The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-11-12
IN Us III ENTS.
The irish Drama and the Irish Drnmati-t-
Boncicauit md the SbauVhraun ut Watt
Inrh's What tue Author Of -Four Hundred
RInAa ILinL. d nd snAa nI IL mscII.

Plays Trunks and saws OF Himself.
The immediate occasion OF a reference to
Mr.. Dion Boucciult to-day is the fact that Mr..
wallacks reproduction Of the "Shdughraun "
the dramatic feature Of last week. aud lids
fair 20 he an attraction at his favorte theatre for
months to come 1t has been said that the ex-
tern appearance Of shakespe res head Il re-
called bv glance At that OF BoGcclult. That
they resemble each other In baid-headed frater-
ntv Is trae; that each wrote many plays is
equally a fict-but the one wrote In begglrv,
the other In flIcnce; the one was permitted to
produce his works. the other IL pad liberally to
d SO, There are many pictures Of BDucicault
In our shop windows, where h. IL generally
hiuked by Mo1taQi e's sweetest curl and + D
renheim's g1recou, front, but have never
seen a pnotosr ph that did him justice.
The prints are ptctty-ne IA not.
BOucc iult is small, thin. and not very straight.
His head Is handsomely shaped. his eye4 small
and fun fun, his nou-tacho in embryo, his
hands delicate and his bearing that OF gentle
man OF leisure lIis "leisuie" IL not fact.
however. for buster II tie man does not live ON
either continent
For Instance:
Qieston-llow many PLAYS have YOU written,
MIR. Boucicault2
Bou,icault Do you mean plays that died or
held the bnar1s2
QIestion- many all told, and how many
succeeded1
Boucicault-well lot me see have written
over 400 plays, aud OF them over 200 were sue
cessful.
Question-which Is your favorlte7
Bouricault-I rather incline to the "Colleen
Dawn." II you mean which has made the most
money, the "Shauehraun" decidedly. OF the
three IRISH DIR mus, prefer the Colleen Dawn"
IL is the most ids llir. mDst teuder. and NJ ala
most powerfully to the heart of the people.
" ATrah-na- PoRue " Is more brilliant and rder
1t Is full of epgr.ms that sparkle. hut II Il den
Client In emotive Interest. The Shaughraun"
depends for success upon animal spirlts. Is
scenes and incidents are always on the 60
From the moment Conn describes the hunt. the
entire play moves and pushes on with life and
enlmnton. In fact, IT'S hunt Itself. Every
point made, every scene pictured, ever incident
worked out bears analogous relation to the
chase. II moves with frequent sniff and chance.
and all the principal characters are constantly
laughing.
Questlon-I have noticed In the product on Of
some OF your pieces that the people In low life
are made to overdress. should think II would
be CALLING t. you. Isn't ~
Bouciclult-l should say 80. And by the way
that's the emOdrrassment OF every tueatre In
the wOild-tue ridiculous uverdrrssin9 Of the
ladies. II speak To an ariist about this oint
q
lie utifuly," and the very FIRST thing they think
II nj ask IS "wnat can ! wear Of VII ,m TO
~eir In the piece. On ia not only nul.
since, but It's positively und ruiDOusly ABSURD.
Mr.. Waack played tue " ShaugurAun" IN I'd.
miraOle styie some time Ago, and II ran over $50
nieht-. Ibis Time. with "A cast similar In parts,
differ mt in Others, he produces II III IA IN snuer
cfeultiDe to himself and In cOnsonance with
the reputation OF nis theatre. Under ordin rs
circumrtar ces thls would SUI ce. tut the in
terert felt In tue revival ~ the patrons Il tue
house and the pubic generally warrants closer
a mi Inn nl Ins4l alaa.4I M : nj 40
IL nas been said that Boucicaults "Shauch-
raun" - mosaic, hit looked here, scene
stolen there. and situation cribbed from the
other pace. lhat u Is creation, 40 one c n
deny There are scenes aud b - aud situat ms IN
lngentouslS utilized. so admirably Drought iuto
hirmOnv with the movement ana motive ~ the
whole. that criticism becomes c VI ins. and he
ear ~taIies win the burden Of complaint.
Mr. Bouclcault u simply a clever artist. He
takes tools which Others cannot use, aud tends
them Ia his purpose. Ills comics cd adapti-
tons even are 80 manipulated thut T. would be
honest did he claim them rs originals. | re
column long. of the scenes and situations now
Incorporated IN the "snaughraun," which were
taken from other plays.
What Of III
For the sake Of argument. grant that he selects
his rose buds mere hi t1ueroses tner- MS smilaI
els-w here, and uinus them with gerinium lie YES
viOlets. ana fern. Nnat ~ it.tt the bouquet be
author Of London Assurance" "Rip Van
Ninkle," " The Long STRIKE" Lea Astrny,"
Colleen Bawn," d" The Corsican brother" aud
the hyI ercri' cism Of men who are only able To
detect his weaknesses. being utterly st sea ~ tue
know and don't care where he mOtV Of the
"Snaushraun =" came from. 1t IL qIits sufficient
for ne to know that the play has cle AL purposes,
bright dia oeue. good cneer, plenty Of fun, and
three Jolly acts II hip hip-h an-ltiveness-a
81 when delsht- We stalis, chhrms the boxes,
and eleyates tue gallerylto u plane Of social and
esthetic delight.
Mr. walMck's stage pictures ere things Of
beauty and joys for a hundred ana nfty nights.
Deaf and mo men might attend a perform
ance Of the ShAu.nraun with ueneht To their
parched ana wlthered souls. Livery ret IL q
gem, ana several Of them are koihnoors. The
theatre going people remember the lush home
the IIisn abbey Ia ruins the Iiish wIke In tho
Irisn cabin, aud the crows nest where virtue
trumphs and Vice falls over a pre- riptce, so
wont y rticul RE their several beauti--, be-
yond a report int In design, execu in nd I'M
ish tues are triumphs Of art and miracles Of
mechanism.
The cast includes old and new names, favOrtes
and candidates.
MIR. Mont cues Captain Moline,ir is an apt
vehicle for that gentleman's good points aud
pad. He dresses tolerAbly. looking Ike mil
tary charmer la scarlet, but. 4dly cheap In cap
ana overcoat Months fascination Is ~ eve and
tee b, IN earnestDrss ana negligence ms de-
fects are aw ~ ardness IN gall, shsllowness, and
LEX OF feeling. HIS patnos !, hlways sreled
with Il. H. was received 18th great enthusi sn.
were all cue con pany, ana the gno1 wishes
~ every one -ttended nil. MI GllDerts Parish
Priest was u gene picture, perfect In detail
ana rounded TO the fun. Sir. Arnott played
htnchnd. the ,ilain. He looked u. dressed II
aud piayed Is Ssl tnat waited 70 Mss nth
Il IS good a character actor as liv.s. wish
could give n PIC uIe - Becketts irueu DUFF
toe spy, intorma ana tr.ducer IN general. Il
cant Ue done. pass II Win "A sigh. GO ani
eit.
So much for tue men. Now for the women.
Miss Rose wood llayed A ifs q Nrds. Cnfor-
unaely for her. Mis- Jtrrevs Lewis plaNed II
before. here /, 30 com parlsOn posi- lie sim
to Miss WOOD can iirly ue awarded rafnestness
IN enueayor. ana very pleasant Ceput. Miss
Adj Dvas. as before ulayed Clare simply, nat
uray ana with an 4 bdnd1n At once enjOyaf lie
an modest. Size s., ms 20 be an exponent n
the marrow Of the pla ), full OF lfe. bright Jplf
nd good turcl. = was ple ised, or course,
with Miss Jos phi'e Iiiker, bccadse Mos Baker
H. "A Irctty, Young GA !, whose lAther was nay
frienc but M0yI IL J. ,st hoile beyond her.
She looked as l-sh as A tea-rD,e bui, and ana
her best Mime l. n-i a. C0HHs moth 7, and
the k-eners of Mrs. Sef on aud Miss Blalsd,ll,
were capi ally done.
BIt how about Is jucica It7
Ohl Well Buucicault y aged Conn, and kept
hs audieuc- IA a rOas, OF a uproar, al the tIne
VIM Idttris ~ d. quite - reputation without
the trouble II m appearan re. don't propos'
to wri Conn. It's ia n To inier that ones
re idrr- know sOutthtng ate Ut the vi ~. and II
they DO, tnes Know Ia tCOHh - the wal VhRn-
bona who lrrases The aXies on whicn the wheels
of iun 90 uerriS iOu.d hud i Iuad. UuuCicault
wrote the play. aud picked GU. MS part. A man
may take the test cl.a the beat piece of celery,
ana the best part N a play VII mont suit ctlng
mm-olf to tie IN utatiOu Of ,'elusnhess-and
tn Is wnlt mes due