The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-12-04
GREAT UNKNOWN
One Of the Best Plays in
Frawley's Repertoire.
Several Artists Score Hits-Thea-
ire Crowded From Stage
to Doors.

The Great Unknown" is. to the
FrawIeys, one of the best drawing COM
edies in the repertoire Its production
in Honolulu was not an exception to
the rule elsewhere, for there was not
vacant seat at the New Hawaiian
Opera House last night when the cur
tain rose on the first act. There were
several theater and box parties, among
them one at which President and Mrs.
Dole were host and hostess.
There is so little pathos in the play
that it is entirely lost in the avalanche
of comedy which prevails. True
enough there are parts where one could
not laugh without disturbing his
neighbors, but the play is not sug-
! gestiYe of a single sob. 1t treats of a
woman whose mission, to her, is to in
! fiict lot of novels and stuff which she
! dignifies with the name of poetry up
on the public. So impressed is she
with the belief that she is great writ
er that she neglects her family, con-
sisting of a husband and two young
girls, and finally goes to Europe, where
| she will be able to pursue her art in a
more refining atmosphere.
Besides, the Jarraway family just re-
ferred to, there are two or three male
| lovers, one female ditto and dear
old aunt of the latter, Who proves a
| capital matchmaker. Then there are
the usual servants and stage appur-
| tenances.
AS Jeremiah Jarraway, the father
of the two girls and husband of the
| Great Unknown, Harry Corson Clarke
| bore much of the burden of the play.
| If almost constant laughter on the
| part of the audience is a criterion by
which his acting is to be judged, Mr..
| Clarke made decided hit. His scenes
with the young widow, with whom he
| imagines he is infatuated, were clever.
Again, in the last act, where he meets
his wife, the Alpha to his Omega in
their married lives, after an interval of
three years, this young actor had I'M
limited scope to exhibit his capabili-
ties as a comedian.
Dignified Blanche Bates, in the char
acter of holden, was a metamor-
phosis. The Honolulu theatergOers
have accustomed themselves to seeing
woman, at least at the stage of life
where all thoughts of romp and nom
sense have been outgrown. The sue
cess achieved by Miss Bates in the
other roles she has essayed was re-
peated last night as Etna, the tomboy.
From first, where she meets her faith
er after playing hOOky from her stud
les, to the very last where, through
her suddenly discovered love for
cousin who has been away for years
and juset returns, her acting was char
acterized by that completeness OF ease
and grace which has won for her the
plaudits of the audiences which have
filled the Opera House at every per-
Torrance. The meeting with her moth
er. dressed as new woman with a
bold suggestion of mannishness in her
makeup was superb. 1t was in this
scene, too. where little Hope Ross dis
tinguished herself, for she depicted the
tomboy with a naturalness of detail
that was surprising. In the first act
Miss Ross has a capital scene with Mr..
Leslie, her music teacher. Throughout
the play her acting was excellent and
quite beyond criticism; her three best
scenes, however, are those mentioned,
and the one in which she and her sis
ter Miss Bates) read their mothers
the romantic scenes depicted.
Mr.. Worthing, as Ned Dreemer, Eft
mas cousin and lover, seemed out of
sorts; there was something in his act
ing which impressed the people with
feeling that he wished himself some
where else. 1t may have been the part,
but certain it was Mr.. WOrthing was
not at his best, nor was his rendition
of this character to be compared with
that which he played in the 1.-TWO Es-
cutcheons" He makes a very good
stage lover, under ordinary circum-
stances, but it must be admitted that
the part in which a vein of humor runs
through the lines is better suited to
Mr.. Workings abilities than the
character he played in 'The Great I'm
known" He was seldom on the stage,
except in the lonely love scenes |
but what he acted like a man who had |
dropped in unexpectedly and wished |
he hadn't.
The greatest delineator of old wom-
an characters in the United States is |
Mrs Gilbert. Next to her. in the opin-
ion of the critics abroad is PhOsa Nc |
Allister. who played Aunt Penelope last !
night Unfortunately for the patrons |
of the theater in Honolulu the roper |
toire of the Frawleys has not been |
such that Miss McAllister could be |
seen to advantage in the roles which |
have made her famous elsewhere. Her !
Aunt Eliza, in His Wife's Father" was |
a dream. both in makeup and define |
alton. but there ware not enough to ii |
to give the public an idea of her artistic |
capabilities. The same may be said |
of her performance in The Great I'm |
Known" Nowhere but in the last |
scene does she have an opportunity to |
do more than admire the stage set
tings. That she is an actress Of abili-
ty is acknowledged by every one who
has seen her.
The O'Donnell Don, the part assigned
to Mr. Frawley, was in excellent hands.
He was the genteel Irish gentleman
who had followed widow to America
I, Of nd