The sun., 1896-09-28
OTES OF THE STAGE.
BET HARTE's HUMOR SUCCESS
FLLF RETAINED IN STAGE FORM.

10 Fun or the Vigilanos Csmualttoo A
HHoyt's-An 1neompre hsnsibis Stage Hero
Tho viiiain Meets - Mild Fate-Nevp or
rlnys aud AetoFs-JOkH Hare In "Caate."
Iret Harte's "Sue" was originally published
b story in THE Sun. and now Its use 40 q play
Interesting, for ono reason among others, for
experiment OF making an almost entire and
Iral transfer Of the matter from print 10
Ige. 7. Arthur Pemberton, the English dra-
tito critic who shaped the play, adhered
khfully to the typical Western romance of
rte as he found 1t. The result is peculiar
ltincation to auditors who have read Harte's
Fies admiringly. and puzzle to those who
10 not, because the conventions of the stage
violated boldly. The first act 10 idyllio
hedy, the second is turgfd melodrama, and
third consists of one OF those episodes
Lynch law which the author revols In
lcribing with grim humor. A vigil
Do committee holds . session. The ar
|gned prisoner 10 the hero Of the play. He
heves that he has killed man, and so do all
other characters, excepting the hero. who
btakenly confesses that he 10 the murderer.
/ the supposedly dead man. who arrives In
10 70 end the story happily. The plot IL
ther novel nor ingenious. 1t il the conduct
The yigilants that Is In the Bret Harte vein of
lion. and which ploues the audience while
using most Of them. II is o little disconcert-
to have tho jury enter to the music Of q
rch. which is played by the orchestra. This 10
hugh like comic opera to damage the illusion
hously. But when the men are seated and
trial begins the humor Of IL is natural
bugh. The men treat q case Of murder with
hparative indifference, but q suspicion of
kse stealing fills them with immediate indiR-
lion. A man who contradicts a woman comes
hld have brought on him. Al these typical
over TO the stage and they lose less than
transfsrred with e,psci1hl success from
e shot a sheriff. ExtenuatinR oircum.
he sSs JURY horse to wss s.
lsnt. SO it is resolved to give bim q fighting
knce., Near the open window Of the room in
b stands tree. The Judge points out to the
Ibbat the tree. some twenty i've feet from tho
hdow.. IL he can jump and catch the nearest
free. II he fails to catch the branch, he
st fall to the ground and break his neck. Tho
kains to face the committee. The jurymen
ke bets with one another on his chances
+. and then. running the length Of the stage.
man leaps from the window. The mon who
THAT he would escape alive win tho money,
l. they see him catch the limb of the tree,
p 10 the ground. and scamper out Of sight,
B actor who plays the role makes q bold dive
Of tho window. There is no compromise
lut it. He leaps as though his life really did
lend on the success of the effort. But
ry condition 10 favorable to his success. He
ears ct the trial wearing his tights and
ngles. and apparently he goes about In them
the time. He appears three times In the
y. and twice he 10 dressed for business. Tho
ct In the last act seems q strain for pictu-
Iueness which the result scarcely justines.
iough the contrast with the roughness of the
ilance Committee Is gained. Guy Stand
Is the acrobat, and he does moro
1 merely represent the physical traits
the character. But his English ac-
: contrasts more with his surroundings
his dress does. He ought to be an English
,bat, which would be entirely permissible.
the change would prevent such n violation
reliability as his eccentricities of pronun-
ion produce. IL was difficult at the outset of
pieces run to tell who or what he was. His
Ie Is jim. but IL was not until the middle OF
kecond act that the spectators were able to
bver this from anything that he or the other
tacters said. His name was not mentioned
that time.
Iere is much that Is human and charming
t"Sue." in spite of tho fact that there 10
kely 0 single character In the play with
In the spectator can sympathize. Sue. tho
bne is made tolerable only through Annie
% islrs art and personality. qualities closely