Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-12-06
G0ESTHE CURTAIN
TIE cLsmsNceAu CASE ALLOWED
TO Be PLAYED LAST NIGHT.
Mayor RIiyson Being Complained to Hears
Several Geniiemen, Who Think IL
No Worse Than Opera.

No Worse Than Opera
Perhaps no play that has ever been pre-
ser:o3 on the Richmond stage has attract
Il moro widespread comment or been
more generally discussed than The
Ccmcnceau Case" the initial production
a. which was given at the Academy Of Music
Thursday evening before large audience
composed almost entirely Of men.
The niece is q dramatizcd form OF tho
,ovol by the same name. written by the
celebrated French author. Alexander Du-
mas .fs). Tho scene Is laid in Paris.
TIM PLAY.
liza. the heroine. is q young Russian girl
rf striking beauty. Her mother, de
.or.ug woman Of coarse and deprayed
f,-.cs. aluircs her greatly. but is con-
tuailr schcming 20 find a husband for
fuc rlrl that Will raise them from their
rayrtv and place them in the lap OF
Injury. For this purpose she exhibits her
d,ushter whenever opportunity offers
lfseif at balls and public places. At one OF
tlcso thcv meet Pierre Cleinepceau. n
rl.cd young sculptor, who Immediately
falls in love with liza. The girl IN turn re-;
c.prochtos his love 10 some degree, ana
knowing that "a marriage with the hftIsJ
lin.
rSrIDELrTY AND SEPARATION.
After the marriage one OF the former
Isyors Of the girl. a Russian who had been
rejected on account of hls reduced circum-
stances. returns 90 Paris, and ~ ne mas
now become suddenly enriched, la proves
uufmthful to her husband. and meets heT
iruor lover frequently. rms lack on
fI.lify Clemenceau finally discovers. anb
l.gairs that he wall kill the Russian who
l.-c0me between them but finally decides,
rt tie urgent solicitations OF iuenu,
(. abandon this idea and 70 60 10
Rome 20 study art. This he does, alter
having cast his wife ana hcr para9ltlc
mother aside. But art has no charms Tor
iin lu Rome aud in a short whlle ne re-
iurus 20 lza. lie finds her leading last
lfr hut iu anlueut circumstances. Even
tlcu ms love proves more than MS hohpr,
and he requests her tp return 70 Rome
with him. Tins In IN an evaslYc way de-
rlqcs 90 DO. bat she consents 20 renew
tboir former relations, provided tho sculp-
g., vill i've I'm Paris The husband. seeing
That tho woman is still designing, becomes
mfuriated, and IN moment OF rage no
chokes and stats her to death.
TnE OBJECTION TO H..
The ulav is an exceedingly strong one,
and in its dramatized form has not lost the
traces II the mastery pen Of Dumas. But
throughout there is q decided touch Of
that which is called "frenchy.'
The most Objectionable feature on the
drama b. at the rise Of the curtain IN me
third act when LA poses asa model tor her
husband. icr entire costume consists OF
t very iight-fttinR suit of silk gauzo OF "a
delicate shade uf pink. This scene only
lasts about q minute and while the actress
i- posing the lights on the stage are low
4od and under their soft glow she looks
almost as much like marble as human
le.uE.
ETFOETED TO THF MAYOR.
AZ the conclusion of the drama on Thurs
fl- uicht Captain J. B. Angle. of the Sc
,ond police district. who attended the per-
.ruauce 20 see whether its immortality
WAS such a. TO forbid It's being produced
here. hoard many expressions OF disappro-
baton from gentlemen IN the audience as
tupg were passing out. Feeling that 1t was
ais duty TO report the company, he yester
tay morning communicated with Mayor
ilF-ou, stating that from what he had
heard he considered the play Objectionable.
Mayor EllysOn accordingly wrote note
O. Mcssrs. Berger a Myers. the managers
u thc Academy of Music, requesting them
il meet him in his Office at 4 O'Clock and
show reasons why the play should not be
di-clutinued IN Richmond on the ground
that It was injurious TO public morals.
TIE CONFERENCE HELD.
This they did. and at the appointed
h1ar number Of prominent gentlemen OF
tia citv assembled ia his Office to give
thcr vicws concerning the play and to
lrlr the dispute.
among these were Mr.. Henry G.. Berger,
manager of the Academy OF Music, and
Ncssrs l.. o. Wendenburg and W. hlrk
Mathews. his counsel MIR. Berrie Jarrett,
Of IA l.
]. Collins. one of the Academy lesseos; Mr..
Thomas G.. ieath, of the Theatre; Mr.. ii.
I'll. smith, COmmOnwoalth's Attorney, ana
Captain James b. Angle.
Navor Ellys0u said that he had received
letter stating that there were objection
able features N the play Inc Two mann ns
point, were that the language IN some OF
The parts was what be construed as broad,
while the appearance of the actress IN the
scene where she appears as model was
the main objection He was perfectly will
inp 20 hear any statements from Mr.. Ber-
ger OF any other Interested parties.
yIEws or SIR. ALLAN
Mr. Edgar Allan was first called upon TO
give his views concerning the drama.
read the work 80 said he. the day before
tuc performance because from what / had
heard l wanted TO understand II tho
roughly. / saw the performance, hut was
disappointed. as 10 had been Givested OF
much that appears in the original work.
There was Gu absence of everything OF a
s'gnhcant nature that could be eliminated,
The whole plot IS based on the unfalthiul-
ness ot la, bat the language is as unoo-
Jcctonablc as any In which the plot could
be c0uchel lf had any disappointment
ia. the presentation Of the model II was
that such care had been taken not 10 mako
10 Objectionable. When | first saw her
was uncertain whether II was an actual
model ora real actress. o.
"Ithiuk.n continued Mr. Allan, that
The presentation was one of the best have
ever seen on the stage, and was surprised
TODAY when heard that objections had
been raised to IL. | was asked # l would
object 10 coming before you and said L
would not
NOT AS BAD AZ OPERAS.
81 have seen dozens of performances in
lhe city of Richmond both at the Theatre
lld Mozart" Mr.. Allan continued, That
were far more Objectionable than anything
.aw IN this one As compared with tho
comic operas th0 suggestions Of vulgartv
ought not 10 be mentioned. l believe II II
had been presented for the first time IN
Richmond there would not have been ono
halt as much said about It as when tho
newspapers Of Richmond had an opportu-
atty 20 criticise The play was not one
tenth as suggestive as are some OF the
comic operas
Mr.. Allan said he would not hesitate to
take bis wife 20 see the play IN any other
city where the prejudice was not as II Is
here.
Whom askodif he would allow his daugh-
ters % SEQ It he said that there was dis
Uuction between them and his wife, but
that he would rather have them see the
drama than read the book.
AN EDITORS VIEWS.
Captain Page McCarty was asked 10
P.vo his opinions concerning the perform
llce. He said he did not think That any
more objections could be attached 20 IT
than 70 one third of the things presented
nowadays. Draped figures are more sug-
Pestiye than the real outline of the form.
IN his opinion some of the operas We're
much worse