Life — January 13, 1910 — page 16: what you’re looking at

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

*LIPE: A Whole Batch of New Efforts by Mr. Rudolph Besier, is quite within the powers of the New Theatre com- pany. It is pleasant, light comedy for two acts, and then takes a swift turn into melodrama, with the whimsical hero facing the muzzle of a revolver in the hand of an outraged husband. The hus- band hasn't really been outraged for the hero is a quixotic squire of dames— hence the title of the play, “Don.” The husband is a religious fanatic and his method of making love did not appeal to the sensibilities of his young as did the person of the attractive young hero. Therefore she appealed to the latter to save her from her own husband, which he chivalrously but innocently did. The proceeding was unconventional and led to consequences, not real but fancied ones, which shocked not only the husband but also the hero's own father and mother, his betrothed, and her father and mother. His connections are of social position and supply the lighter aspects of the play, while the lower class couple in the intensity of their feelings come very near turning it into tragedy. However, it ends happily, with the evangelist taking his bride back for another try at domestic bliss on less strictly religious lines, and with Don’s escapades being taken as absolutely without guile, notwithstanding their compromising appearance. To this rather unusual but not important play the New Theatre brought better judgment in the casting than has been shown hitherto. Mr. Matheson Lang showed that he has qualities and qualifications which may make him a satisfac tory leading man for this institution, at any rate in the lighter plays. With an equally competent and attractive leading woman the company would be complete. Mr. Calvert gave a 4 “ONE POOR LION HAD NO CHRISTIAN moving impersonation of Thompsctt, the evangelical husband, and Mrs. Dillenbaugh was a doting mother, admirably hen: like in the defense of her only chick. Mr. Holland was well cast as the clergyman absolutely helpless in worldly emergen- cies, and Miss Sitgreaves proved as reliable as ever in supply- ing a bit of common sense to a crowd of very impractical persons. In fact the cast was equal to its work in every “Don'* was preceded by a curtain raiser called “ Liz, which depicted an attempted trade of a dead baby for a live one. Its gruesome feature was its only distinguishing onc, which leads 10 surmise as to why it was ever chosen for per- formance. The settings were up to the standards of the New Theatre and the performance went smoothly under the di rection of Mr. Platt. SEZ2B GdIEG Sa picture of the convenience of divorce to a lady with a fickle nature, “A Little Brother of the Rich’? is more successful than as a picture of society as it is, or asa satire on any particular phase of American life. A target is a necessity for satire, but in this case it is difficult to sce just what Mr. Patterson is firing at. The heroine is a noble young actress, portrayed with marked purity by Ida Conquest, and in the finish manages to win for her own the divorce-scarred hero. The latter has been one of the husbands of the fickle one, who is well impersonated by Hilda Spong, and who mcets an appropriate doom in an automobile accident just as she is on the point of kidnapping another husband from his happy home. “A Little Brother of the Rich’ is both clever and funny in places, but it faiis to do a 5 mere than mildly amuse. a) an F the tremendous injustice wrought by the delays judges permit, and the technicalities both judges and lawyers contrive under the guise of legal procedure, there can be no doubt. In “The Next of Kin'’ Mr. Charles Klein is evidently trying to make dramatic capital of the law's abuses, but he goes about it so inexpertly both as lawyer and dramatist that his work is ineffective cither as play or argument. Nor does he clarify his work by the in- troduction of the mental suggestion which has become so fashionable a stage topic. He even spoils the one scene in the play which might be effective by the introduction of an attempt at humor. The author of “ The Third Degree ‘’ and “The Lion and the Mouse '’ must have been temporarily be- reft of his sense of the logical and consecutive when he wrote the present effort. Miss Hedwig Reicher, who has been un- duly pushed to the front on the English-speaking stage, had the leading role, but it is not entirely to her discredit that she was unable to make it appealing. Since the first per- formance she has retired from the cast. The other artists struggled with roles which could not be made credible no matter how well acted. “The xt of Kin" should spur Mr. Klein on to some- thing less involved in its pretensions and more simple in its execution. R. THEODORE BURT SAYRE frankly calls “ The Com- manding Officer’? a melodrama, and thereby escapes having superior critics condemn it by that classification. It comicbooks.com