New-York tribune., 1896-12-08
THE DRAMA.
MR. WILLARD AT WALLACKS THEATRE
THE ROGIyE's COMEDY"

MR. WILLARD AT WALLACK'S THEATRE
THE RoGUE's COMEDY"
What a bthe, audacious, and fluent rascal he
is-this Mr.. Bailey Prothero.-and what pity 1t Is
that he should be a rasca-seeing that he possesses
human feelings has been able to win woman's
love- and is aectionately fond Of his wife and son
If he were a rascal. he could have home, and
friends and happiness AS 1t is, he can only
sparkle for little while, an expert swindler OF
very stupid people. and then disappear. In gnominy
and sorrow That is the whole burden Oh Mr..
Henry Arthur Jones's play called THE
Rogue's Comedy" presented last night at Wallacks
Theatre. and signaized by the re-entrance OF Mr..
Willard-one of the few genuine and superb actors
CT the time and one OF the true ieaders Oh the
stage The return of Mr.. Willard is a most au-
spcious dramatic event, and although the play IN
which he has made his re-entrance is fra fabric,
and of an ephemera character, the actor Is potent
70 please and his authority invests the piece with
Importance and dgnifes 1t with power Mr.. Will
lard was royalty welcomed by numerous and
brilliant company and following in his wake, Mr..
Jones's slender comedy Of virtuous humbug pur-
sued the triumph and escaped the gale.
An exposition OF dramatic ingenuity always gives
Measure. and the chief public gain In "The Rogue's
Comedy is the comfort that comes OF gazing on q
type of ingenious mechanism The three acts are
expertly fashioned and the story such as IL Is, 10
dramatically told. The character or Prothero seems
TO be an elaborate variation of Its authors earlier
Judah" and he has drawn it In sympatheuc
spirt and with n bold and free hand Dethick was
specious humorous. bland. crafty, and cold lie had
no heart Prothero Is crafty, but ne Is also human;
he has moments Of tenderness. almost OF passionate
emotion: and he operates in wider field Detnick
swinded individuals. by pretending tnat MS dausn-
ter had acquired through long abstinence from 1ood
the almost miraculous power OF healing the SICK.
Prothero swindes the whole community'-some"ns
after the manner of Montague Tigg, In MARTIN
Chuzzlewit"--by forming fraudulent STOCK COM
pany but his preliminary method Is to WIN conh-
dence by declaring to various persons the more OF
Iess trivial secrets of their past lives He Is clair'
vovant and teller and, after the fasnion or
his tribe he has a confederate His wiie' bearing
a false name, lives in rich social set, ana shs
supplies him with the information tnat ne peddes'
No machinery could be more superficial or more per-
spcuous 1t is child's play But the treatment OF IL
Is exceedingly neat and perhaps the dramatist was
not unwilling to imply that there are many 1oois
IN this world and that no special ingenuity IL reqe
70 deceive them He has however gone further' aho'
very shrewdly has made this s~inder lor"'aao'e
with personal force vital with conjugal ana pateThai
afrection and interesting as man In peru, dho
that l. the strength OF the play. since out OF 'hat
posture of circumstance arises the oppor.u''' y.
the actor Exposure will be ruin ana the agent
selected by fortune TO seek the exposure VI iio''o
and of mis- wife Is their own son.-irom "no"' ''e'
have long been separated; whom they dare not
claim. whom they dearly love; and whose welfare
they nave in their shady way striven to p1obo'n nav
The sa me dramatic expedent Is used IN ..' p'a'
OF Henry Dunbar. in which daugmiher ea,hir snd
scentiousiy but ignorantly pursues her Ia'ler a
there is a dcft use of the same a1eciihs cum 90
In the old drama OF Robert Macaire onlyi I DJ,n
those peces possess the thing that TINS one Ia0hS
namely intrinsic substance-the atmospfHttre tA, or
imnending fate the breathess suspense ol po.ss 't
terror I. really does not much SIGNIFY Nv wie ns,rn.
Mr. and Mrs Prothero are found out TO pe I'm. -
ers or whether they escape in prosperous
The worst that could happen would oe ei the,l VI, ~,
generation in jail and the probable disrup.oi ~
a matrimonial engagement between .ns' nay
commonplace son and MS equally ilslp,i, S"ee'
heart I'm the name OF the ProphetLngs: q,
The main points that the play moves on
wheels and does not require hydrauilc pressudr'
and that II provides opportunities 10. ,na a., Ills
MIR Willard easily dominated every scene. s nas
stvle always had force and brilliance; IL lihpro, @
in the delightful element OF hexioiiity. II. mS'
rapid jaunty and glib in the scenes Oh ie iiapos-
ture and In the best passage OF tne pr -
which is a mood Of hysercai exctemeh, nn,or amn or
ioyiaI and bitter rccklessness when the inpos'o.
unds that the current has set agains, hlh,-nes
ma Infested a great and affecting aniuence OF
grieved sensibility and acted with spiendid aodii
donment: making excellent use likewlse 1l ,2 a.,
copious and sympathetic voice. The part IL neiow
the level of his exceptional powers pu ne Nh, ",ov
effects with il that every lover OF acuhs VIII envy
and admire.