The evening world., 1893-10-31
1.-THE SILVER SHELL

Nihilism is very firing. The novelist
and the dramatist have attacked II so
furlously. fascinated by the emporium
ltics' It always seems to hold forth,
that what Is left wearics. II IL the
theme of the fOur-aCt melodrama with
ont m'rhanical effects called THE sill
yer Shell" which was acted last night
Mt the star Theatre, by MIR. and Mrs.
Kendall. II was hard work to follow the
play from It's start to its denouement,
for the author. Mr.. II. j. W Dam, n
very brilliant writer. dragged YOU
through "A sea OF Improbable laxative
ness, sticky with inccssant assassina-
tin, rabid conspiracy and n general pre-
ponderance of vitchs. skis and koffs.
Nihilistic misery generally seems
strained. unnatural and unduly theatri-
cat. 1t IL not the sort of misery that
calls forth human sympathy, In this
country at any rate. '1he autoCratic
car to the little nineteenth century
gallery boy must be shriekirgly funny.
Mr.. Dam himself allows the eXecrable
comedy" characters he has introduced
to gently guy" the Nihilistic idea. the
Russian language and the essence of
his own play. That the audience did not
do this Is owing to one or two clever
situations and the "a tisfaCtory work OF
Mr.. and Mrs. Kendall Katherine Nail
IL he heroine of THE silver She'll
She is n pleasant, affable, mature sort
Of u body. who looks as though she
would he far more comfortable crochet
ing anti-mucassars han coquetting with
Nihilism. The car murdered her
roper, and she saw the murder, which
later on she sobbingly describes to the
manly bosom of her lover She IL filled
with a thirst for revenge and she Joins
the Nihilists. She IL married to the son of
Prince Karatotf, aid her husband Is
also assassinated, leaving her a little
son in a velvet suit OF clothes. The
marriage has been a secret one. Kara
toff believes that his boy has been muir
dered by this woman with whom he was
living. and goes to the Nihilist meeting
as Boris Ivanitch to see the siren.
He hears the plot for assassination of
the Car, but Turing the meeting the
real Boris appears. and Karaton is in
an ugly position. He seizes a silver
smell. frll OF dynamite, and holds it
above his head ready 10 throw at the
ccnspirators, when the police enter, and
the curtain falls. In the last act, the
General discovers that Katherine Vail
was his sons lawful wife. and that
the little velvet suit is his ~grandchild.
He utters "a sort Of "Me-child!' and, in
stead of sending Katherine to Siberia, in
her nice, brown elk dress. he gives her
in marriage to n kind Engiishman, with
a respectable beard, who Is yearning to
marry her. Such is THE Silver Shell"
At the end you feel so thoroughly at
ONE with ASA ssination that you are
inclined to believe that it must have
been invented exclusively for melo-
drama. Ion long fippantIy to call Mrs.
Kendall Madgeski and Mr.. Kendall VIII
lievitCh-this cannot be deemed familiar
and you ale glad that 1t is all over.
with no bloodshed among the actors you
saw on the stage. 1t was nice of MIR.
Dam to avoid showing us gore. "The
Silver Shell" however, could be fitted
up most fttingly for the cheap circuits.
There are spaces yearning to be filled
in with accessories and carloads of
scenery.
As the General, Mr.. Kerdal was dis
tinctly good, and his makeup was a
work of art. He always manages to
escape being great, but he is really a
sterling actor-the sort OF actor that
no w~ell-regulated company should be
without. Mrs. Kendall dropped the ag-
Gressive t%oughness and the viNenish de-
meanor of Paula ~Tanqueray, and was
very effective as katherine Vail. Her
scenes with the little velvet suit were
| ighly artistic, and it was nice to see
her again in a part that she knows how
to play. and does not have to explain.
oscar Adye as Sir Richard Stanhope
was a stick, n Cecil NJ York as Naldor
was really amusingly bad. These parts
could not have been more artistically
neglected If the Kendals had tried To
slight them. which. OF course, they did
not do. Miss Annie Irish played very
neatly "A part that was dropped by the
author very early, and Miss Florence
Benrett "interpreted' a comedy role
worthy OF a third-rate farce-comedy
q. =. Huntley contributed a clever char.
ucter sketch. and did admirable work.
THE Silver Shelf show that a con,
ventionel play that the kendals under
stand il preferable to IA really grea;
play like THE Second Mrs. Tanqueray'
that the kendals do not understand.
ALAN DALE.