The evening world., 1894-05-10
THE CHEcK-BoOK." !"

"The Check Book" produced at the
Madison Square Theatre last night by
Rose Coghlan. was nasty. and nothing
else. The well-dressed audience laughed
little at the second and third acts, but
they did II simply to dissemble their
chagrin and uneasiness. A laugh COW
ers multitude of miseries sometimes,
and every laugh that ventured into the
Madison Square last evening found plen-
ty OF misery business to attend to-
We all know that there are women
who buy their husbands as they do their
brio "A -brac and bonbons. and we like
wise know that there are men who
make profession OF matrimony, be-
cause the work Is light and pocket t-mon-
ey comes easy; but we don't care to
have these disagreeable things con-
stantly dinging in our ears or blottng
our vision. There Is no harm in poking
fun at the dollar-mark domesticity Of
this class OF people. but to take them
seriously, and to ask the public to look
at and enjoy them in Ibsenesque bald
ness for two hours and n half is very
much like inviting friends to a recep-
tion in honor Of a carbuncle on the back
Of ones neck or the debut Of a small
pox pustule on the bridge OF his nose
A pleasant pillorying of Cupid's pen
soners would not hurt anybody. but
naturalism applied to such personages
and their environment is nauseating.
Charles Coghlan. who Is the author OF
The Check Book" shows us a cring-
ing. whining. begging. dependent hus-
band, whose disgusting position is best
described by his wife when she says
that all she has to do Is to put her
hand on her check-book, when 10! there
he is, just as the genial din responded
to Aladdn's rubbing Of the wonderful
lamp. The panegyrlc of this delightful
creature is pronounced later on, when
his wife, who Is desperately grieved
over his absence. takes up her check
book and writes: Pay to the order OF
Thomas Pringle one thousand pounds
One thousand pounds! One thousand
pounds!" she shouts. waving the check
aloft. while she looks around for Tom
my. and then seeing that the bank note
Incarnation doesn't work she tumbles
herself upon promiscuously cushioned
lounge and means. "H He must be dead!
With his wifes money he buys a dress
for another married woman, with whom
he is platonically involved, and the ar.
rival Of this dress in his rooms. where
his wife first gets it, furnishes the only
complication of the evening, If we except
the Cool Burgess way in which Joseph
Hollands side whskers become tan
gled over his bump of reverence in the
last act
Mrs. Pringle. the husband-owner the
part played by plump, dumpling-cheekeC
Miss Coghlan, who clothes 1t magnifi
cently-almost galoptiously, as a Kan.
sas belle would say-starts out to be a
woman of advanced ideas, talking OF
man as IAN undeveloped product of a
paleozoic age" and OF woman as "tht
recordbreaker OF civilization" which
latter was deemed sufficiently smart
saying to be made the tag" of the
first act; but after delivering herself O.
this hunk of buncombey brilliancy sh,
forgets all about her fn-de-siecle intel
lectuality and settles down to writinI
, out checks for her snivelling but dar
, ling Tommy. Miss Coghlan was exceed
ingly interesting in all she did and ex
= ceedngly good, too. The way she leape
! over furniture, vaulted across a three
quarter brass bedstead and crawe
e under a grand plano in her chase afte
I Lord Whifetree was uproarlousl
: thrilling.
: The company missed none of tn
e points of the play. but gave cleve
t performance. Efiie Shannon's time wa
a wasted In the small and colorless PAL
e allotted to her. If 1t had not been tina
$ she had three rigid folds In the back {
e her dress which stood out very asser
:, lively and gave the impression that sh
i was wearing hustle about three inche
v wide, she would not have attracte
l. much attention. Joseph Holland
e Whitfietree was in his usual pleasin
t vein. and furnished the last two act
II with all the animation they possessed
Charles Coghlan will not grow roun
If shouldered carrying the literary honor
+ that will accrue to him from "Th
p Check-Book." There are some sma
= and snappy bits in 1t. and one or tw
ris0ue remarks. but It would require
chemical analysis to find anything pos
I. lively clever If u Is there. The only rell
from the doddcrng dreariness Is Il
n realistic cigarette money husband. wi
'a keeps the audience interested becau
m he keeps it indignant. j.. ].
e, e. CHARLIE FAIR RETURNS.