The times., 1897-07-04
know each other.

After his astOnishingly fine work for
Mrs. FiSkc in Tess of the D'UrDeyilles -
new plays by LoIimer Stoddard command
attention. The Frawley company pro-
duced new drama by this young man i'll
san Francisco recently. 1t is called The
Question" One OF the wliteIs said OF il:
lit is not probable that this drama VIII ever
achieve any great success. While it con-
tains many clever and epigrammatic lines,
it is lacking i'll action, aud neither the
situations nor the handling of them are
sufficiently original to hold the attention
of the audience. Interest flags frequently,
and there are scenes full OF talk which seem
/ but for that and the clever lines contained
therein to have no raison d'etTe.
'As a picture of Tuxedo society it has
false and unpleasant nng, and it GER
tainly CRATES harsh!y GU the listener with
any sensibility or appreciation OF the eter-
nal fitness Of things to hear Mr.. Worthing
as Harold Oskanp, apparently intended
to be a gentleman, threaten a woman, with
whom he mas been in love in the past, with
| exposure Of their relations in the event Of
| her taking certain action IL seems hard for
! Mr.. Worthing 10 take such an Ungalllnt
attitude, and certainly the audience gasps
| at this delineation Of the character of a
! gentleman. There is a telling situation ut
| the end OF the second act, when the hus-
! band walks off arm In arm with the man
who has been accused of tempting his wife
to elope, and it nightly receives the ap-
| plause which it merits
There are seventeen women in the cast,
but none or them, save Blanche Bates, have
very striking parts. Eleanor Moretti plays
the feminine mischief-Inaker with force,
and carries off rather difficult situation
in the last act with considerable success.
| Gladys Wallis is sweet, dainty and pretty
as SuZette Quiutard, and makes the most
Of her opportunities. She is becoming very
popular here. Phosa McAllister as Mrs.
Stanley Daggctt, the secretary, and
| Georgia Pusby as Miss Van Rensselaer,, tie
president of the Daughters OF Old New
York Club, are entitled to praise. The
| notwithstanding bitin the playiS a difficult
love scene between Frank Worthing and
Blanche Bates. 1t reminds one Of the
scene in "The Bauble Shop which would
be dangerousin ordinary hands but which
Mr.. Drew handles with such exquisite
taste and delicacy. However, in this bit
| III 1.-The Question the lines contain con
| tradicuOnS "nlcn IL is Impossible not 10
| notice"
Here, however, is n para graph from the
dramatic Mirror, which puts another face
on The Question: ''Lorimer StoddarC
arrived on Sunday from San Francisco
where ne went to supervise the production
of the comedy The Question Mr., Stod
dard says that the piece was finely acted
ty the FrawleY Company, and it was sta gee
literally. 1t tpleased the audiences and woI
applause in plenty. Mr.. Frawley's stric
lures in New York on San Francisco
dramatic criticism resulted in an on
saught on The Question by the dali,
press. with one or two exceptions Mr.
Stoddard is convinced from the reception
| OF his work by the public, that it is
valuable piece of property and that
will he money-maker in the East II
speaks In the highest terms Of the h os
pitality extended to him during his sta
On the coast" p"