Liebeler
5. 1
20
box 11/2
NEWS OF THE THEATRES
KATHERINE GREF AND PHYLLIS
RANKIN SCORE IN “THE
RECKONING.
A Depressing but Powerful Play from the
German Which Is Uncommonig Well
Acted In Some of Its Roles—But lts
Final Act Has Such Great Emotional
Posstbilitles That Only an Actress ofthe
Higliest Rank Could Do It Full Justiee.
The charming work of the two principal
women—Miss Katherine Grev and Miss
Phyllis Rankin--is the principal attrac¬
tion in the production of Arthur Schnitzler’s
drama, The Reckoning,“ which is now
on view at the Berkeley Lyceum. In the
first two acts of this play Miss Grey does
the most sympathetic and heartfelt work
Her conception of
that she has ever done.
Weining
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admirable
Christine
from first
to
last, hut the
last act of the play assumes such vast
emotional proportions that her voice and
physical strength and technique are not
equal to the strain. As a matter of fact,
there is only one actress on the English¬
speaking stage who could fully and fittingly
portray the anguish and heartbreak of this
final scene, and that woman is Mrs. Leslie
Carter.
But at the same time Miss Gray accom¬
plishes so much in the earlier scenes and
her assumption of the girlish side offthi
young woman’s character is so charming
that she has scored a distinct artistio
achievement. Miss Rankin, by her delicious
comedy work as the worldly-wise young
light o’ love who helps and counsels Chris¬
tine on her road to ruin demonstrates that
for years a remarkably clever comedienne
has been wasted in musical comedy.
As the outraged husband, Mr. Alfred
Bruning has one.wivid little scene wllich,
as he plays it, stands out as the mos
d
episode of the whole play, and Miss Sa
8
MeVicker’s sketch of an old busybod
remarkably good. Mr. Robert Connèrs’s
performance of the hero’s friend had many
good points, but as the hero Mr. John Dean's
work was decidedly uneven. In one point
he was successful, however. He made yon
realize that, in spite of all his previous
paffairs, his love for Christine is reallysthe
biggest thing in his life.
Here is the story in e nutshell: Frita
Sommer, a gay young citizen of Vienna,
has been carrying on a love affair with
another man’s wife. The husband has
discovered his love letters, and after a
stormyscene in the young man’s apartments
he challenges him tö a duel. After he has
gone Christine, his newest mistress, the
daughter of an orchestra player in one of
the theatres, comäs to his rooms with her
friend Mitzi and Frits’s friend Theodor.
who is to be his second in the duel.
The üirst act ends with a jolly little supper
party. The second act is laid in Christine’s
shabby little home, where Frits comes to
say goodby to her. The scene in this act
where the girl declares her great and abid¬
ing love for him is one of the most
beautifully written scenes to be found in a.
modern play. Two days later, after the
duel has been fought and Frie has met his
death, Theodor comes tothe girl’s apart¬
ment to break the news to her.
After her first burst of grief the girl de¬
clares her intention of going to see her
lover’s body. Theodor tells her that he is
already dead. Then she seizes her hat to
go to his grave; but again the young man
stops her with the- warning that she will
find another woman praying by his grave.
This scene, as we said before, calls for
tremendous acting. As it is played at the
Berkeley now with all the best intentions
in the world, it becames only harassing,
rather than harrowing.