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Show ' PERCY HAMMOND'S LETTER . , . i , i (I '.vrlglit. 19X2, w York. Tribune. Inc.) NEW YORK Nov, 4 We have : i n wondered what tho emotions of Macbeth would be In caso ho saw himself nrtcd by E. EX. Sothrrn; and what stops Julius Caesar might t-'ike to eorrert Shakespeare's Impression of him thai ho WM a weak and pompous lellow Speculation similarly fantastic ik indulged in by Luigi Pirandello in "FL Characters In .Search of an Author,' which is one of those "stout" comedies so prevalent just now In tho neighborhood AN"hllo tho actors of a stock company are engaged in tho rehearsal of a play .six strange figures appear upon the stage, announce an-nounce that they ure characters aban doncd by an author and plead with the manager to be allowed to live BfiLlL their own dramatic lives. The result Is chaos and a wordy up-citing up-citing of the theory that the drama holds the mirror up to nature. First, the characters ridicule the actors who ire supposed to ply them because they are so unlike and so llttlo understanding. un-derstanding. Then they contend with the stage director that they must In their play be a-s they are, and not limited in their actions by the traditions tradi-tions of the theatre. As they go through a scene in a questionable dressmaker' shop one of the characters, char-acters, a young woman, starts to remove re-move her dress for purposes dramatic hut not necessary to report. "You ant do that!" the manager expostulates. expostu-lates. "Why not?" is the reply, "I do do it:" All through the rehearnnl the characters char-acters arguo with the director about life, art, the theatre and criticism, a contention in which the actors, grouped at one side of the bare stae. participate now and then. Eventually, as thlnps seem progressing fairly well a little girl suddenly lumps into a fountain and drowns herself; and her brother blows out his brains behind be-hind a tree. Whereupon tho i x.Lsper-ated x.Lsper-ated mnnatrer shooes them all out of his theatre. "Nothing doing'" he exclaims ex-claims In effect. "We'll put on 'The Hrldo's Revenge." Brock Pembcraon, the producer, doe-sn't seem to have much faith in the enterprise, slnco he advertises that Its engagement Is limited to four weeks. "Morons will not he admitted," he adds, perhaps in explanation. Some of the entr'acte wits were saying the other night that before its month wns over the ploys name could be changed to "A Manager In Search of An Audience." Ernest Cossart acted the amusing commercial manager and some of the others were Margaret Wyi herlory, Moffat Johnston, Florence Flor-ence Eldredge and Eleanor Woodruff. A remarkably interesting play, even If It does turn out to be as iphi mcrai as Us pessimistic producer seems to expect. John Golden, the hospitable impresario, im-presario, has formed the happy habit of entertaining his friends, the actors and other notables at special free, firsf-nlght perform inces on Sabbath evenings. Therefore at the Booth theatre last Sunday nl;ht a spectaru-'ar spectaru-'ar throng of the cynosures gathered to greet Austin Strong's now play. "Seventh Heaven." All of us were present Montague Glass, Barney Bernard, Frances. Ethel, Peggy. Tallulah. Leonore, John Barrym"r' Larry Wheat, Tommv Melghan, the' Kulrbanks twins and Will Hays. Many magazine editors were there and roH and tows of vocalists, essayists, vio- Unlets, newspaper humorists and critic, half a dozen novelists and t painter and a composer or two. It wan a de luxe and a gala audience, of super first-nighters and Its Judgment Judg-ment upon the play was not unfavor-1 able. This new work of Mr. Strong's II-1 lustratcs some happenings of an Idyllic nature, which occur In a lofty Paris garret, Diane Mias Helen Menken) and Chlco (Qeorwe Oaul 1 1 are there nsconsod, ecstatic In their eventh heaven, when the nr and other troubles Intervene. He Is what is known us a Purls sower rat, though' .a ambitious, noble fellow; shs Is a lively pickpocket, rescued by him from the police Being Parisians, both ire godd at making love and their i lowly romance Is fragrant with poetti Interplay. Suddenly tho ominous shuffling of soldiers' feet upon the Sidewalk 1 heard Terrified church bells announce that it Is time fop, Chlco to be mobill.-lng. Miss Menken, as you may know.1 Is excellent In gusty outbursts of 'motion. The tatters Into which she tears the passions ure the best of their kind. As Mr. Gaul exits in answer to th bugle, Miss Menken storms Ih ..utlfully around the garret and as the curtain fall she is lo be seen flinging open the window, shouting remarks re-marks of encouragement to tho departing de-parting troops. There Is a touch ii the end. Chlco. being regarded as kliled, Diane drops reluctantly Into the arms of a nifty colonel, who also loves her. As sho does so Chlco dashes i In. his hands outstretched. Rut ho Is ! Mind and does not know. ' Seventh Heaven" seemed laboriously atmospheric atmos-pheric and very sweet and slow, save w in ii Hiss Menken was performing. "The Last Warning' is the liveliest of the mystery-circuses and Its three rings overflows with foul play, ghost-., enormous spiders, outlandish intrigues, in-trigues, green lights, hoarse whispers and all the other Ingenuities calculated calcu-lated to strike you with horror It was made by Thomas W. Fallon from W.idsworth f amp's "The Houdp of Fear," and even If It Is not the most entertaining of Its sepulchral school, wo allow our.-.e'f, at least, to think that It Is. The tccne Is a haunted New York theatre, which has been cursed by the strange disappearance I of Its star and owner five years be-j be-j fore. William Courtlelgh. as an ln-jtrepid ln-jtrepid manager, fleets to reopen the place sensationally with a revival of I the drama In which tho murdered actor last appeared and with such members of the original (New York) cast as he can get together. It seems, however, that tho dead player resents this revival as a sacrilege sacri-lege and he empties hell of all his f.Mlow devils In an attempt to prevont It. Murder Is the least of the things which happen. Shots are fired from boxes at specters on the .stage and the aisles of the Klaw theatre at one I time are filled with metropolitan j police Ann Mason plays the harrowed heroine and others participating are Charles Trowbridge, Clarence Dcr- wsnt, Ann V.'l mdow and Marlon Lord. Miss l.ord provides the laughter. She la still another Mrs. Malaprop, ana much funnier than any ( them. Including In-cluding the one in "The Rivals." As a burlesque queen seeking to express herself in the ' legitimate" sho is an opulent travesty. "I love everything out of doors," she says, "especially Nature. And I love Nature because It is so natural " At the run, h and Judy theatre Martha Heilman and .b'hn Mlltern aro playing a modest little melodrama by Robert Roustim called 1 Persons Unknown.'' Un-known.'' It Is so much more finished and expert product than the average aver-age blowsv Broadway think of Its' kind that it ought to do well. Probably Prob-ably It will not though it Is quietly! exciting and very well acted. A dlBSl-l pated young New Yorker murders his father's best friend early In tho play and get.i away With It through OUe of tho most Intricate alibis known to th crime. dramas. Mr. Iloiisum Is so full of ingenuities that after sailing along gracefully for three nets he burertn out like a Roman candle at tho end and mars the finish with foolish fool-ish fireworks Nevertheless, if the ( 'lrcas"!ii n lady at the tnwstand oi your hotel cannot et you seats for Stuart Walker's The Rook of Job" or "The Greanwlch Village Follies" let her send yon to 'Persons Unknown.' It has Its virtues. oo |