Show PERCY HAMMONDS HAMMOND'S LETTER n By PERCY JEncY HALIO U D NEW YORK NOV 27 7 This tr ear ears ear's dramas eem seem tem to he pl pled d with urban lifer and to neg neg- neg neglect nt lect ct the th rural sights eights and nd nd sounds Only t two 0 of ot the th vivid encle now exhibited In the UI capital treat at of o In the tho th wilderness wilderness- rne s Mr Macke Mack Lily Sue and Mr Henry nry risk Carlton's Carlon's Up the theLine Line Llna I was wal surprised this morn trig IIII when hen I looked over the th roster rosier and discovered how many of ot the playa deal with city how numerous and varied are the tho me In which they live New NewYork NewYork York 12 Boston BOllon Glasgow London Hi 61 el t ter r 2 Z Gay Pareo Parse 2 f H Montreal Strassburg Monte Munte Carlo 2 Que- Que Que-lano Que jano ano Wave Wa Crest Creet Conn Rome nome Bergen n us N Y Tijuana an ocean liner Ridgefield Conn and Ireland reland Mr Mack and Mr Carlton however do 00 their best bett by the grain Iraln and cattle caUle Ian lands of ot the American far tar west wot From Lily uninformed uninformed Sue and nd Up UJ the tho Line formed NeW N w Yorkers forker may learn earn that comedy and truedy lurk rd by Ceres Cerea sultry fields and ande J e l Montana beef beet ranges ranee of ot Swift Co Thera Ther Is as a much sex sex sex- excitement on the ranch as ather there II l In Park enu a avenue Women omen worry ort erry and their hearts heart are brok brok- broken broken en In tn the th huts hut of ot North Dakota u as pitiablY as a In the th abodes abode of the th populous There Is hap happiness cos also alao In tho the mountain r e and Dond though not as a graphic as 1111 that In tn the tho suburbs suburb and big owns of o the drama It might be bewell bewell well If K the th dramatists dramatist would let more mora light Into the joys joy os and sor- sor lorrow sorrows orro row rows s of ot the tb desolate places and retrain refrain tor for II a i time tim from exposing the vanities of ot the buster bueler haunts of men mn Mr Macks Macke Mack picture of ot the th fron- fron frontier frontier fron frontier tier Is II I more mor I agitated that by Mr Carlton In Lily Sue ue you youcan youcan un can witness the th westerners westerner at their wildest drInking murdering mur- mur murdering mur dering rioting and making what was known knon In the th romantic goo 0 u as a true tru love The Th villain In It la Is Isso laso I so o vile lis a II dastard u as a to peep on the heroine as a she remove removes her het clothing and nd goes roca roc to bed The cowboy hero h ro Is II 1 unjustly charged with assassination and the th sher- sher sherIff sher-lf- sher Iff II a rough and gorgeous dude pursue him t to and fro Lily Sue rescues her sweetheart from the hangmen at t the th nick of ot time Urn and at the tb conclusion Is i on the 1 bliss bliss- blissful blissful ful and precarious threshold of matrimony All ot of o It Is pitched In the th key of nf o Mr bar Har- Harmonious har u tuning fork fork and there there- therefore therefore fore for it is t I a II lively and likable me mel melodrama I Of Ot Mr Ir Carlton expo expose It Is Inot not possible to pk speak In accents accent so 0 o enthusiastic Tutored by Pro Pro- Pro Professor fessor fenor Baker once one of Harvard but now of Yale Mr Carlton puts his hla w r eat ear to the ground round and listens to the spurious summons summon of o Broad Broad- Broadway way Broad way It is I perhaps h his purpose to te tell u us w about the th vagrant vas har- har ulmen of ot the middle west w st who ho migrate from wheat fields field to wheat het fields Idle Idle anarchic and instable And of ot the th longing of ofa ota II a woman born tor for travel to es- es escape es cc escape cape from th tha tho limits limit of o her North Dakota cabin and to go co abroad Into Inlo the nervous tedium of other her ller life comes a hobo hoh charioteer Mr Louis who fascinates her wIth the tales talea tale of o his wanderings A handsome Insolent tramp lie be charms her with tories ot of his hi excursions hither and thith thith- thither thither er with the result that he lie mar mar- marries marries ries rice and deserts desert her In and be- be between between be between tween the tho first t and second acts Can you Ima ln that during durin his eight years absence his lis hi ride bride In- In InVOlved Involved In Involved herself her In matrimony with withNell Nel Neis one ono of ot the tho dullest Swe Swedes es In North Dakota And can you be- be believe be be lieve that on their wedding day the tho charming straggler r returns adding to the misery of ot that mis mis- misfortune misfortune misfortune fortune T Well Wall It so 0 happens happen and andI andI I may say aay lint the tho first audience grew n 1 little tired of It while it 1 was happening What Is la to become of Miss Mis Alice Brady one of the th most fervid ot of our an players players an artiste as aa the saying BayIng used to go co to her fingertips finger finger- tipa tips Many sagacIous dramatic crit- crit crit critics ics ice have predicted for or her what wha once was called a brilliant future Beautiful mature practiced In all the wiles of a leading woman oman she Is always being celebrated for tor her prowess In counterfeiting the dramatic emotions But Ih the tho plays plas In which she he has been appearing are ar arnot not of ot a Do type Ipe to Induce attend attend- attendance attendance ance once Her shrieks shriek of agony her outbursts of delirium her explicitly reproduced reproduce ore are usually performed to empty p Y benches benches benche al a william Illiam Winter once described them She Is the loudest of all the tho voices clamoring at present In the tho dramatic desert Again Acain the evening was uncomfortable uncomfortable as Oil Miss Brady appeared last week In Tho The Witch John solem recital of ot of eo some me Scandinavian mishaps occurring In tho the latter part of ot the tho century In them Miss Brady Drady de- de devoted de Ie devoted voted her hr talents talent to 10 to the th portrayal of a handsome she devil of ot Bergen Norway casting her ler spells upon the neIghborhood Married to an aged Lutheran priest she tell fell In love with her hr step son with dire dir con con- consequences consequences sequences to herself herselt and her ac- ac acquaIntances acquaintances ac acquaintances That the effort was 1118 not entertaining was the th authors author's fault tault rather than Ihan Miss MIlS Bradys Brady's Brady Mr Jr it Is said Is a guileless poet Ignorant of the dramas drama's es- es essential es essential artifices He tell tells a story of Scandinavian witchcraft and pa- pa Ion slon with little regard retard for tor the th sub sub tl tie tle schemes of the th playwright an and his account halts wanders wander and drools Yet he b I not without a flair for pep peppery pet dialogue How Ilow lot hot your lips are the top stepson ex- ex exclaIms exclaims ex exclaims claims to 10 his stepmother And she he replies Your kiss kits I Is like are a red flame of ot passion On a stormy evenIng while waiting for or the th crisis to occur Miss Brady Drady toes goes to the th window and looks look out on the tb turbulent turbulent turbulent lent wind and rain God pity says she the anyone any one who Is out on a night ht tike like this Bergen Norway at the th time tim of oth the play Is all al astir with witches churchmen are ar burning them at the stake and there ue are ar suspicions that Anno Anne Brady Is ls In communication with Ith the demons Though Inno Inno- Innocent Innocent cent of ot that evil she sho I Is guilty of another for she sho has the power to summon up the sex devils There There- Therefore tore fore when her shapely step son step comes back from college she ho ho wish wishes e es ei that her wintry husband would die so that she sho could flee fie with her hor lover to distant places The Tho old man passes pisse away under the tho th lash luh lashof lashot of her curses proving thereby that there thero is witchcraft and witchcraft However when Brady steps on It and lets let the frenzies go goat goat coat at their highest speed peed enjoyment is III the th result In The Witch she Is beautifully noisy Dolsy at a tune funeral rBI disturbing a Do cathedrals cathedral's holy sl- sl silence si silences lences lence with her hr resonant ululations Over the th corps of her age aged hu hut hus husband band she Iha sh speaks speak In the tha resounding phrases of a woman In distress and anI as a we go so homo home we feel that we have e seen an inebriating player In II a I sober much too sober pIa play |