
he Is proudly possessed by all book
lovers, flgurativefy Rugged itself with
supreme JOY as that massive char
acter repeated the ever-satiSfying
wisecracks with the same gusto as
all other good and portly actors who
have played the part. 1t Is to the
credit of Roy Byford, that in two APP
pearances this week, he has made
a strong impression on Washington
audiences in an unuSal character
role.
Overlooking the temporary idleness
Of the feminine contingent, the eve
ning's entertainment was one which
nnna0od fhn taIQVfE nf all
the remaining members of the COM
pany, adding evidence of the versa
tility of the Stratford- Upon
Festival Co. They gave the swing OF
ancient reality to the pride and ar
rogance or indignant virtue in the
outpourings of rising or descending
families, royal or otherwise. The
play has numerous hmpasSioned ora
lions to give 1t the true ShakeSpearean
distinction.
Gyles Isham as Hotspur again
demonstrated his vigorous style OF
acting to the pleasure of the as
sembled friends, and Randle Ayrton,
Eric Maxon and E. Eric Lee sustained
the traditions of royalty. Dorothy
Francis gave variety to the proceed
ings with a song. d. G. c.
"The Winters Tale
at National Matinee.
EESTOONED with garlands and
Il wreaths Of complicated verbiage,
THE Winters Tale" made its pass
ing appearance at the National yes
terday afternoon for an irregular
performance of that highly irregular
Shakespearean opus. The Stratford-
Upon-Avon company, to this re-
viewer, emerged from the cloud of
iumbled enunciation which obscuTed
the first two acts to do we'll by the
last three. the mummery OF these
imported Thespians being neyertl1e-
less we'll below the standard OF ex-
cellence that reports OF their past
exhibitions led one to expect.
Assembling the usual collection OF
kings, fishwiveS. robbers and noble
men which delighted the fancy OF
the versatile bard, 1.-THE Winters
Tale" presents front as variegated
as its cast of characters. The kings
and noblemen in this particular
demonstration come of rather poor
", partially because they are 1mi-
tated in O grandioSe manner, ana
again because they are concerned
with one of the most fatuous OF the
DOTIOWeu OIOGS O1dhSopCdAC w
employed as a framework Tor ms
creative structures.
The clowns and country cloutS,
who are after all what Mr.. Foster
calls flat characters" asSimilated
an undue portion of charm yester-
day by virtue of the superior Veri-
similitude with which they were
presented. To Ernest Hare, as the
mumbling clown. and Bruno Barn
abe. an ogling autolycus, must go
the honorS for the best approach TO
reality in a play which. at best, mas
left little that is credible to mod
ern audience.
In the more serious roles, that
splendid womanly individual Paul
ina is creditably impersonated by
Dorothy Francis, who was called
upon to divide but small part OF
the honors with Hilda Coxhead, as
Perdita and Dorothy Masslnghan'
whose Hermione might have oeen
excellent except for a few recurrent
exaggerated gestures.
Randle Avrton. whose King Lear
brought forth much praise, emulates
the moody. irrational Leontes with
regal mannerismS ranging from
Charlemagne to Soglow.
The usual reply of an English &C
tor charged with unintelllglo!e
enunciation is Il was speaking Eng
liSh." a tongue rarely known in these