The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903, 1895-09-28
THE THEATRES

AIter a somewhat eXn0uStlnS run o.
farce-comedy, Gustave Frohman's com
pany in The Wife," broke the monot
ony. Anyone who has seen "A Charity
Bali or Men and Women" has vir
tually seen The Wife" They are NOR,
than similar. they are almost iden
teal. Mr.. Belasco's work is not to be
despised. ! have always wished hi
had written stories instead OF plays
and had them illustrated by Gibson
and published In The Century" along
with Mrs. Burton Harrison's "Bache
lor Maid" and Sweet Bells Out OF
Tune" They would be fitting and prop
er there and doubtless we would al
read them and be greatly edited
That is the kind Of literature we wan,
in our periodicals and in our homes
and all we demand Of a national litera.
ture is that il shall not injure oul
sweet young girls" But just because
Mr. Howells and Mrs. Harrison have
made American literature a sort OF
yong ladies' illusion preserver, /
should like to see the American stage
remain free from any such restriction.
The sweet young gir,s will read. and
we must manufacture our literature &C.
cordingly: but they need not go to the
theatre: instead they can go down to
the park and see the animals. Except
In comedy. domesticity on the stage Is
always nat, stale and improbable. In
fact. IL is rather stupid in any art. Mr..
Belasco's plays affect me like that
touching domestic picture by Hoven-
den. Breaking Home Ties" Nym
20 he hoo fro
to see what is but what might be. Ger
tainly we go TO change our atmosphere.
to get for a moment into the atmos-
phere of great emotions that are for
hidden in our lives. I hope the stage
will help its illusions. that the foot
lights will always be q boundary line
beyond which men will deign to feel
and dare to love. I want them to be
the dead line Of the practical. The dress
circle, the parquett. the orchestra
chairs. that IL all the dead world OF
fact. but right beyond that line Of lights
are the tropics. the kingdom Of the un-
attainable. where the grand passions
die not and the great forces still work:
a land of Juliets. Othellos' Theodoras
and Marguerite Gautiers. It's the only
place on earth they have left now, those
great and unhappy ones They are like
Heine's Gods in Exile" Let them at
least have the stage. To exile Narcisse
Mistress Clarkson. Hermione and Ruy
Bias and put in their place Robert
Gray, Paul Gilmore and Kitty Ives. is
a mistake. a great one. and 1t viii react
upon our heads some day. We will pay
for il.
There were some promising young
people in The Wife" company. II
Miss Wheeler had half q chance she
would be an actress Of merit. But she
has not had the chance. She was a
raw Kansas City girl. who had never
even seen any Of the greatest acting,
put down to hard work just when she
should have had time to develop and
study. She puts great sincerity and
tenderness into her words, but she is
utterly crude and even her elocution Is
faulty. I wish Miss Wheeler had been
born further east. Geography Ii q ter
ribly fatal thing sometimes.
Mabel Strickland is q natural little
eody. and she never c1enda Nor yan
Gibney Is standard Mr. Francis King
don succeeded in making an exceeding
" assertive and ofl1cious prig Of a hero.
with the air Of q head clerk In Q gen.
ueman's furnishing goods establish
ment- 1 have seen . good many bad
and . very few good ones,
but beyond q doubt the worst I ever
saw was Miss linda Palmer as Lucille
Ferrant Oh, the voice Of her. the smile
OF her, the heart-rending groans of her.
II she dressed like that in the days of
his infatuation / don't wonder that
Robert Gray got over IL and Ned.
Saturday evening The Derby Win
ner held forth at the Lansing. Mon.
day The Hustler" and Thursday Rush