The herald., 1896-12-18
H$|$T$ETS4$$$$
: At THE THEHTERS ;
HAA%AAA&x%&ASAAAAAsxAsxSxs

LOS ANGELES THEATER-A pro-
foundly interested audience gathered
last night to witness the production Of
DR.. Belgraff by Wilton Lackaye and his
company. The student Of the drama
would find 1t rather exacting task to
properly place this play in the arcana
Of the stage. 1t possesses elements that
In many essentials are widely apart from
the conventional methods Of the theater.
Perhaps it could be most appositely de-
fined as study in advanced realism
realism keenly alive to the profundities
of psychological science and their i'm
pressive. awful APPLICATION to the affairs
of life. The secrets which lie buried in
the sands of old Egypt and Chaldea-the
lost mysteries of ancient Greece. which
were vaguely recognized in the crude es-
says of Mesmer as empiric and in these
modern days accepted as the science of
hypnotism as exploited by Charcot, form
the groundwork of this most peculiar and
original play.
The passing Of this occult theme
through the dramatic alembic has given
us stage picture in which strange at
tributes of the human mind lose their
luminous and graphic, while the ordin-
ary methods of stage revelation resting
on physical phenomena are of secondary
Importance. DR.. Belgraff is fine mental
study, metaphysical and at times trans
cendental in its relation to the unities of
life, but 1t will be readily accepted as
work OF signal originality, breadth and
power 1t reveals most strikingly the
added moral hazards beSetting human
ity as a sequelae of the active develop
rnent and practice Of hypnotic control by
unscrupulous masters of these olden
secrets of the power of the human soul
Mr., Lackaye has given life and color
TO many stage pictures, and in none has
he shown more artistic effort than as
DR.. Belgraff. He pictured for us great
soul, full of the inspirations and i'm
pulses of strong nature, plunged on the
stormy coasts of varying passions. The
actor was fused in strange individual
ity, and constantly worked to present ali
'of Its attributes with fidelity that was
consummate in its results and crucial In
It's artistic exactness. There was an ex-
quisite play of tenderness in his fove for
his sister, the strident energy of an
aroused tiger in the death struggle with
the seducer of that sister, and the men
tai ingenuity of a fiend in his hypnotic
control of the dead libertine's sister. in
which he 1npelled her to denounce her
own lover as her brothers SLAYER. Sure
~ Mr.. Lackaye has given us a new and
notable example of artistic stage Dor
traiture, and in doing SO has earned
another laurel crown.
Marie Wainwright, always regarded
as a singularly gifted woman. whose
mental attainments are linked with can
tiVating physical graces, gave us a most
iorceful presentment of the character of
Agnes Langham-a woman of a high SEN
sltlve mental organization and one de-
manding remarkable qualities in the
PAYERS art to adequately picture Miss
Wainwright was aptly equal to these
requirements in all essentials
Mr.. Couldock, the grand old man of the
stage, gave us in Squire Fenton all the
JUNCTION that we remember of his ex-
quisite portrayals of Luke Fielding and
Dunstan Kirke. Truly. he is a Nestor of
the stage. Mr.. Aliens Dr. Juddy was
another admirably drawn character. de-
serving of high commendat ton. Mr.
Douglas as Geoffry Langham. Mr.. Rob-
inson as Gerald Fenton and Miss Frank
lin as Bertha held high places in the
play by virtue of their sterling work, and
Mr.. Hampton and Miss Evans added a
delightful element of comedy that was
in taste and never obtrusive
The stage settings were strongly con-
ceived and the weird effect of the death
with the stage and auditorium in abso-
lutte darkness added most morbid and
bloodcurdling element of horror, that
was alike original and impressive in the
| making of this striking stage picture.