Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-03-16

GEORGIA CAYvAN IN THE AMAZoNS."
shared with his spouse n strong admiration
for the muscular side of humanity. Their
children were named Noelne, Thomasin
and Wilhelmina.
The marchioncss, not having any sons, de
termnes TO bring these girls up as boys
They are taught gymnastics, hunting
shooting, fishing and other sports supposed
20 be manly. They even smoke cigarettes
They are addressed as My lords" and
their mother speaks of and to them az Will
lie, Tommy and Noel. They are compelled
to wear male attire when ut home in Over
cote park and to act in every way as much
like members of the sterner sex as possible.
Noel rather likes the arrangement, and
Tommy Is an enthusiastic advocate Of it,
but Willie would prefer at all times to be n
girl. The life of the marcbsoness is one
long protest against natures irsiicton upon
her of female instead of male progeny.
Shortly after the opening of the play we
are introduced to Darlington, Niscount
Utterly, a cousin of the girls, who is de
spsed by their mother for having been
born a boy; Andre, Count de Grival, a
Frenchman, who protests that he is English
in everything except birth, and to prove it
says Don't you know" and some things
not quite SO proper, besides misquoting
proverbs at every opportunity, and Galfred,
earl of Tweenwayes, a little fellow who
has inherited all the ailments that flesh is
heir to through long line of ancestors,
stretching back to the time of William the
Conqueror. These three come to Overcote
park and of course fall in love with the
girls The marchioness has gone to Lon
don in response to an urgent letter relating
to her eldest daughter, and there is oppor-
tunity for great deal of fun, of which Mr..
pinero has caused his characters TO take
advantage to the full.
As might be expected. as soon as the men
begin to make love the girls discover that
they are only ordinary weak girls after all.
and in pursuance of that revelation they
promptly reciprocate the affection of their
admirers, whom they invite to the house.
There refreshments are served in the gym
nasium, where the men have wandered
through mistake, and dance follows, in
the midst of which the marchoness, ac-
companied by the minister. arrives, There
Is an exciting and amusing scene, after
which everything is Strengthened out. The
mother invites the young men to remain to
dinner, and as the couples walk off arm in
arm the final curtain falls.
The acting of the Lyceum stock company
in 1.-The Amazons' is excellent as u whole.
There are some flaws naturally. The hit
Of the piece was made by Miss Bessie Tyree,
who plays the most mannish of the three
sisters, Her first entrance is made by vault
ing over fence, and she sustains the reck-
lcssness of the part throughout.
An attempt to tell the story of THE
Amazons" is necessarily futile. Give an
ordinary playwright the same idea for a
farce and he would at once say that there
Ia nothing in it. 1t is Pinero's delightful
treatment of the theme which makes The
.Amazons" the best thing the Lyceum COM
pauy has done in years. because it is so adj
mirably adapted to the abilities of the in
,ividual members. The play ought easily
TO run through the season, and it will uu.
less Manager Daniel Frohman is under con
tract to produce something else on par
ticular date.
There are numbers of comical episodes ia
1.-THE Amazons" which are produced with
out straining So called comedies often
aud in fact usually employ ta'cical devices
for producing humorous situations, but
here we have farce in which the fun is ali
wrought by pure light comedy methods
All of which is but another evidence of the
fact which is gradually getting to be ae-
knowledged that the name of the greatest
living dramatist is not Sardou, but Pr
nero. Many critics asserted this years ago,
bnt most Of them have simply accepted the
statement that Sar,iou was the foremost
Of the craft, when, if asked to state upon
what foundation his pedestal WAS built,
they would be at = loss for satisfactory
Answer. OCTAvrs COHEN.
New York.
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