The evening world. Newspaper, January 19, 1918, Page 11

L Justine JOHNSTONE + over THe ‘Tor MARJONE \j RAMBEAY, YES oF YOUTH RK, SATURDAY, JANUARY 1 eK Se TY Rone sy 3 “ J t Lov - 4 Power, | $ TELLEGEN. CHU ON Chow . J , E BLIND YOUTH CATHERINE CALVERT PHOERE FOSTER, JOEL - BUSINESS BEFORE | PLEASURE Theatrical Season Has Had Its Slump; Sex Problem Plays — | fe — Both Gay and Grave | oa . . > > Mark Mid-Season Humorous Touch Given Marriage Question in Some Instances, With Feminine Independence as a Sug- gestion of the Times. Serious Side of the Matter Brought Out in Dramas That Have Gained Little Attention — Actresses Not Lucky Stars of the Year. By Charles Darnton. GF the ninoty productions the stage has offered thus far thore have been perhaps a dozen ron) successes, thes mainly light comedies with a - farcical tendency. Although the public has turned to entertainment more or less pure and quite simple, this does not necessari!» mean that our theatre ts a doll’s house. Plays appeal- ing to un adult intelligence have been found among even the comedies and farces of Broadway, In fact, their authors have shown noteworthy !fntelligence as well as technical skill, It fs significant thet the season haa brought forth an unusual number of plays with a humorous treatment, farcical or eatirical, of the marriage question. Pecu- Mar elgnificance may bo found tn the fact that new views concerning comparative independence and free- dom in marriage are being expressed on the stage in the year when women are gaining their political free dom, Jesse Lynch Williams wrote and published "Why Marry” three years ago, yet only now, apparently, a manager has ventured to think it eafe! Incidentally. this exceedingly bright comedy promises to be a great success Shaw’s Comedy All Talk. “Misaliiance,” like “Getting Marrted” last year treated the same th with Shaw's familiar tronic common sense. It rt Ufe may be attributed to fact that {t was all talk and no play, In “Karen,” @ Danish playwright, with @ more searching and there fore Jess superficially cheerful Scandinavian insight, grimly depicts the difficulties of sex morallty without marriage. This play, too, was several yeara in reach- ing the American stage Willlam Le Baron's clever farce, “The Very’ Idea,” Was accepted because the author handled the delicate and somewhat daring sub- ject of eugenics with reckless gayety but unfa!ling good taste, The earnestness of Richard Bennett and the Ernest Truex in then acting were factors e ald t ay Jeas on the sub Implte ot ine of social con ‘ 18 > J the | polnt of the To Bataille ani Helght t nstcin presented t aims of # clentist tn one case, of @ brave soldier in the other, to be pardoned thetr violations of the marriage code because of their better aspirations. The inevitable Gal both dram: eer theatric in form, but It was eur ubtedly tha bout ire here wearine » of American audiences te One American short @ genuine contribution to the theatre tor its attitude oward the sex question and the equally important one f labor, Theodore Dreiser has with o sincerity and courage faced these two tremendou lems of life and placed side by side the claims of individual love and the claims of common humanity. There ts no beating about th bush, no dressing of false ideas and timentality in fine phrases, ‘The Washington Square {n the Coffin,” { Players are to be commended for serving 4 good pur poso at times Youth and Courage. ays Which have for the ntral idea the confidence S,L.ROTHAPFEL ¢ MG&, OIRECTO ae RIALTO “THEATRE AOD LOEL 4k. DIRECTOR LTRAND THEATRE ef youth and courage to meet life gayly are "The atlor-Made Man" and “The Gipsy the freshing comedy at the Plymouth ‘Theatre, the authe H Robert Housum, displays much of the same gra witty tyle of writing that distingulghed ¢ Kummer's “A Successful Cal, This ar short of her earlier w yge},” in which Biille Burke returned to y tresses whe They by 1 eprett that the promised of Grace G e at the Playhouse wa ‘ close with "The Heights,” for in this play M % gave the most sympathetle performance of her ca In “The Wootag of Eve,” Laurette Taylor found bh | with # weak sister, but as good luck would have |i bids fair to score another individual hit in “Happ! | Once again, too, her husband, J. Hartley \ i || written a thoroughly human play, even th || subscribe to his {dea that work is the ok ness. Work may help us to fe Taylor and Mr Man Hl ness’ is (ue one play of the year tt count upoa \ranwor eer iy =a Gare ene hg @ second ’ » emerged fro pe t * ara,” @ fa y " mally d al instin ra Hop oy in poe tlally @ comed‘enne of 1 ba . at the f. Arh and Ara i ie stage of m oO i f I > Muel kep pia 1 n ard he « n the act Mro gehts getting congratu ette t y " e Ne k Post Office. So called popular & anes 6 @ cheer-up spirit year, and, as you ko clude “Polly With » Past" and ‘Tiger F aring the mark of ) 1 k tein acting him ta and F 0 of And, |, it's @ story that makes @ ploy JULIAN ELTINGE Improvement Due War Conditions Curtailed Receipts at Playhouses for a While, but Business Is Better for Shows That Deserve It and Optimism Is Returning. Ticket Tax Made Patrons Shy, but They Have Grown Used to It—-People Are Finding Other Ways of Economizing Than by Shunning the Theatres. By Bide Dudley. HE theatrical business 1s @ half-sister tu the stock market. Any movement national ‘n scope affects {t one way or the other, and the change may come over night. The vocation of furnishing the public stage entertainment tn war times {s, therefore, a gamble of the most precarious sort. Not only must the producer take a chance on his show “get ting over,” but he must gamble on the season being favorable to indoor amusements of the kind he offers In war thme experience has taught us that the theatrical avon Kets & setback early, but the dropping off tn business Isn't permanent, The present season has been variable in Its moods. it started very auspicioualy, since nobody on this side { the Atlantic was used to war, and fortune favored the producers for a while, Then came the war tax on thea tre tickets and a Liberty Loan, and business at the play- houses took a slump. For a couple of weeks it was at low ebb, and then it began to recover, Shied at War Tax. The tax was a thing tho theatregoers had to get use! to. The public did not take kindly to it at first, aj though there was no disposition on tke part of the people to eritletse the Government for tts demand on amuve nonts, ‘The tmpresaion went around that the theatre uid reduce admission prices enough to cover the tax xcept {n & comparatively few cases thiy was not dor and the theatregoers shled for a while. Now they have wecome accustomed to the tax and no more complaint tn heard, Bus recovered great! The Liberty Loan, coming a6 it did about the thine tt tux on tickets was ordered, took from the ready mone ipply of the average American, and he made up his mind to cut down his expenses somehow. Naturally, he reasoned that he could forego @ visit to tue theatre now and then. This fact hurt the theatrical business, but the majority of the managers refrained from complain gz and ght Liberty bonds liberally, They realized at (ho loan whs vitally necessary to the welfare of the in and they sat ght and bope i up lasted unt!l about Christmas time, with nditions wly getting better. Since t iuess has plexed up much more rapld Jed tho theatrical district ugwin, It Is t nion gers of lon perience tha rem ‘ wason Will prove bighly profitab Survival of Fitte eo the slump In receipts eurlfer tn the seaso eruble, the old saying that there ts alwa or how held good, and the geautn ather the storm without much troubd! tertalnment ts essential, It may be stated again, to idon and Parts have both found this to be en the confilct was new to them the theatres and some of them closed up, Gradually, opl® grew accustomed to the new cond! snging for entertainment came back , one through a period much the same t fenced by London and Parts, though not {a over, Nobody among t ‘plans: out er hand, d Hered t fe dur i 4 ee _--eoOoorrr