The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-02-27
AN EVENING OF NEW PLAYS.
TWO Nv BRoAD1iY AND OWE EACH
Nv HIRLIH AND Tue BOWLRE


Cs-~sy. PhIirpp's "Ass-t Tsw-" Was .
Variety shsu, Hss-s-'s "a Ne. A-o-s
us-- We. . Nsi.sr--s, s-1 80 We.
N.--s--- ni-s GRESHAM Were A-u--
leg. s-- Ns.e was ~ An Eisv.u-e.
Tn. pi.y J. " Barrie. entitled walker.
Io,do.. which vas performed at the Park
Theatre. last evening. proved to be . fsrcicsl
eonesy OF wholly lsughsbls intent II any
ts.iy ia the audience had been led By a read
irr Of the authors books or By the true
comedy Of The Professors Love story
n ,xp@et an abundance OF the same kind
At delicate humor In this piece. then dis
,ppotutnsnt ensued. But II the visitor had
horne in m ind the droll comicallty OF James T.
porers. the principal actor. and had based his
.ntieipaiions on that the result was quite
s.iisfsctory. As written By Mr.. Barrie. and as
used during two or three years at Toolss
m London. It was half an evening long.
Az brought TO America. It has been
I.nstbened By some unknown hand into
three acts to Ill whole evening. The
tunoy coacsit which it illustrates does
not bear the jllution without becoming thin
IN spots, and what Mr.. Powers should do. In
ord.r to maks 1t q popular entertainment, is
40 thioksn Il stthose points with songs, dances.
and tomfoolery. That would remove It still
,uaher than It is now from the Barrie sort Of
lt.rsry and artistic thing. OF course but It has
been set avry already By the extension and
Mr. Powers did nothing with It to sustain q
ballet that his talent 10 any too nna for the
vaudeville form Of farce However. his wae-
gsry was as funny as ever. his well-known
oddities Of speech and eccentricities OF man
ner we're not out Of keeping with the char
acter assum ed. and his performance was gen.
orally amusing. A friendly audience liked him
very much: he was laughed at and applauded;
and 1t is a fair judgment to say that he did not
dscisively fail or succeed.
Tho title Walker London" Is a cockney
slang term. 1t started with a rascal. who
being caught in a confidence game. and ask cd
in court who he was and where he
lived. blithely answered, Walker. Lon
don" In common use 1t is applied to
any audacious pretender who seeks to
hide his identity. It's pertinency In
the present instance lies In the fact
that the chief comic individual In the play Is
barber who assumes to be noted African ex-
plorer. This young fellow 10 engaged to marry
a quite suitable girl OF his choice. but he re-
solves to take n weeks outing before m arriage.
1t happens that with the help OF q boatman
he pulls a young lady out Of the Thames.
He accom- aues her to the house boat
on which her family. after the London
custom. is spending part OF the summer.
There he introduces himself as Col. Neill.
whose adventures in Africa are being do
scribed in the newspapers. and whom he
chances to look like. The ladies OF the party
thereupon lionize him. and soon several OF
them are bstrothed to him. At length his
original sweetheart arrives. He placates her
b. max ing her believe she IL the cause Of his
Misconduct. spirits her away. aud bids adieu
The barber lies himself into, and out Of many
snd and IL Tsr.s
has the eredenee on the part Of the other
but the liars antics Of falsehood are laughabls
md Mr.. Powers achieves them with grotesQue
The expansion, OF the original matter Is
Ire, is dull to stupidity While the secSpd
h,id G %%s'v vein tro% star. s an:h
manner 9th last act OF g Tho Professors Love
sisnt requisite for the expression Of half that
he broadly uncertainties ability TO turn the ilrst
'ithsr rtissd or lowered from the level OF the |
Upper Jr under grade OF taste and yet as 1t IL,
makSs fair diversion.
When II was first announced that the play |
rhieh has held the stage at the Germania |
'heatro during four months this season was |
o be given in English. the fear was EXPRESSED
n these columns tina: The Grocer OF Ave-
ne A" might provo to be work which had
lready done service on the American
tage- This apprehension was quieted when
,ussel's Comedians gave tho piece at the
asino last night under the name About
own" The first act was the only one which
iade any effort at dramatic form. Tho sue
seding two were no more suggestive OF play
nan the ordinary course OF any variety show.
ne specialties which made them up succeeded
ach other with no attempt to connect them by
ialogus or incident. No more creative ability
as required in their arrangement than Is
eedsd by tho stage manager In any variety
erformance Even the familiar 0 Jed ents to
ldieate some connection between the acts"
the different periS I5 r. we're not made use
alton or Introduction. The audience had no
Dleetion to such an arrangement. 1t relieved
nspeakAbly dull. h ven with recoll eetion OF
scent Casino productions painfully fresh in
Did n.pSd talk Of the first ast Of sb 10
ct night The audience sat In dumb wonder
TAT speeehes oil such utter Stiffness and dull
ody. ''' aug
The second and third acts were an improve
ent not alone In the fact that the dialogue
lated- The performers were no longer him |
red by the play to the extent that they were |
the outset. There were among them play
s who have often amused. Few OF them last
ght rose above the dullnsss OF thslr en-
TonmeDt. Few OF the songs were new and all |
the dances were familiar There were pretty |
omen among the actresses and they were |
'iTlted and graceful. When there seemed no ,
rther possible danger Of dialogue the au-
enee became less mournful under the iniu-
zee Of the actors efforts. and some Of the
'eeiAlties OF the second act were applauded
nh comparative frisndllness. But it was
ore IN recollection OF their past achieve
snts than for anything they did last night
Dan DAILY and jacques Kruger, who have ,
hg since demonstrated their ability 10
muse, failed to enllysn About Town. w
STeAtnAm and O. V. Seaman are other pom |
Ar members Of this company but they went !
'6n asst night In the general disaster. VIII
I'M Mack. whose particular line OF eomicAlitV ]
lrrepressible. was tho solitary member OF !
70 :, east who succeeded IN amusing through bout !
~ night and David WArhsld reeited some !
ehes from familiar plays In a style that gave y
- audience ono VI the few Opportunities for 7
'hulns laughter. Miss Amelia Glover SOM !
issb dressed In black. did her familiar dance !
ny the usual grace.
~ About Town reproducss the Grocer of
'ehus A." We willingly admit that the play
IS not English. or anything else for that mat | a
IlAFa nnaaIbflIfiaa In |