“It is a play so delicate, so poetic in its inner meaning and so weird in its mystery and philosophy that one wonders at the artistic courage of David Belasco and the daring of this adventurous actor who has struck out into hitherto unsailed seas of dramatic endeavor.... The story, which has appeared in the folklore of nearly all the nations of Europe but which has found its most extensive expression in Holland—that of the rebellious seaman who was destined to an eternal roaming of the seas as a punishment for defying God—is not new in the literature of the stage. In Opera and in Drama it has appeared under various guises; but to David Belasco and to David Warfield has been left the task of giving the old myth a new setting. Under the title of ‘Van Der Decken’ Mr. Warfield appears as this Wandering Jew of the seas in a drama of intense emotional appeal tinged with a deep sense of the supernatural. In this new play The Flying Dutchman gains port and finds a peaceful ending as a reward for his self-sacrifice in surrendering the woman for whom he first sinned. This woman, according to the Belasco play, is a reincarnated image of the wife of the Dutchman left in Amsterdam nearly two centuries before when he sailed away on that cruise around Cape Horn. Thus we find that the elements of mystery and of the supernatural are the main pivots of the dramatic action. To visualize them by stage investiture and amply to suggest them in action are tasks that few producers or actors would care to undertake.... There is [in the dramatic story] a romance, but it is so wrapped up in the mystery of other centuries, and perhaps is not always so clear in the philosophy of reincarnation, as to be appreciably understood. These are points about which there may be sound differences of opinion, but on a first hearing they seem, as a final result, to leave the play shorn of diverse interest and therefore somewhat monotonous in its appeal.

“But it is a weird and deeply interesting play in the compactness of the story and in its dramatic rendition. The fabric is so delicate that if it were not staged and played with the utmost care and good taste it might easily fall to pieces.... Mr. Warfield demonstrates afresh the fine, sympathetic quality of his acting. This

rÔle is absolutely foreign to anything else he has ever done, and by the power of his personality and the care of his delineation he makes the part of the ill-fated sailor throb with sympathy and meaning. In makeup he emphasizes the poetic quality underlying the character.... In staging this play Belasco handles his lights as a great symphony conductor plays with instruments, bending them to his will and making them set the color of the entire play. The three acts are set with marvellous care. An old ship sail acts as the front drop curtain, and throughout the play the atmosphere is almost made to drip with salt water. One act is in a harbor; another, on board the ship of The Flying Dutchman, and the third is a beautiful little delph setting that is like some old picture of Hollandese ware. In the stage effects, such as wind, thunder, and lightning, Belasco can make old devices seem an echo of Nature herself.... The music of the stage is ghostly and haunting....”