The Drama in Central Europe
The Drama in Central Europe 2. VIENNA VIENNA does not ¦hire In* German tendency to ran violently after new things in the art*. Bernard Shaw has just accused it of being obstinately romantic in...
...an ensemble worthy of the fine tradition created early thie season by the Shuberts in "The Love Song" and "The Student Prince," principals and chorus pouring out the deathless melodies it if they enjoyed it ae much as the audience enjoyed listening to it...
...Of the production, too much cannot be said...
...Tom Burke was a manly Irish tenor as Nanki-Poo, and Sarah Edwards, made up to look like a acarecrow, sang her heart-breaking eonge of blighted affection as if she really had seen her lover snatched from her clutches by that youth that must have its fling...
...There is mutsHJalV...
...Vienna has not given great utterance to its years of distress, but haa Bought to escape from deepair by lte perfect hospitality to the dramatic art of past times and of other nations...
...The lines sparkle, the epigrams are brilliant even after forty yura, the words of the eongs—but why go on...
...And in the performance, with ti...
...Then appeared woman...
...The billet dlvertlttementi will Include in Egypt inn Billet with Dorit Mies heading the dancers...
...First honors muet go to Mr...
...If you want the latest thing in dramatic expression you mutt have it from • German, Georg Kaiser, at the Renaissance Theatre...
...The scenery ie splendidly adapted to the mood...
...And what a theatre...
...its foyers and approaches would i hem selves make playhouses, and the imperial touch is everywhere...
...Acrobatic, made up, it seemed, like a Coaeack dancer, his voice, his face, hie gestures, his attitudes fitted the part as if it had been written for him...
...In the same manner, the year 1870 witnessed the creation of a whimsical allegory, "The Princess, being a respectful perversion of Mr,"Tennyson's poem...
...And if you don't, don't waste a day in getting to know it...
...Yet, oddly enough, a popular musical comedy may be very perfunctorily staged in Vienna and the production be no better than that of an English touring company...
...William Schwenk Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan...
...Romola" is a film version of the I famous novel by George Eliot which tells of the exciting life of the Florentines in the daya of Savonarola...
...Perhaps for the Viennese public the music Ft enough, and a more electing dramatic taste ie reserved for more important matters...
...Princess Ida" is a delight to the eye and ear, although Gilbert, who insisted that no actress wear a drees she could not grace in a drawing-room, would be shocked* by the presentation at the Shubert Theatre...
...And they despise men, for, when all is said and done, A man, however well-behaved, At best is only a monkey shaved...
...Yet an Interesting by-product of the creator's energy, a mixture of satire and fun that tempted to observation and improvement...
...No tithe of the wealth of irrepressible humor of "The Mikado," of th* surging lenderneee of "The Yoeman of the Guard," of the playfulness of "lolan the," of the delicious nonsense of "The Pirstet of Pennnce...
...Heie waa to be seen, for Inatance, "Antony and Cleopatra," and it wea a glimpse that will endure in memory...
...Time cannot wither nor cuatom etale th* infinite variety pf the beauty of thia gorgeous social satire...
...But it is very dear to Vienna, and if the intellectual despise it they isn bear in mind that tho Burgtheater haa its own "little theatre" in the regal "Redoniensaal," and uses Maria Theresa'* ballroom for the presentation of ballet and light opera...
...Democracy again packed the Burgtheater to see a familiar mid-Victorian Vienneae favorite, "Lampesivagabund-ua," an easy-going, jocular satire upon the ltxy Austrian with a taste for Idleness, beer, and tobacco...
...The music, from the lilting straine of the humor oue little eenge, through the tender "Moon and 1," to the roaring choruses and the heart-breaking plaint of Kt-tisha who' sees middle age defeated by triumphant youth, music that it of grind opera calibre, every note is perfection...
...To Shaw's diMip'i i "Caesar and Cleopatra is a in-,treal Here is satire, brilliancy, anion, ar . a sincere effort to make hislofy live '.Bin...
...The producer for the Burgtheatre resisted all temptation to hold the gorgeous East in fee...
...The artistic Sicil-itn Apollodorue was well done by Schuyler I,mid...
...The world, after all, is divided into two campt, those who know and appreciate and love Gilbert and Sullivan, and those benighted creatures who have not yet been initiated into the joys...
...In the second place, they comment on the possibilities of this fact, sex being somehow not Ignored...
...But It ilInlet...
...What more do you want to know...
...An odd affair this turned out to be, with jolly songs and tho primitive clowning of all ages...
...The Viennese theatre will strike tho visitor of today as a friendly heme to tho play of formal cut and to the acting I hat has alyle and grace...
...The picture was made at Florence, Italy...
...They will be teen in the liar chtntle from Gltztnow'a "The Set-tone...
...Helen Westley played Ktatateeta with grim determination to be sardonic...
...A word must also be said for the magnificent orchestra...
...One ia reminded a bit of Lysistrata, save that the Victorians are delicately suggestive where the Greeks wer* direct...
...It may be urged against Vienna that it ia not speaking up for itself In the theatre...
...Likewise, let lie hope that within a few daya the cast will learn the lines...
...reads well and understands rile n Altogether he gives us a (n't o' -ty...
...Herr Heine and his derorstnr, Herr Roller, gsve as but a hint of Cleopatra's trappings, and used the enormous spaces of their stage to suggest pomp, not to mimic it...
...And the 44th Street Theatre waa jammed to the rafters with thoet who knew every line, every epigram, every tune, and who with difficulty reatraintd themielvei from bursting into eong to aid the men and women on the etage...
...She was the real singer of the performance...
...II seemed a simple pleasure for such a grendiose environment, and smacked of the village...
...masterful settings by Fredcri k Jon - and cos-| tumes by Arline lie -isiein, vision of Egypt of 48 B. \ vi , to .<- i the least, realistic...
...The performance wae a delight...
...W. M F. New Guild Theatre "Caeaar and Cleopatra" Open* Quaint Playhouae On Fifty-aecond Street The Theatre Guild has been rather fortunate this season in choosing their The (iuild with "The Guardsman," worth the mention, on the b n a r d a -theatrical fare...
...The eingers constitute...
...Harveet" Kate Norton's New Drama, At Bronx Opera House Monday Beginning Monday night, at the Bronx Opera House, the Messrs...
...Even more lordly than the Burgtheater is the Opera, Vienna's particular and legitimate pride...
...Still woman was God's latest and greatest creation...
...The mounting of the opera is at once lavish and discreet...
...in all else it is faithful—therefore better than a dnr.en new plays...
...The Mikado" ie here and all Gilbert and Sullivan lovers are happy...
...William Dan forth as the Mikado is exactly perfect...
...Gilbert foreshadowed the revolt...
...Dorothy Gish playa one of the principal roles, it being the first picture in which the two sisters have appeared together tince "Orphans of the Storm...
...But women there are in abundance, all of them wise, young, beautiful—they say so themselves, in their singing...
...J. T. S. Elaborate Revival of "The Mikado" At the 44th Street Theatre The performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, "Th* Mikado," at the 44th Street Theatre, is an unqualified delight...
...I.ioml At...
...Sudworth Frasier ae Ihe prince, with his two companione Scott Welsh and Bertram Peacock, were as jolly a trio as one could mtet...
...And finally, Lupino Lane was Ko-Ko...
...At all events, tho exacting taste ia there when the masters are being played, and Vienna, with ite restraint and style, ie a graceful enswer to one's felfr that the drama in Central Europe may be passing over into tound and fury and the rattletrap a I it 111 n of "expressionism " Gilbert and Sullivan Gems "Prince,, Ida" Well Sung and Delightfully Staged At the Shubert Theatre Out of the superabundant energy Of creation, in a playful moment, God created man...
...A visit to the new Guild Theatre is an additional thrill, "Kai Khoaru," To Be Acted by Children At Hechscher Theatre The Actors' Theatre will present "Kai Khosru," a Persian play acted entirely by children, at a scries of special matinees in the Heckscher Thcatr*, Fifth avenue and 104th street, Sunday, April 26, and extending through May 6. The fifty child actors, ranging in age from four to fourteen, are members of Miss Edith King's and Miss Dorothy Coit's School of Acting and Design, which last year produced "Au-cassin and Nicolette," a French romance, and "Damayanti," n Hindu play, at the Garrick Theatre...
...i* play of Shaw'e...
...For thoet who belong, there it after all one teet of the faith—"The Mikado...
...the full hundred of them vowed to learning and woman's rights and the defiance and denial of man...
...Here again you will find democracy pouring up through the gigantic stairways and foyers to hear old friends like "La Traviata...
...But we do not heed that dismal sound, for joy relgna everywhere around...
...Henry Travers' ffV*^, «j *<aa the delight and joy of til Jjsning...
...A ipau ¦ story would be necessary to dvsc Is) the history of the undertaking an thlt rew theatre, George Berrfaid i)h*sv bdliant comedy, "Caesar and (Jlecpatia was presented Monday n ght Tin occasion was an event in thaAhcatriral history of this city...
...Bernard Shaw has just accused it of being obstinately romantic in its taste and of having failed to shako off (0-lirely the touch of the Turk...
...The operetta, of course, ie etill flourishing on ite own ground, and the compoaera plod on and keep the waltiee freeh...
...Th* play deals with th* working man and hi* deftat by hi* environment...
...Jot Laurie, Jr., in "Plain Jane," will com* to the Bronx, April 27...
...The audience these days takes Shaw, however, as a matter of course...
...At the Bernhardt Theatre, continues I B. in the Manchester Guardian, one found polish...
...In the exaggeration and modern musical comedy handling of the chorus, the production is not in true Gilbertlan spirit...
...Then the production...
...and no higher praise can be given...
...Outside of I.ane and Dan-fprth and Miss Edwards, the rest of the acting ie just so-so...
...Shakespeare and Shaw abound...
...Every child in the school has a part in the play, two complete casts appearing on alternnte afternoons...
...Helen Hayes, however *wm not convincing...
...He sings beautifully, but between songs he just stande around and tttl-Iddiniies...
...The scenery an dcostumes, designed by Miss King and executed by the chil-' dren, are reproductions of old Persian manuscripts, which have been the basis of study for the entire production...
...The satirical lines were m .t|».iIi meaning and originality...
...In him appeared naught of 17 e grandeur of mountains, of the restless beauty of the seas, of the wonder of the sky at night, radiant with atars...
...v is the role of Caesar with dtfith a ?eling, and a keen sense of hijanor...
...Hernial- Poppen was horrifying—he was meant to be...
...Fata Morgana," which has been successful in London and America, has only just been permitted the right of performance in its native town be cauae the author, Vajda, is a radical...
...At times we ro^uJifl lis that here was the Clopat-a L, U 1 a mind—a touch here and I ft v no doubt will lead to hettelH role...
...Tessa Kosta a superbly stern princess, Miss Mershen, Miss Whiteside, Miee O'Brien In excellent eupport...
...So that in 1884 the Savoy The-atrs staged "Princess Ida," the five ¦cenea expanded to three acts...
...It was directed by Henry King and was filmed by Inspiration Pictures...
...Yet man wa* an interesting by-product of the energy of God, tempting the Creator to observation, even to an improvement of his experiment...
...The acting was never impeded by labored efforts to pile epectacle on spectacle, and it fully deserved the respect paid 10 it...
...The play was much more popular thirty years ago than it is today, for it licnis hard upon all the Mid-Victorian conventional shams that the 1890's were beginning to find intolerable...
...at tho magnificent Burg-iheatre an appropriate magnificence...
...William Stnhl, who plays tho part of the sheriff in "Detjre Under ,the Elms," has written a play, "Simplo Hunger," which will be tried out by a si or',, company in Denver this sum-mar...
...and Robinson Newbold as ridiculous ae deeired...
...Tom Burke, manly, shapely in his Japanese tight*, simply doesn't act...
...Others too numerous to mention filled out an admirable caet, a splendid production, an excellent play...
...g and brilliant talk...
...Either you know "The Mikado" or you don't...
...Preparations for the public performances have, been in progress for a year...
...Shubert, in association with John Cromwell, will present a new drama by Kate Hor-ton entitled "Harvest," In the cast are Augustln Duncan, Loulee Closser Hale, Mabel Wright, Alexander Clark, Jr., Viola- Frayne, Sam Coit, Earl House and Ronald Stvery, "Harvett" Is the first work by this author to reach the American stage...
...Maria Yurleva and Vetelaff Svoboda, Russian dancert, have been re-engaged by S. L. Rothefel for tht Capitol ntx't week...
...Tom Brown's Schooldays" ie typical of the way the Victorian disposed of sex by ignoring it...
...To begin, he introduces three men into this academy of virgins...
...Romola," by George Eliot, With Lillian Cuh, At the Capitol Theatre ."Romola," with Lillian Gish, will be at the Capitol Theatre, beginning Sunday...
...But now democracy can buy its seat in the royal box, and democracy had crowded the house for "Antony and Cleopatra...
...At least, so say the ladies of Castle Adamant...
...You may find A. A. Milne or H. H. Harwood, or a Barrie at intervale, and Ibsen, still powerful t* attract Budapest is more vocal, and with Vajda and Molnar ia creating its own school of expression...
...But the fly in the ointment was the acting...
...Kai Khosru," a tale woven from old Persian legends, hns been compiled by Miss Coit, who also coached the play...
...Others In the cast Include Ronald Gol-mnn, William H. Powell, Charlet Lane and Herbert Grimwood...
...The Shuberts have given this moet popular of the worka of the great collaborators a production worthy of its beauty...
...And what a theatre for th* playf The Burgtheater has been planned on a scale that makes Drury Lane seem a bandboa...
...Marguerite Namara was in splendid voice for Yum-Yum...
...1 'ibere...
...Hi top of this , » movement comes l"*, opening of the new Guild Theatre, on West KZnd stU*' buitl by funds loaned by Guili tat...
...it contains many of the wildest and loveliest flowers ,^f Shakespeare's passionate utterances...
...In I a. aeason that has ,j« 'eg but few plays feTt*y Knew What In- v W a n t e d," * ! i - cessions...
...and i ''Caesar and ipatra" has en • • able record...
...and the practical soldier Rafio was handled with understanding by Edmund Elton . Altogether the performance was delightful and engrossing...
...here again the Viennese sense of style is everywhere apparent, and of the quality of the orchestra .and einging so much praise hes been spoken that none need be added...
...And Budapest hae peculiar ^political difficulties...
Vol. 2 • April 1925 • No. 16
