The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-05-24

" " LETT every one over the ten
der and susceptible age OF
sweet 16 with the unsatished craving that
comes after dining, not wisely but too well,
on ice cream, French bonbons and choco-
late carameIs There is something aoso-
lutelv saccharine about Franz Won Schon-
thenis comedies. For linked sweetness
long drawn out this distinguished German
dramatist could give pointers to The
Duchess in whose novels, as every one
knows, the characters live, and move, and
have their being solely to fall IN love, and
kiss and bill and coo through three vol
umes and then win the heavy fathers
blessing and live happily ever afterward.
The Daily week began with Franz Won
Schonthan, it continued with Franz Won
Schonthan, and with the exception of the
school for Scandal" last night ended
with Franz Won Schonthan. The arrange
ment made one think of long dinner
ofsweetmeats with good substantial blow
out at the end.
OF course 1t is very delightful to see
whole families and communities plunged
in a vortex of making; delightful to
dream through four acts that life is COM
posed entirely of balls, kisses, bouquets,
amorous signs and tender VOWS. In the
world, as Franz Won Schonthan depicts it,
the young people have absolutely nothing
to do except to make love, and the parents
exist only to give or withhold their bless
ings. 1.-The Last Word" is good example
of Won Schonthan's dramatic methods.
There is the secretary, hard man, who
attempts to rule a daughters heart,
,,,ijIIo - tho fret
every one in the audience is aware that
most of the interest in the play will lie In
the means employed to make him change
round, and like BALKAN, bless where he
wanted to hurl maledictions. Harry, his
son, is marked as loves victim the mo-
ment he makes his first entrance, and
says he knows women from books. From
Cousin Modus downward every one who
knows women from books is doomed to
succumb to their wiles.
Professor Rutherell is heavy father, in
troduced to give his blessing readily, as
heavy father should. He also forms foil
to the contrarIness OF the secretary, Alex
ander Airey, the gentleman whose chronic
state it is to be in love and shower bou-
quets with colored streamers on the ladies
who soiourn in ais affections. He is finally
nailed in dead earnest by an artless little
thing, who contides to third parties that
she loves him. Boris Baraneff is the ro-
mantle lover, Baron Stuyve Is the wicked
ditto, Ada Rehan, as the Baroness Bara-
neff, is perfect matrimonial agency with
every ones love affairs, including her own,
on her hands. Faith is sentimentally and
pathetically in love, and though the
dramatist refrains from mentioning IL one
feels sure that Nile. Ida, the maid, firts
desperately with Paul, the page. In such
an atmosphere it would be resisting her
natural destiny to do otherwise.
In short, as 1.-THE Last Word" depicts
life, Won Schonthan does not see anything
else in the world except the roseate tinge
of love. 1t is very touching to be shown
SO many souls with but a single thought,
but one cannot help wondering what will
become of all his dramatis persona when
they are married off or have enabled 9TH
ers to marry by blessing them. Like
Othello, their occupation Will be gone.
II it had not been for the excellent act
ing of the DAILY Company, the audience
would have been tempted to think more
than once of that motto which is impressed
on chiidren's little minds when they are
wrestling with words of one syllable in
their infant primers-"Sweets cloy."