The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-08-19


that If the truth were known. all fathers go 10
Crcmorne. and all mothers keep pink dominos
I'm their trunks. These are everybodys secrets.
and il is the privilege Of the incontincnt drama
to bctray them.
At least such IL the lesson ono gets from
Lazy Maggie Hdggs,dG II IL all very well TO
say her visit to Cremorne is a joke but it IL
nothing OF the sort it is n duty. She sets about
it without any of the chccrfulncss of an mex
pcrieBced woman. She knows all about it. and
she intends to let her unsophisticated friend,
Mrs. GreDthOrne. into the secrets Of life.
Mrs. Agnes Booth. who plays my Ladv MAGGIE.
plays it better than it deserves to be played. Sho
acknowledges to us with rather formal rhetoric,
but with the calm assurance Of woman who
has eaten Of the tree Of knowledge. that a wfes
fate is inevitable; and Miss Linda Dictz plays
the part of the innocent little fool who believes
for "a few moments that some men are honest.
The spirit Of the Restoration ia in this. We
do not catch the flavor Of it in the dominos and
masks alone. but in tho ingenious situation Of
the last act. whore tho guilty husband having
been discovered by his wife. assures her that he
know from the start that she was playing a Joke
upon him. and he was determined to humor
her. The wife IL thus deceived up to the last
moment. Poetic justice is achieved. and the
sympathics OF the audience secured as they
should be- If the husband had failed to be dis
honest in the denouenent there would have been
no touch OF nature to make the world of specta-
tors kin. In other words sincere prongacy
trds poetic justice in Wycherey's day, and it is
yet. If We are to believe Pink Dominica
II the habitual reader Of this column has n
memory at all commensurate with his good
taste. he will recall the mild hut firm objection
that | made to Forbidden Fruit" when Mr..
Mallack opened his regular season with IT, |
protested then against the comic treatment Of
vice. n deferontially ~ could. seeing that it
was Mr. Wnllark who WAS setting the example
and hr had always boastcd oi keeping his house
clean. ! protested because | did not believe
that. To mako sin absurd. was a more effective
preventive thnn to make 1t dangerous. on the
contrary. believed that to make debauchery
pastimc was 10 Put its excuse into innocent
mouths. rs its temptation was put into idle
heads.
| cannot do less than rencw my protest now
that the Union Square Theatre. which never
boosted. but always ny to this time kept its
house clean. has followed Mr.. Wallack's exam
pie. But If any one supposes that ! shall make
n moral outery he Is mistaken. Forbidden
Fruit" Baby" and Pink Dominos are. in
their English forms. so many attempts to rcvivc
the drama ~ Charles IL = time. And our
Boarding House" and Life" are clumSier eN-
perimcnts with the same material. The attempt
Of the theatre TO return 10 its vomt may be
laughed at as it, humor deserves 10 bc. but it
need not be- deprecated at the loss Of breath. for
the theatre has a collar about it, mock that has
been rvettcd by hundred years Of tinkering.
To successfully revive the comedy Of the
Restoration. you must first revive the society
and life Of the Restoration.
An idle crowd may laugh oyer the dissoutc
picture thrown against the screen Of the play
house. hut II laughs boldly because life does not
reflect the colors.
The mingled rynicism and voluptuousness Of
Byron-whose rule of life if We are to believe
Mnaulay. was to hnto your neighbor as your
self and love your neighbour wife-turus out to
be- sort % Mark Twain joke the moment We
bring II into the intense life Of our day. And
the radiant nth of Wychcrlcy belongs IA much
to the past as MECHANICALLY rs the semi barbar-
Gus mysteries that preceded it.
81. We cannot ctup II moral excitement. And
| am very glad Of it. Speaking Of Macauluy.
am reminded that he says in his review of
Moorcs life OF Byron;
W. know spectacle ridiculous the Briii.h pub.
clorcmcni. divorces amt iamiy qua,rri. pas without
asr. nv H. IT, osna NM .u,r 6' . S vi ma
dccrn'S 10 uc violated ", must make a. stand against
appreciate ihc mi ortance OF domestic ties Accordingly
a"ad Woe oen', Gatc ssn reS, iP w ,sn
's. q. an ,S'g,A,gg '"GHnee II he ha' ghil
Ae driven from ~ /, - the ht.h,r order. ami
~h" ,csr, ssn,. 'I III he 'o d,Sr ,Mi ls
' W. ',' 'i' .p' ,y sn sum , TENN
So, f> 4. n.,1 oar amer 3, ,9,acd our Ncuin d,
ycai, more.
This description applies with rare fidelity To
our tr-tmcnt ot the stage A few years ago
therf broke out in this country "A virulent horror
81 tue immortality Of the Lydia Thompson
troupe. Til" press screamed with pious terror
from Printing House square TO Peoria ~ these
in iirnsivc girls uproot'i the foundations of
society. They were assaied personally 10y the
pulpit. They were denounced by the moral ist~
in the magazines. and some II them were held
responsible for all the evils that afliit civili1a-
tion. After this terrible outburst had subsidized
the troupe went on in It's own nippant and tune
ful way and nobody said a word. 1t returned
here last night, and gave its dccorous and anus
ing exhibition at Wallack's Theatre Society
docs not now appear TO bc outraged in the
slightest degree. There are NJ sermons preach
ed this morning against them 10 leaders
hurled at them.
So too. We had our spasm over Camille"
and the emotional drama AMI howled down
whole columns of loaded typo at the adultcrous
stage. Then We went 10 sleep. Society it may
be said has been uprooted by comedy opera
boufr. burleslue, and farce successfully. and
decency driven from the lec Of the earth every
two years.
With that cheering recollection think we can
patiently abide the issue which the comedy
cour-"ncss Of Pink Dominos" has forced
upon Us. Il ladies' AMI gentlemen wish e. = zee
the urrtty face OF Maud Harrison initiating the
expressions of young wauton; If they believe
the Mabii- j, part Of the marital cnIoymrut-.
and un leapnc,-. 10 bc acceptable has only 10 Dee
funny. they will 20 tothe Union Suunr- Thratre.
Bu, that Pink Dominos' VIII catch the
SERIOUS attention IT ladies and gentlemen and
exact thrir hearty eomnenlation | DO no; he-
lioNe. For the mlio. in assisting at this revival
would have To- reyiyo the old Gust ain of wearing
MASKS at tur thcatrr-und they viii mot lo that
unl, ~ somebody m-,kc- 1t fashionable
AlM CElNKLE.
THE 90 HEILr DR.iMf