New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-01-28
THE LONDON STAGE.
SUBSTITUTES FOR THE PROBLEM PLAY"
-"MICHAEL AND HIS LOST ANGEL"
London. January Is.


ness Of the atmosphere. theatregoers require
bright and cheerful plays in winter The con-
cert halls are crowded nightly. the musical COM
eiies popular, and the Christmas rantomimes
draw great audiences year after year. London
Go not wish to take their pleasures sadly al a
season when the effects OF climate are distinctly
dispirting. Mr.. Pinero's plays may be ingenious
in construction and dramatic in action. but they
are gloomy and depressing. Earnest drama it
may be- as he says. but it has ceased. at least
this winter to interest the public. Theatrical
managers and playwrights alike have discerned
the necessity fer finding some substitute for the
problem play.
"Trilby" has been one of these experiments.
and it has been received with every sign Of
popular favor. Boxes and stalls are booked
weeks in advance and every night the street in
front of the Haymarket Is filled with long files
/ Of spectators who willing to stand in the
rain for hour before the doors are opened.
THE Prisoner of Zenda" is another venture. at
once a romantic drama and m,lodrama, and 1t
| has apparently entered upon prosperous career
at the st. James's Theatre The Sign of the
Cross is also attracting a new class of play
goers to the Lyric Theatre. genial Dean Hole
having vouched for i, a a religious and devo
tional drama which every good Christian ought
to see. These three plays were produced in Lon
! don mainly in consequence OF their supposed
popularity in America, and from the boX-otlice
point of view the managers have every reason to
! be satisfied with the results. Whatever may be
said Of the artistic merits and defects of these
! pieces, Mr. Du MauTer Is making fortune. Mr..
Anthony Hope is also prospecting. and Mr.. Wilson
Barrett has returned 70 the London stage to find
generous and possibly overndulgent public
awaiting him.
! Another novelty has seen produced this week
| at the Lyceum Theatre. under conditions which
have piqued public curiosity The author, Mr..
Henry Arthur Jones, recently announced at
public dinner that there had been marked
| change in the popular taste, and that the play
wrights were aware Of the fact and would be
| equal to the emergency in their inventive power
and play Of imagination Consequently bold
and original experiment was expected in Mi
chael and His Lost Angel" Moreover. Mrs.
| Patrick Campbell. after a few rehearsals. threw
ND her part and Miss Marion Terry was pressed
| into service as a substitute. the exchange max
ing not a little talk and increasing public IN
terest in the first performance. for which there
was large audience. there always - al an
| opening night in the theatre associated with Si
Henry Irving's fame.
NOT A SUBSTITUTE.
Whatever else Mr. Joness work may be-
| II il not a substitute for the problem play II
| there be no woman with past. there -
| fascinating grass widow with husband
| whose existence Is carefully concealed nh'ii '"'
| Ritualistic priest with whom she gosSiis ZAP
| PANTY about her soul has yielded :" temptation
| and turned the wall the portrait %! III" A-'S'
| Angel, his deceased mother. II is problem
| play Of most dsasreeanie and unWhoieSo'n'
| order and. unlike 81. PineFos lest works Al -
| lacking in dramatic action ana Is lnreheVed DY
| touches Of genuine comedy E.A-eai ''sHl'-
.bora .sap hA 81 lii
| biguous moral that a High church rct'"l 'u""'
| not to insist upon forcing sinners III ms nos "
| proclaim their shame at morning 7,.Ht,' ~ t
| he 100. is human. and may 10 co.nleneu .v.
| the sake Of consistency. to confess his own CUNT
| before a crowded congregation. perhaps ''le
| practical moral would bc Mr.. Weller hv""l
| of Widders." especially when the husDahus al
Nor can Mr. Joness ambitious work he 'e-
| garded as original in theme. hawthorn mas
! enho1ied II in The Scarlet Letter win IN
| comparable refinement Of art. ana ne mas en-
| nobled and spiritualiZed the woman -! 'V',
| sacrifice. Maxwell Grey has deat WIN u 81, 81,
| fectively IN The Silence of Dean maitland
| and converted renorse into reIedla! as,h'E'
| NJ Zola in his Able MOuret ana MI i'hch-
| anan in his New Abelard." have taken up we
| same them. and their only claim OF orlsindh,!
lies in the method of treating H. II "puiu -
| unfair to accuse Mr. Jones OF plagiarism 81
| selecting an old subject That was Ms iilNl
! lege as an artist although 1t imposed di''',
| him the obligation Of presenting II III nv" az" any,
| charocteristic form He has left all me poet
nn1once and delicacy out OF Hawthorne's
| classic and has shown himself To be 'hVapd
| of making any ethical or artistic uS -, "i , Wv
| theme If there be anything original III w
treatment. it is the wantonness WIN VIM VIM
| human sans,bility IL shocked from the opening
scene to the fall Of the curtain.
NOT THE ACTORS FAULT
II this new drama wantcnly anronts 'he III
telligcnoc and feelings Of theaire-soeiS, "
exclusively the fault Of the playwright "
! Robertson does everything in his power 10 ~
deem the character of Michael ana TO r'nue'
! II consistent and reasonable. 1htre mas o
no recent performance OF hsnel " Miss
nnalitv Than this on the London stage MIs'
Marion Terry Is equally successful IN hei w
notement of the capricious; laSIii'n Zinc in
! passion tossed woman Nothlhs Is 'a. n ,,
stape sunport and scenic art TO cominanh Popu
lar favor Yet il is a sombre, monotolous Gnu
wearisome piece. with an almost uiip'oh'n &C.
of dialogues between Michaei ana ms cVl, ~
without auxiliary characters anu seNou'
Mot Of any importance, and without huiiioi
apart from the tippant jests which rev,
insnircs 1t is a play which parodles ana car
na,,,raa religious emotion. 1t Is characterized
bv insensibiiity to the deepest things in human
| Ufe-respect for good mother memory ~
erence for the spiritual side OF human nature
| The production OF this play at a theatre pre-
eminent for the highest achievements or ora
matte art is sign that the rcdcuoh a1'ii,''
overwrought emotionallsm as empoaied III nc
roh,en NAV has not yet taken definite form
and direction 1t is Il proof that the breath
of the hilltop order OF hc'on Is sun lou' ,ii
| the air of literary London. "Michael ana ms
Lost Angel Is perhaps the least promising OF
| all the recent attempts to PROVIDE 'he httIo-
| Item stapn with more wholesome literature.
| Enacted with consummate grace ara Skill anu
| Illuminated with all the resources OF scenic art
| II was received on the opening hlbh' wiz, aP-
| n,.uae and enthusiasm hut il was probe IN
| nlav with a scheme Of unnatural emotionansm
| and without earnestness Of purpose. l. n J..
! .UTNELAND" SOLD TO H. NIX. TWOHBLl.
| IOtIs /. IORIILARD PARTS WITH Ills E'iAi l.
NEWPORT.
| xewnort jan q (SpeclaD Louis l.. Loriliard has