Life — March 9, 1905 — page 12: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

=D er “HOLY FATHER APRATIAM ! VOT HAF 1 STRUCK 2?" Under Difficulties. HEN this issue of Lire the hands of reaches its readers, the preliminary stage in n criminal proceedings will prob- The word probably is introduced, be ably have been passed. cause in law time is a very u tain factor, and he is a rash man who in such matters dares to predict as to and seasons, For the benefit of Lire’s readers who are not conversant with legal methods in the State of New York, it may be well to explain that, as this is written,the crimi- ral au the District determining whether, by joining to prevent the norities, including a magistrate and Attorney's office, are engaged in dramatic critic of this publication from pur- his calling, certain persons are prestim- ably guilty of a crime. will be put spiracy. If so, those persons trial charged with criminal con- he question really to be determined is whether the Theatrical Trust may decide who shall and who shall not write notices of the entertainments it asks the public to patronize HE. wretched limitations of the stage at the Berkeley Lyceum sadly interfered with the success of the first representation of the three little plays given by Mr. Frank Keenan and his company, as an effort to repr: New York something in the nature of An- New York is so spoiled with stage luxury that it is impatient if anything is deficient in the mate- rial accessories of a performance, and has little ace in toine’s famous Theatre Libre in Paris. charity for artistic effort unless everything connected with it goes smoothly, ‘There was much to hamper Mr, Keenan and his associ- in what would ates any case be a hazardous attempt, They succeeded far enough, how- ever, to give hope that they will not be dis- couraged by the accidents and delays that marred their first performance Mr. Keenan selection of in the bill, The strongly dramatic episode told in * Strolling s also unfortunate one number on hh Players” is so familiar, in the form of “1 Page hace other stazes, that the extreme scenic compression and the absence of availo’s moving music made this version in bare words very little impress ive. Even his own work as Tabarin, a part cs, he might make a powerfully drawn character, seemed m lack of in- telligent effort on his part, but because of the y of the background supplied which, with better surroundin here almost amateurish, not nsufficie’ by setting and company. In the other two pieces,“ At the Thresh- and “The System of Dr. Tarr,” he had opportunity to show what an excellent actor old, he is and to confirm the impression he made on the intelligence of this community by his appearances in The Hon. John Grigsby.” The first is an ingeniously constructed little piece, in which he appears asa burglar who prevents an clopement, The curious com- bination of determined thug and man of heart was a remarkable exhibition of forceful personality, and Mr. Keenan at once con- vinced the audience of his power, The same quiet forcefulness was displayed in his Dr. Tarr, a radically different character, but equally impressive, ‘The play is based on one of Poe's stories, and with a little smoothing of rough places can be made an amusing offset to the more serious pieces, Almost all the members of the supporting casts showed need of more thorough rehearsal, although some of them did good work in the face of adverse circumstances. ‘These performances demonstrate two things beyond question—that Mr, Keenan is too good an actor to be kept out of New York, and that this city needs a small and inexpen- sive theatre, with decent stage facilities, where experiments like this can be made without being doomed in advance to almost certain failure, Nevertheless, these performances are very well worth seeing ° . . NOTHER recent experiment, more pre= A tentiously done, was a play by Julie ‘ntitled * Richter’s Wife,” and. pre- sented at the Manhattan Theatre at a series of matinées. Her story was on the well-worn lines of tne man who finds too late that he has J the wrong woman, and who yields to the usual temptation of propinquity The author is a daughter of the late James A. Herne, and as a maiden effort y far from contemptible, par- ticularly in the matter of character drawing. The wife she makes a thorough feminine cat whom any man would be pardoned for falling out of with, The perience then shows itself by making the end- ing of her play the wife’s suicide, when it is to any that this carefully drawn cat could never have taken herself out of the way, if doing make any one else happy. Herne, marri and affinity the play is ve love dramatist’s inex- apparent one pecially so would More consistent S are the musician husband, acted very well, indeed, by Mr. John E. Kellerd, and the innocent temptress, charmingly pore trayed by thy or's sister, Chrystal Herne, A clever piece of character work was Mr charact Charles Lamb's Brandt, the concert master The theatrical that be den: to American effort’ in matic art, In spite of this state of affairs Lire is glad to record that the daughter of so well loved an author and actor as James A. Herne has mana powers any encouragement dea- ed in some way to geta hearing, . . * HIS editorial paragraph from The Yorker voices in new and very clear phrasing what Lire again: Certain methods in business have from time immemorial been characterized as ** Jew methods.” It is unquestionably a wrong to the race that this characterization, which was born in an age when the Jewish people were not understood and appreciated for their many enviable qualities as they are to-day, has said over and over comicbooks.com