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Show I f PERCY HAMMOND'S LETTER (Copyright, New York Tribune. mana are at hand narnln us that the aerlous ontinental playwrights arc on our threshold bearing many dramas that treat or capital and labor All th dramatists of the hurt and nrrvnun natlona are wielding their styluses. It la aald. In predictions o' further upheavals and Inflammation From Prague, Moscow. Munich and yionna tbey are coming to tell us J bout tlia unrest of those who delve and spin. In at least thre Broadway thentres ere long they Will he preacr,. !ng their showy sermons and w shall fl barn from Ihftn that something must b done about the worker and those, who work them. '- One of the first of thla aerlee la he Theatre Oulld's production of Karl Capek's "R. L R." an Importation frcm I'rague. In that stimulating fantasia the working person Is :ym -boilxod as a man-mad" machine ad-tjuod ad-tjuod from the laboratories and foun -dries of a Frankenstein fatuity named Rossum. Thean creatures ar known HJ 'as robots" pronounred "ruhblte") i Bnce the title "R. I'. R." which translated, m-ans Rossunisi I nlvr.i I 1 Robots. It Is not necessary to report I to you that thoy revolt In th middle Of the pl 'L-strMV th linuiin r;ir r . , fl and that st the nd ;h world begins ant'V with a rohot Adam and Eve In 3 robot Garden of Eden. May I tell you som thing mo-, about ths robots, sin. . the arc so fl interesting and so emhlernattr of thei J. W. vV.s, the dot n-iroddi n and th- ' Bolshevlkl' Thev arc the moal mod-ern mod-ern of the modern conveniences. Mll- fl lions of them do the chor of the World, from war to Renography and coal mining. Endowed with all th-n th-n o railed human attributes (except the soul and Its complements, they are produced In lars- quantities bj the Rossum' biological machine The general manas shops (Basil Sydney) speaks of his I output 1n the beginning of the iinv 'o tho president's pr. It) da ighter (Mls Kathiene MaoDonni II ) His plant Inoludi i nil " I factories where tons i r. I barrels of blood arc produi :ed each day. Trucks carrying crates uponi crates of knuckle." trr- :x toes, Ug'i-menLs, Ug'i-menLs, sinew right ey i and sen. .' I brae rumble beneath his office win-i dow en rout to the assembling p n. j The robot, beins a triumph of sci-l bnce and up-to-dat ins1ne. rinK. hasi ho appendix, and a mlnlrnum amount, of smaller Intestines. Also he is ug:y.l nonunion, sexless and without . II-digs II-digs the gewers, sweeps t h streets.' mines the copper and arcis ti,.- dlvl-deads dlvl-deads for hla owner He i in b m I le to sell In large lots, for 1 1 ,"fi f o b., fully dressed. Otrt of the confuslns fumes -,' tb-play's tb-play's caldron of omeni poi 1 symbols, one picture rtai 'admirably melodramatic That Is when the robots murder th last remnants rem-nants of the human ri'f If la done against a background of sinister in-cendlarv in-cendlarv pink, with th' mon-i , iters majest j. I . taking cbarg planet to on aecompanlmi n1 quei sounds and explosions " r R Should not be missed by the high-browa. high-browa. either counterfeit or on the, lerel. It appeals to both ' ' A 1 of tie hav- our faori to find with Mr i .n Mvorthv'si "Ix)y- I - falltes" In a work of an high an 'order by bo great thinker and 'dramatist we have the right to shift ( our loose standards and cavil at I 1 1 hinge which In a play less patrician: 'we might disregard Mr r.alsworthy knows life and knows how to transfer I if steadily to th" stage Sometimes In his cruaade-drsmaa he has not been a losther square; and In "Strife.") "Justice" and 'The silver Box" his: fine sympathies were degraded, by his 'jttr;inrf of them. Into prejudices. Th- .erv tlt'r of "Justice" was a oner He is. orcaalonallT. not good I ft! argument, being Inclined to quiet excesses in his sincerity But In "LOTaJltM" he la the moat interesting Of tie aerloua g.ntmen Of the modern mod-ern drama sea Some playgoers may think that tho I hard bitter, elegant l)e Levis In "L.ov alltes" Is no more a symbol of the JW than Shylock Is or George Sldnc v In "Welcome. Stranger"' They may j think that Mr. Galsworthy has been a bit frugal In beetowlng virtues upo I the Jews, while benrfUent ot noble) endowments to the Christians in Uo play. The Jew Is praiseworthy only in three minutes of the story- when he goes to- Captain Dancy's flat to show that he is not afraid; w hen he j warns Danry'a law-j era that Dancy Is j about to be arrested for stealing hU money and when hi says, a. Shylock might hae said- "You call m a damned JW My ran' was obi when you were sll savages. I em proud to be a J w ' . - My objections to "Loyalites" aWal petty. I am not In the least Indlrf-j nant because It was onward Chrlstl.-m Oldlor who stole Do lvta'e nion f at the Wlnsor house party; nor that, some of hlf friend were mean enough j themselves to suspect him Lilt I could no' understand why these llk.i-' ble Kngllsh people tolerated bo ig-, noble a bounder o-s they ald D Ievis was a Jew. Moslem. Presbvterlan or I Seventh lQ- Ad venttnt. Such austere Episcopalian persons At, Lord SI Erth. firm rat Canygne. ladv Adela Wlnsor and her husband did not need his money; nor COO ill they have enjoyed his society They scorned him a rather a "swine." obnoxious in dress and demeanor; and spat. In a way. upon hu gabardine. "Oh. Charlie." ! said Lady Adela. the Jew's Christian! weekend hostess, "!)' Levis lOOkad -Mict!v as If he had sold me carp' t when I was paving him mv bn i money." You find it difficult to: Imagine the chill old St. HSrth an I j Canyons, the azure major gem ral, , acting as sponsors fo" the surlv. 11l- mannered Hnd unattrs live bOUnderj In their London clubs, and you doubt i them, thellgh they are C.olsworthv De Levis "don't belong.' as the lialrv Ape would say. How dlffernt und I squarer It would be if Mr. ftslsworthv had made le Levis a gentleman M well as a Jew He will do so BOftts du . no doubt. Aesthetl.: pleasure and Inteiectual satlsfaftlon are to be had la "Loya:-IteB." "Loya:-IteB." Ita "Idea" Is draiuatb . Its de-nloprnent de-nloprnent likewise, its charactera are Interesting persons, and their speech and behavior are lucid, simple and on tho loel. Not much occurs In It that you cannot believe. I ask you to go to It when and If you come to New York. |