. Arena magazine - Volume 40. itized by VjOOQLC 24 The Notable Plays of a Season. would be more difficult. Others, too,have minds which dwell in the past andcannot, or refuse to, recognize that changeis the mainspring of progress in thetheater as in all other things. I am inclined to believe that MadameKalichs failure to win recognition inproportion to her ability lies in the factthat she applies the modern method ofacting, that of repression and suggestion,to characters which are primitive andelemental, and the New York criticscannot adjust themselves to the phe-nomenon. They are accustomed t
. Arena magazine - Volume 40. itized by VjOOQLC 24 The Notable Plays of a Season. would be more difficult. Others, too,have minds which dwell in the past andcannot, or refuse to, recognize that changeis the mainspring of progress in thetheater as in all other things. I am inclined to believe that MadameKalichs failure to win recognition inproportion to her ability lies in the factthat she applies the modern method ofacting, that of repression and suggestion,to characters which are primitive andelemental, and the New York criticscannot adjust themselves to the phe-nomenon. They are accustomed to noiseand bluster when the elemental emotionsare depicted. It is asking much of thesejudges to believe that the expression ofpassion, revenge, jealousy, hate and lovedoes not necessarily consist in tearingthe planking out of the stage or in thun-dering the roof off of the theater. Madame Kalich does none of thesethings. She refuses to flop over thefurniture or to demolish the stage set-tings, or in the stage vernacular, chew. BERTHA KALICH AS MARTA. the scenerv in order to convey -animpression of aroused J emotion.\ :Whatshe does she does simply, directly andsincerely. She works surely toward aclimax, and when it is reached she pro-pels it with a force which is all the moreeffective because it is neither loud norexplosive. This was the case in Martaof the Lowlands, where she thrilledwith an exhibition of concentrated angerthat was realistic without being bom-bastic; while in another scene the effectwas as poignant though the method wasthe same. The play dealt with the powerheld by the feudal masters of Spain overthe ignorant and enslaved peasant class,of which Marta was one. She foundlove and freedom with a shepherd ladwhose unsophisticated nature was setin strong contrast to the brutal feudalruler who had controlled and overcomethe helpless girl. What promised to be a notable eventof the season was the coming of theRussian actress, Madame Vera Komi-sarzevsky and her own compa
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