The San Francisco call., 1896-03-22

VT is generally supposed that Hoyt's
comedies were never intended to be
analyzed. In order to enjoy them
with any vestige of self-respect you
must leave your reasoning faculties at
home and laugh at the absurd situations
without considering how the plot hangs
together or whether there is any plot at
all. Sometimes the inventive press agent
tries to beguile the public into believing
that Hoyt's plays are profound and in
genious satires on social and economic
conditions as they exist in this enlightened
Republic. But the gentle press agent has
departed from the paths of strict veracity
so often that the most contiding of theater-
goers no longer believes him, and people
continue to laugh at Hoyt's comedies
without applying any cathode rays of
criticism to see whether the author has an
underlying meaning.
But just imagine for moment that
Hoyt really has a skeleton of true satire
beneath his apparently joyous situations.
In that case he has been playing a very
low-down game on the great American
public in ga Milk White Flag" for, re-
garded as a picture of morals and man
ners, it is more gruesome than anything
Ibsen or Sudermann ever wrote. 1f-of
course this is merely a supposition-but if
Hoyt intended his latest comedy as a
"take-off," !" one can imagine the saturnine
sm lie with which he watched the public
going into convulsions of laughter over
his outwardly funny but inwardly grue-
some situations.
The plot, in its native hideousness, is
som sthing like this: A body of idiotically
vain guardsmen decide to outshine an
other body of idiotically vain guardsmen
by holding a spectacular funeral. In or
der to obtain corpse they apply to a
fascinating widow, who consents, for a
substantial cash consideration, to sell
them the remains of her dear departed.
While the defunct is lying in state within
the widow fiirts audaciously with the gay
guardsmen, and, having caused her IT.
year-old daughter to be disguised as
an infant of tender years, she encour-
ages the "child" to sing comic songs
and turn somersaults for the edifca-
ton of the guardsmen-all within
a stones throw of the remains" So
much admiration does this method of pro-
well advanced the widow has succeeded in
becoming engaged to marry several eligible
gnardsmen. At the funeral of the 're-
mains the daughter of the defunct ap-
pears in gorgeous apparel, and enlivens the
proceedings by singing comic songs. OF
course, it is all very amusing if you regard
it with due levity, but if Hoyt really meant
"a Milk White Flag" as a take-off on
widows it is about time for him to be "dis-
covered by adm irers of the Ibsen school.
Captain Impudence" is really very
interesting play. and, apart from a few
absurdities, it contains the sort of senti-
ment that the public likes to applaud. 1t
is pity that the author has subjected his
characters to the indignity of being cast off
and disowned as soon as they have no
further lines to say, however. 1t was ever
thus in melodramas of the old school,
where as soon as man ceased to have
speech his fate was matter of absolute
indifference to every one concerned. He
might be dying of thirst, racked by poisonl
or slowly shedding his hearts gore, but if
he had no more to say no hand held out a
cup of cold water to his lips, no loving
touch smoothed his clammy brow. He
expired alone and unnoticed in the corner
of the stage where he fell.
nately fourishes in Captain Impudence.