The evening world. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1887-1931, 1894-09-17
NEW BLOOD"

1t was hard to realize that the play
wright who showed such exquisite pa
thos and such dainty humor in Ala
bama" could produce such n tiresome.
meaningless and artificial affair as
New Blood" the play of American
life (alas! for American life) that
opened the season at Palmer's Theatre
Saturday night. Yet Augustus Thomas
made no bones about admitting his au-
thorship Of the play. and he responded
to the call that the cruelty OF the audi
ence insisted upon.
In New Blood" Mr.. Thomas has
given us play that Is absolutely with
out form and void. He has been an I'M
happy In the little love episodes as in
the labored and technical references to
the labor question: and his play Is stud
ded with impossible people. While II Is
not necessary for n play to prove any
thing In particular--theatre-go going being
more or pastime than a lesson-we
certainly expected, after being dragged
through an act that dealt with monopo-
lies and trusts, and percentages, and
master mechanics, to hear something
that might settle some disputed point.
But MT Thomas settled nothing. He
even unsettled his audience. for he made
them distinctly uncomfortable. They
tried hard to follow him through his lit
tie financial technicalites, but their eff
Tort was useless one. The game was
not worth the candle.
The father was monopolIst. and the
son was n Socialist The father was
haggard. emaciated and at deaths door
rude health and ate a spendid breakfast
on the stage. Perhaps the play was
meant to show that monopolists cannot
live. while Socialists can eat and drink
and be merry. Who knows? I don't,
and am sure that the audience didn't.
The father had n wife who loved n
minister, who proposed to his daughter.
who loved somebody else. who didn't
know that she loved him-as per usual
The minister was very terrible person,
but there was not enough subtlety
about him to render him Interesting.
He was distinctly tame, though naughty.
AS for the wife, she was so utterly
bad that the audience couldn't get up
any interest In her. There was not a
ve5tige OF humanity about her constltu-
ton. though l rather fancy that Mr..
Thomas planned dashlng. reckless siren
or the class known as "ladies with n
past Her present however, was 80
ghastly that we didn't care a hang about
her past. and-thank goodness that we
shal not be asked to peer into her fu-
ture. The role of Barstow Adams, OF
| Chicago. who loved the pure young girl,
was an utterly impossible affair. Such
ri h,,p
over would have disgusted any pure
young girl, and any impure one, too.
And when you are coolly asked to SYM
pathize with the silly complications in
which this stupid Lotharlo got himself
involved, you had an Internal rebellion
that wore you out. Van Buren, Gran
| daH the Socialistic son. who had such
a good appetite. WIS perhaps the most
entertaining person in the play, because
he was 30 kind to his dying popper
The pepper himself took such a long
time dying that you felt downright vexed
with him for triting with you. To add
TO 1t all, his corpse responded to a cur
tain call. which was unseemly
New Blood was we'll acted In most
OF Its parts. Wilton Lackaye was "con-
scientious.' and he is better when he
Isn't e NJ. Holland tried hard to make
the pepper interesting. and Miss Kath.
crime Grey was very effective. C. w
Couldock preached a sermon with all
due impresslyeness. We admired MIR
CoIldock. even II we wearied OF his ser.
mon Maurice Barrymore delivered hi.
lines with the sing-song intonatIon that
passes with him. for man-of-the- world
ism, and Miss Elita Proctor Otis was adj
mirable. This actress possesses a mag
netism. an infectious cheeriness. and ,
refinement that are rare NOWADAYS
She Is cut out for n star, and she wa,
not swamped in the dreariness OF New
, Blood" ALAN DALE