The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-04-15
A NEW BRAZEN PLAY
Revolving Realism Displayed in
Herne's margaret Fleming"
Lillian Russell Making War on Pho
tOgrapher Who Deceived Her
A HOrse-Race Play.
Special Correspondence.

/
to this city were produced on Monday
night with various results. They were
Margaret Fleming" by James a. Herne;
Rival Candidates" by c. T. Darcy and l.
y. Morris. and THE SleepwaIker," one Of
those rare-roast-beef-of-old England farces,
| by c. III. Abbott. The first OF these plays
had previously been done for extended
period by Mr.. and Mrs. Herne In a little
| hall in the city Of Boston. where 1T stirred
up considerable comment and awakened al
most delirious joy among the fat-heeled
| and specialized females of the town by rea-
son Of what they were perversely pleased to
term it's naturalism- Margaret Fleming
| does not strike New York in the same light
as Boston. Here it is regarded as being
revolving and theatrical, but not at all
| natural.
The woman who is the central figure is
set before us as rigid mOralist who sud
| denly discovers that her husband has been
conducting prolonged liaison with another
| woman She goes TO that woman's house
just as the unfortunate creature has shuf-
fed off this mortal coil in the pangs of
| motherhood. Her first inclination is to kick
up the kind of disturbance which usually
follows the discovery by wives of hus-
bandly dereliction, but the cry of the new
born babe sets her instincts going in an
other channel. and. lest the infant starve.
she nurses il at her own breast having
apparently never heard of the virtues of
Mellin's food, or Hecker's buckwheat, or
any of those things. The scene where the
episode occurs is probably one of the most
brazen exhibitions ever conceived for ex-
ploitation in first-class theater. AS the
curtain falls the woman is on the stage
with the babe in her arms making visible
| preparation to give il sustenance. That is
what Mr.. Herne calls naturalism- In real
| ity, it is merely grotesque and shocking.
The whole play is cast in the same mold
| Of feverish unreality. There
| rather powerful scenes, which would create
| a sensation in play the spirit of which
was healthy. In this piece they simply
serve to awaken regret that their dramatic
| value should have been wasted upon an
| unworthy theme.
| The only thing good which can be said
of Margaret Fleming is that it has in
| troduced to the metropolis an actress of
altogether unusual qualities. Mrs. Katherine
Herns when l first saw her a number Of
years ago playing in piece called Hearts
| OF Oak gave little promise OF developing
| into a more than merely ordinary player
| But she has grown with almost marvellous
rapidity since that time, and she fairly
| electrified her audience at the Fifth-avenue
Theater on Monday evening by one of the
| most consistent womanly and vivid peces
| OF delineation that has ever been seen on
| the New York stage.
The Dazey-Morris production at the Mad
| lson-square Theater proved 10 be an inter-
esting play in which horse racing was an
Important factor, although there was no
the stage. The story dealt with the pro-
ceedings OF two men who were rivals in
honorable, straightforward man and the
other an accomplished crook who sought
ana interruptions means. He was. of
course in the end exposed and the conlpli-
cations were Strengthened out TO the bene-
nj or the more conscientious characters in
the play. The most vivid scene of Rival
Candidates" was placed upon the veranda
or the jockey clubhouse at Saratoga, where
tnere was running description OF a race
supposed sup to be taking place on the track
of money. This was a picturesque and
e erIIlant piece OF dramatic Writing and it
dates is very good play in the main
and 1t will doubtless be greatly Improved
by the authors. who will easily find out it's
Iaults, which are really very trifiing and
easily eliminated. The cast is of unusual
strength and contains such performers as
Chanfrau, George r. Edeson, Victory Bate
Thare t IS tie d AteF and Lillian
cuniary success
The Sleepwalker'' is the name of the
british Bfitih farce which was brought out at the
BlJou opera House. on Monday night by
Paul Arthur and Robert billiard. II is a
chaotic and conglomerate sort of affair,
Whlcn mas about as much OF a chance to
stay where ii is a SNOWFALL would have
In lime kiln; Some evident work has
i peeh zone IN the way or adaptation and
| IN the most slovenly way ina ginaDIe At
times it is impossible to tell whether the
action is taking place in Brighton, Eng
| land. or Far Rockaway, Long island. The
theme of the farce is thin guileless and
ingenious. young man gets into a com
pIcation from which he can only escape
ON the pretense that he has been walking
in his sleep, and, in order to make good
THIS pretense, ne feels called upon TO give
a number of subsequent examples of what
he can do in the somnambulistic line There
Is some little fun in the play before the
curtain finally falls, but ii comes at inter
walls which are too rare, and in piece
which is too incoherent for people to fol-
| low Il with any degree of satisfaction.
MIR. Arthur il, Icy far, the best of the
two actors who star in the principal roles
He he's had much valuable experience on
the stage. and lie is a man who works in
telligently and carefully for the betterment
rather amusing ministerial sort of person
of the type made manifest IN The Pr
| vate Secretary" and whatever hit is made
Il % he attributed 10 him alone Mr.. Hill
| lard does not improve TO any percepubie
degree by his continued career on the
stage. He came into the theater a few
| years ago a readymade actor from the
ranks of a Brooklyn amateur club. and
that it did not, and has not since. occurred
TO him to make any serious effort at i'm
provement. billiard is good looking
| chest that measures forty inches in repose,
which is too seldom its condition;
| | hear IL said that when john Drew
| season comes to a close AT Palmer 3 Theater
| Mr. Rice will bring in Henry r.. DiXey and
a specially strengthened supporting COM
pany for such run as circumstances may
| hermit "Adonis,' quite largely remodeled,
. | will be the piece presented. Mr.. Rice, they
| tel me- is organizing for next season a
, | brand new buriesque company, in when
| Dixey James T. Powers and Camille d Ar
| Vile Will be important figures. He is at
present fairly coming money at the Gar
den Theater with 1872 and the kilanyi
living pictures, with which the authorities
stubborny refuse TO interfere in the reali-
cation that such interference would simply
be a tremendous advertisement, and ex-
tremely unlikely to hold a the courts.
There promises to be a very lively and
interesting lawsuit pretty soon, in which
| Lillian Russell viii figure prominently. Ac-
cording TO the story told me by Miss Rus
sell the other day, she consented several
months ago 10 81; for a number of photo
graphs to oblige artist in this line named
Schloss. who had just started for himself
and who was particularly anxious 10 secure
the privilege of picturing such a guod and
celebrated subject as tie queen of light
opera. Miss Russell says she distinctly
stipulated that none of these photographs
should be copyrighted by the artist. But
many OF them were 50 copyrighted and
now Mr.. SchlOss has brought suit for dam
, | bfShf IN ~