The evening world., 1895-09-03
"THE CITY OF PLEASURE"

The season will be a long one, but It
can have nothing worse in store for us
than the Incompatible trash produced
at the Empire Theatre last night under
the title of THE City of Pleasure"
Imagine big. polite. wel-kempt En-
pire audience bowling with unholy laugh
ter when !: was the intention of the
dramatist that they should be quiet with
subduad excitement or enthusiastic with
the intensity OF a half-doZen assorted
emotions. The City of Pleasure" dub
bed drama-!n reality a farce-melo-
draml or a farce-drama--is an adapta-
;!on from the French OF Decourcelles
and Tarte. slaughtered into English by
George r. Sims. Sims is Jonah He
has Jonahed before.
The new farce-drama Is a tissue of
most hopeless incongruit!es. No Bow
cry theatre ever saw any like them.
Murder betrayal, abduction, fights be-
tween women. fights between men, me-
child In various stages of agony, loud
volleys of "My Gawd" and the old
fashioned rant!ng ~ Joseph Wheelock
all combined to give us a performance
simply drenched with absurdity. And
the plot! Incoherent, the action
delayed on all occasions. leading
nowhere. absolutely devoid of de-
nouement and teeming with bath
os. the plot excited merriment from
the second act to the end of the play
Jean Maras. the murderer-hero, had
kept house''-as Mrs. Tanqueray would
5ay-with the beautiful Mile. de la
r,.ia L,,x + .1,I
murdered his first wife and was forth
with sentenced to twenty years beyond
the seas. He had a child. Terese, by
the murdered wife. and another. Mar
ion. by Mile. de la Hale. While he was
in prison the Hale charmer married NJ.
de Margemont. who had prosecuted
Jean at his trial. and she had a child
by him called Genevieve-or, as every
member OF the cast mispronounced It,
'Jonncrvieve.' Such chaos OF chill
dren. 1t muddled me. | had to say to
myself Jean plus wife equals Terese;
Jean plus Hale equals Marion: Hale
plus Margemont equals Jonnerv.eve.
Torese grew up to be naughty and
kept house" with big Charlie In order
I! at Marion should grow up good. OF
course. Opportunity for quarts of cheap
hero!cs. Marion was the image Of JON
ncrvieve. who fell down precip!ce and
died, so that Marion could be used In
her stead. Big Charlie fell in love with
Marion. and 1t was only after fearful
struggles that she was saved from him.
When he tried to kidnap her the audi
encc burst into loud outlaws. Poor EfIie
Shannon was whipped up from the
stage, hood thrown over her face
and big Charlie. concealed behind a
canvas tree. fled away with her. Moth.
ing funnier, because so primitive, has
been seen on a metropolitan stage. Their
there was a delightful bit OF involun'
tary farce in the scene between Nine
de Margemont and Marion, when the
latter was trying TO palm herself off as
Jonnervieve. play me one of Shopang'
tChopins) reverIes,"' said mommer; "th,
one one yU,,I,n., ySn wed to Play Poor Marion
Then" cried mommer. you are not IN!
Jonnervieye. You are an imposter,
hate you" And all on account-not o
nohly. and showed us once more What
really admirable actress she Is. In tn.
second act she scored veritabl.
methods; No Woman on the stage to-
day could have made as much OF Sc
eNecrable a part. Miss Otis lowered
above her associates. The cast con
taired clever people out of their ele
mcnt Mr.. Wheelock ruined the role OF
Jean Maras by the antiquity of hi.
methods. In his agony his favorlte ides
was to wobble his head, wag his arm.
and keep his legs closely together. Mis-!
Ehic Shannon was insipid as wateret
milk and Cecil NJ. Yorke failed to max,
anything out of big Charles. Miss Suth
erland was ineffably vulgar as La Saut
crelle-a Frenchwoman is never vulgar
and Miss Eleanor Carey occasioned al
outburst of mirth by suddenly changing
her impassioned tones to those OF
tlsherwoman. Her Get up"' was ;
marvel
And what shall be said OF the whole
sale massacre of the French language
Why produce plays with French ac
cessories, II nobody can be found tt
guide the unfortunate actors and ac
tresses through the labyrinths OF pro
nunciation? This city of Pleasure" Il
slovenly, and quite unworthy OF tn,
metropolis. 1t is also coarse, inhuma,
and maudlin. II isn't even a peanu
melodrama. The little gallery boy:
would roar at 1t as inconsistently ridic
ulous. They wouldn't be able to diges
their peanuts, which would stick II
their gllls. In the fcver OF new produc
lions "1he City OF Pleasure" will be for
gotten. Even Miss Otis-an actress
whom it is u privilege TO ,wateh--can
A ~ = 4