The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-09-12
NEW PLAYS ON TIE STAGE.
THREE VARIOUS EXAMPLES or hMEE-
IC1y I.LArBRIGH7S' WORK.

.Tbe Lions Mouth" n Venetian Romance
q, BI.nk vrrse-"In Old Kentucky" q
Piece of Robust Charncterizaion-"Th The
Rising Generation" n Turbid Farce.
piece OF good literary work for the stage
nv Henry Guy Carleton, entitled y" The Lions
Mouth" had it's Now York disclosure at the
star Theatre last evening. 1t was a sixteenth
century romance OF Venice. written In blank
ycrse and in all respects q careful and Inn
,ressiye effort by proficient playwright.
The title had been derived from a
historic fact that, In tho time Of the
Council OF Three. anonymous accusations
Of treason were made against persons by
simply dropping their names into the open
mouth OF certain craven lion. Mr.. Carleton 3
story made loving and loyal wife thus expose
ber husband as revolutionist The matters
which led up to that episode contained ele-
mcnts Of love- hatred. and revenge. and those
which followed II reached very dramatic
climax. Accounts OF the play. as performed in
other cities last season. have been published
here. and so those who read theatrical
news know already that 1t has been praised a
great deal. Much OF the approval is deserved.
Tho fluoncy OF Mr.. Carleton's pen Is far above
that OF his tongue. lie made poor and halt
inc speech when called before the audience.
hut his characters In the drama spoke with
wondrous flows Of ready words. That was at
once fault and merit OF the piece. Some
times the personages said SO much that what
they meant was well-niEh lost in language.
A, other times they were genuinely eloquent,
expressing original ideas epigrammatically,
or POLITICALLY. or With graphic power. accord
ing as the case required. The au-
thor had composed some OF his pas
sages in bold imitation OF Shake
,peare 1t is sure to be said that he went
xLak ,nA nhrao md
Inlet. Hamlet and Dooberrv: but there 10 no
need to be hypercriticaL Tho Lions Mouth"
has admirable qualities Of romanticism.
Of graceful composition. and Of NOV
inely theatric situations 1t may well
mako Mr.. Carleton glad. or pride's sake
that he wrote 1t. and 1t is likely to reward him
adequately In money besides. An initial au
dience at the Star Is peculiarly insincere as
sembaee. aud Its applause does not mislead
the experts: but there was real enthusiasm on
this occasion. along with that which was false
pretence. The impression made was unques-
tlonably favorable
The representation was unevenly good and
bad. Frederick Warde and Louis James were
the sof and tss rest 81
s 1a%DsS Ri. T nssns won Was y better
sysF hs SS9e ali pei Inown m James thess
many years as a fine, versatile player. Mr..
Warde Is remembered for clumsy monotony
Of 81 love love and and war In The Lions Mouth
be ranged with facility from comedy syy,,,t TO-
tragedy he showed unexpected piIaoiiity
he met nearly all tbs. demands of a
rather difficult character. Mr.; James's ahili-
ties were applied to the depletion OF o plotting
scoundrel in the guise Of a priest whose f1end-
fish vengeance and murderous ambition were
almost dominant in tho play.
Considerable effort had been made to pro-
duce pictorial scenes. and the best OF these
was view OF q carnival ball. while the worst
was an illustration OF carnival street foolery.
The late Mr.. Barrett could have done scenic
justice to the many opportunities afforded by
the text The living Mr. Irving could do still
better. and THE Lions Mouth" really de-
serves that kind OF stage treatment.