New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-03-17
THE DRAMA-MUSIC.
" THE PHARISEE."

her that ii Is fine thing for q man and woman to
live together without being married In this matter Lord
IIc!mOie acted like visionary lunatlc If not like
blackguard, and Miss Foster acted like a fool. Atsr
time Miss Foster became aware Of the error Of her
ways, and then she left Lord Helmore and obtained
employment a nurse in a hospital. still later
she met Godfrey Landon OR. BelD and pres
emily she became his wife. Before consenng to
marry him she instructed her prongate father TO
acquan him with the facts Of her irregular assocla-
ton with Lord IIemore, and she received from that
Enthusiastically parent the emphatic but false
ancc that he had fulfilled her command, and that
Godfrey Landon, IN making her his wife, would do
SO with full knowledge of her previous adventures.
After Godfrey ard Kate had lived in happy matr.
mony for eight years-withOut ever having made tho
slightest reference TO her early life-Lord Helmore
ignorant of the ladys fate called on Godfrey as
old friend, and requested him TO take charge Of q
packet containing portrait Of the woman who had
once lived with him his mistress, ard promised a
large of money, to be given TO her in case she
should be found Lord IIemore Furthermore
ntmaed the intention Immediately to repair to India
and die there. Godfrey, with some reluctance,
promised to decide upon proper course of conduct
after reflection and thereupon he mentioned the SUBJ
jcct to his wife-wh0 visbly affected by IT, being
now made aware that her nefari0us sire had acted
with treacheTy and that Godfrey, when lie
married her, knew nothing OF her past life.
Upon this fra basis Of improbable occur
rences and impossible misrepresentation is reared the
threeact comedy Of The Pharfsce" by Mr.. Malcolm
Watson and Mrs Lancaster Wallis, which, having had
currency in London last season. was brought out al
the Madison square Theatre last night. IL Is the
old story of wife with secret, the revelation OF
which will wreck her married felicity, aflict her
husband and presumably disrupt her home The
woman is TO be shown in a state OF nervous appre-
hension: the secret is finally 10 get itself divulged;
and after emotional catastrophe, matters are to
be mended with sentimental plautude. All this IL
duly accomplished. There are ten persons In tha
piece the time Is the present; the action passes IN
house at English town called Marlborough the
incidents are supposed to occur inside of one week.
and only one scene is required "a pretty drawing,
roou as an investtue the three acts The theatre
was crowded. The play was beautifully SCI ana AMY
acted Miss May Brooklyn, who embodied Kate Landon.
and who has often shown herself to be an admirable
actress made signal hitproducing despite steel
like temperament and a metallic hardness OF ex'
prcssion the combined effect of beauty, dignity,
affection and pathos-marred somewhat by facial con-
torton.
In construction "The Pharsee" is neat and COM
pact, showing experienced theatrical hand Inc
Grst act devoted 10 statement OF the stuatoh ana
at its close the spectator is aware that Kate Lahdoh Is
the woman whom Lord IIelmore betrayed and to whom
he is remosefuy desiro should she ever be found OF
making all the reparation in his power. At the sane
point Furthermore the spectator is also aware that
The scheme of the piece forced. theatrical and grossly
unnatural. No such woman as this herOllie, however
Young could have been imbecile in moral sense Missy
Foster might. perhaps, have been hypnouzed' oue
having recovered and TUNED hospital nurse, she would
have STAYED So Certainly she would not nave DecoHe
the wife of any man without first making him acluain"
cd with her history Knowing her father TO be .
scamp she would not have trusted him TO bear an
important message, and she would not have believed
his lie. In the Of eight years of welded hto
she would have learned in hundred ways, the Tuo
state of her husbands mind, and whether or not lie nag
been apprised Of her juvenile indiscretion Lord ie
more after lapse Of eight or ten years, would LOB
have undertaken the quest Of fugaciouS mistress aug
least of all would he have sought cold formal MANI
from whom he had lived apart all that time, TO Durue1
him with the task Of finding runaway girl and gVhs
her a fortune There is neither harmony nor ratiohAA
sequence in these events. This fact early oeeofes
evident, and IL early becomes evident likewise
that the thought underlying the piece is mawkSa
and unsound. Godfrey is worthy. commonplace
man who has lived In correct and decent mannea
In the matter Of vegetables he prefers those that ara
early In the matter Of wives he, at least, staita
with a preference for chaste woman. With refec
ence to the "errng sister, his feeling IS that OF i'
patience and he thinks that his wife should manage
to get along without seeking the companionship os
that interesting individual. Godfrey is therefore the
Pharisec The term Is used one of reproach BlS'
hearted humanity (our old friend with the bulIocAS
gZzard) is supposed TO it, as contemptuous nauo
for a person who condemns sinners ana Is mus
thought to asseverate l am holer than thou" mus
far the piece ambes and prOSes. Toward the emu
Of act second there moment Of dramatic suspense
and incident Godfrey Landon is about TO examine
the packet that Lod fIemore has inuSted TO his care
II he opens that packet he VIII discover tIht INC
woman whom he has married was once the mistress
Of his friend Kate LandOn begs that he will not
omen it-that he will not allow himself to be budened
with his friends painful affairs Her request l. not
,I,a 10 gfvTvfr la
light At this juncture Lord Hemore himself enters
and reclaims the packet. He has ascertained, Dy
means Of conversation with Mrs. Landons chld. tilo
identity Of Mrs. Landon with his former mistress,
and he arrives upon just in time to preVens
the disclosure Of the relations of these persons, thus
strangely painfully and obnoxiously entanged Geot-
rev remain, in the dark. But for long. In the lass
act Mrs Landon. who keep her secret no longer
cnlighens his understanding by a confession ana ne
+, constrained 70 decide whether TO remain with her or
To part from her. Timely news of The Cppor'uHe
death Of Lord IlcmOrc t. received, ard Gcoirol there
upon decides that he has been IN the habit of liu-HE
other people without charity; that the error Of Mss
Foster was a venial error: that Lord lielmoe WIS
much T. be- pcd that nobody but himself is to blame
and that he Will take short vacation before ceasnS
to be "A Phari,ce, and rcsuming his matrimonial
felicity The actors did more than justice to tins WORK.
such an actor a Frederic Robinson is rather wasted
upon a solicitor named Pcttfer (Which is manlesuV
polite for rctttOgD Miss Brooklyn, III k.lte Ld-u'"'
pleading scene with her husband and again IN the con-
fesSon showed extraordinary tenderness OF feens ana
OF moral elevation. and she both acted and spoke WIN
dramatic authority. The unctuous humor OF MT'
Harris and the clever assumption of affected ua's-
PORTS By Mrs Phillips, together with Miss hlliefs
sparkle of nippancy. relieved the performance win
welcome lingo OF ninth.
Their, might be wisdom in unearthng the ahclen'
theme Of this piece II, in the treatment OIL H. any uS
matte situation had been developed. Of unusual noVey'
or co-ency. or meaning or grace. beauty. NO
such situation Is encountered The incidents are
echoes. and the work seems reminiscent and trIe
nav have been suggested by that suggiShly currm
prodigy of dulness the Dolls House Of MI lbsca'
In both plays the dramatic structure reared upon an
act of diotic folly committed by female, WHOSE 10
fence is ignorance In botll the VIE Is "ai iH'e"