CRIMSON PLAYGOER

A reviewer has a feeling akin to caddishness when he witnesses a play, a difficult play, upon which has been spent a deal of extra worry, time, and pains, and can not find it in his heart to give it the praise such an expenditure of talent should warrant. Such is the case with the revival of the play in which Joseph Jefferson, contemporary of Booth, originally made the hit of his lifetime. The production of "Rip Van Winkle" at the New Repertory Theatre is done with considerable artistry, elaborate and delightful stage effects, excellent music, and harmony in every detail. Yet it drags. It drags interminably. On Monday evening the final curtain was rung down at exactly five minutes of twelve.

Now a theatergoer can forgive the new Jewett company for the similar happening on the opening night of the new theatre. The first performance of "The Rivals" was a state occasion, and dedicatory speeches and a host of acknowledgements were not only in order, but an indispensable sine qua non to mark the event. But to present the second offering in their repertoire, sans the delay of congratulatory speeches, to the tune of a performance well over three and a half hours long is as imprudent as it is inexcusable.

Of this misfortune, however, the management may well be aware, and in the expectation that future audiences may not be forced to undergo, in order to see the denouement of the play, a similar hardship we turn at last to the play itself.

Francis Wilson is above all admirable. As the lovable but provocative Rip, he plays the part of an indolent husband to perfection. Long passages of monologue are the brightest and apparently the most simple occurrences to him. His charm is positively effervescent and his restraint of gesture is an art which his supporting cast can not study too intently. Gretchen, the desperate wife who is driven to shrewishness, is played with a wealth of interpretative understanding by Emma Dunn, while George Riddell in the role of the rich grasping merchant of Falling Waters, too phlegmatic in the first act, rises to the mood of his later lines. There is an excellent bit of juvenile acting by Dora Cramer as Meenie, Rip Van Winkle's little daughter, completely offset by Olive Tell who takes the part of Meenie many years later. Miss Tell flutters and ravishes those beyond the footlights utterly unconscious that she is meant to be portraying an emotional crisis on stage. The rest of the cast have their mind on their art and well support the principals.

We agree with Mr. Wilson that "Rip Van Winkle" should be revived. It is an interesting adaption of Irving's folk lore classic and it has a charm and mellow homeliness which are found nowhere else with just this flavor. Despite its imperfect dramatic qualities, "Rip Van Winkle" is a delightful play with a wealth of beautiful and quaint effects--a play to be seen and a play long to be cherished in the memory