The herald., 1894-09-05

Los ANGELES THEATER.-There was
something radically different in the play
last night from that OF the previous
Sowing the Wind, it was pretty little
English comedy OF the modern school
and not very dlstantly separated from
thoss homely and pathetic domestic
dramas in which the veteran Couldock
stands above rivalry.
Liberty Hall is quiet little story OF q
woman's life and man'e love that takes
just trife too long to tell it and for all
that ia plete with beauties. 1t showed
Henry Miller at his very beat, in g
Juvenile part that was evidently
much to his liking. He is the
heir to deceased relatives lands through
the rascslly English law OF entail and
seeks the society of his second cousins.
who are about to be turned out of house
and home, under the pseudonym of Mr..
Owen. The naughty Blanche not only
gives him chilly reception, but sends
him back to her relative with message
to the effect that che and her younger
sister were going to live at
Liberty Hall in Bloombury, London.
The last three acts are laid at Liberty
Hall, an out-of-the-way bookstand. kept
by MIR. Todman, an uAcle of the or
phaned Chilworth girle, and Mr.. Owen
becomes lodger in the house. All
through the second act Blanche snubs
him numerically, but he takes his
snubbing like hero. He vowe he will
never enter the family living-room again
without her invitation, and the act ends
up by the strong minded young woman
asking him in for cup of tea. In the
third act O birthday party ia given
to Blanche by her uncle. and dur
ing the festivities her sister plans
an elopement with young fellow
named Gerald Harringay. Mr.. Owen
overhears the plan and illustrates it.
He persuajes Harringay to 60 away
without the girl, which he does. and
then he takes the girl gently by the
| hand and reasons with her. While do
ing 80, the elder sister enters and in a
fury OF jealousy orders Amy to bed. She
then calls Mr.. Owen to an account for
his conduct. but he does not explain it
to her satisfaction, and the curtain falls
on Blanche alone, sobbing as though
her heart were broken.
"After dark cometh the dawn" and
in the early morning Mr.. Owen begins
making his preparations for journey
to India. Before going to bed Amy con-
feeseB her whole escapade to Blanche,
exonerated Oven from sll posi- BILE
charges of flirting. Blanche feels badly
about it, Of course. She has repulsed
the attentions Of high-minded man,
and has nobody but heraslf to blame for
her sorrow. But ell is made right in
the last act, and the curtain falls upon
two hetrothed couples.
Viola Aliens versatility as an actress
stood her in hand all through the piece,
her part being widely different from
that OF Rosamond, given on the previous
evening. The staid, prim country girl
OF uncertain age, in the first act; the
poor art student, struggling for living
in London; the jealous woman, stung to
madness by her lovers paridy, in the
third; and finally the happy bride
whose sorrows are all left be-
hind, are depicted with a mastery
touch. The beauty OF Miss Aliens
acting lies in it's quiet force and its ever.
present modesty. She is not the most
beautiful actrsss on the stage, but she
is by long odds the most impressive.
She plays on the subdued order OF elo'
quence that the cider Wallack was the
flrst to introduce on tho American stage
and always leaves her audience in the
belief that she has some yitalized force
still In reserve. A word OF commenda
tion is duo Mr.. Compton's clever imper
sonation of tho old bookseller. L. was al
neat piece oil character work es ha:
been seen in years, replete with broad
drolleries and homely pathos. As hal
been said above. the play needs reduc
! ing to three acts, for it has too much