The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-13
COMMENT ON TIE ACTORS.
Mr.. FERGUSoN'S TREATMENT OF
FUS IN ONE OF THE FARCE&
Merit Found in the werk.o -Four View Actress
es-A stage Representations OF Kentucky
Modern Nnturaiism Assaulted by Critics
William Archer and Francisauo enrcey.


es-A stage Representation OF Kentucky
Modern Nnturaiistn Assniied by Critics
william Archer and Francisauo snrceJ.
w. J. Ferguson enters so late into the action
of "a Bachelors Honeymoon" that 1t Is hard
to fo-cseo his place In the tnngle OF comical
complications already involving the characters;
yet this able comedian Is responsible for tho
farce's most laughable moments. He plays q
foppish chap. who twice proposes marriage,
with two or three short, direct sentences, and
sets the wedding for the following day. He Is
a continual bluudercr. mistaking one person
for another. even when that person Is one to
whom he Is popping the marriage question. He
stumbles over chairs and against door posts,
always with q rude shock to his feelings. But
this trifing and absurd character Is made to
stand out sharply in two incidents. Following
one of his exits the fierce growing and barking
OF a dog Is heard, and 5000 Ferguson enters in
a state of collapse, his coat gone and mis- trous-
ers torn. AS his host does not desire to have
him about no frightens him with talk OF hydro
phobla from the dogs bite and sends him up
stairs to join u demijohn OF whiskey. Entirely
unfamiliar with the effect OF spirits, he is con.
WINGED when tipsy that he is going mad. In
that condition he Is next seen, unsteady rs to
legs, thick as to speech, and barking bow.
WOW" like q dog. He wears his hosts clothes, a
world too big. He is ordered TO remove the
suit and leave the house. He starts to COM
ply, and a ludicrous scene results from tho
others attempts to restrain him from disrobing.
Eventually he staggers OF with one arm inside
his trousers and his head through an armhole
Of the vest, This device savors OF the slam
bang speciality. but the actor Is equal TO keep
ins it up to a good grade OF foolery. Equally
potent is Mr.. Ferguson's influence on what is
the most laughable incident of all. He ic In
sight with Albert Bruning, and out OF view in
an adjoining room Is NJ. A. Kennedy, engaged
in pistol practice for. q duel with each OF tho
other two. His cartridges are blank. but at his
every shot the bullseye bell rings, and with
his growing confidence in his markstnanslip his
FOR all three duellists are afraid. Ferguson and
Brunins face each other in dismay, and Brun-
ing. whose duel is TO. be the second OF the two
affairs OF honor, mas just enough breath % sug-
Rest that the first hit is an accident. Fcrgu-
sons distress finds such comic expressions that
the audience roarS at IL
Julietto Nesville Is q curious instance Of tho
effect OF environment. II she had remained in
Paris doubtless her reputation as an actress
would have been high. But she is only one OF
a lot OF attractive sirls from the Gaiety. There
is very little that Is French in her appearance.
She does not dress like a French woman. New
Bond street is written all over her. The ex-
preston OF her face and her accent are all that
Is really characteristic of her country. But
her acting is full OF the delicacy and subtle
ness OF the French. sue docs nOt act often,
and not for more than a few minutes at q time.
But she shows how much sho could do II it
were necessary. But 1t is not necessary In the
Gaiety companies, and so Miss Nesville spends
as much time trying to see just who are in the
boxes as she does in acting. II she had re-
uaincd In Paris, under the discipline OF tho
French stage, she would have made a name for
herself. Possibly with some real effort at ar
tistic work. she might still show that the wom-
an who gives evidence OF possessing so much
talent and temperament in one or two Of her
songs. might really be moro than a piquant
and tautalixing member OF q charming collec-
ton.
Mckee Rankin has another actress In his
company at tho Murray Hill besides Nance
O'Neill that Is likely TO 30 discovered by sonle-
body. She Is Anne Leonard, aud is almost
new TO our stage. In two plays she has had
parts that are distinctly different. but in each
she has shown talent and originality. One WAS
the willowy white winged adventures who
had had a past and is soing, to expose. some
tact, distinction. and a delightful ease OF man
ner. Last week in Centurion she was the
maid servant, and the performance showed
that her sense OF humor, perception OF the needs
OF farce, and her adsptabil!ty to different types
were alike excellent.
Katherine Gray expresses the emotions Of some
OF the scenes with the greatest effectiveness.
This IS PARTICULARLY true of those moments in
which the entire sense OF the situation depends
on her action. In the first act, when she con-
sents TO marry a man 10 whom she Is ind;fer-
emit, although she has no repuEGance To him,
this must be made clear through the actress
silent expression. She indicates the situation
thoroughly, and, when the father hands her
over TO the man she has consented to wed, the
spectators know exactly what the state OF her
feelings are, There are other ,important
fully, and her performance throuShoUt is an in
~teIlfgent and chs rmins piece OF work so good.
indeed, that ~ places her considerably higher
Harriet Insham has embodied suffering vir
tue In several OF Frank Haryey's mClodramas,
and she has always continued 10 do IL without
the conventional means OF melodrama. She
6cts the heroine in shall We Forgive Herr
with admirable naturalnesS, although she has
TO talk in the old-time phrases about her trou-
bles, She has even, to discuss me chee-ild."
but she does IL with u humanity and feeling
that give the stereotyped phrases real meaning
and emotion
Is it Mr.. Valentine. who made the play; Mr..
Dietrichstein, who altered 1t. or Hiss Higbee,
who wrote the book on which 1t Is founded, that
Is responsible for the stage Kentucky In "A
Southern Romancel' 1t must DO Mr.. Dietrich.
stein, who is a foreigner and does not k~nOw.any-
thing about the South from his own experience.
But Mr. Valentine could never have heard the
daughter OF a good Kentucky family tell a SER
want that she wanted no back talk" and call
her a ''nigger." Nor could he have seen her
conduct herself with servants In the manner Of
this heroine. Manners may be simple in tho
region OF Lexington, and life rather plain there
in its lack OF prctensions; hut the young ladies
do not part from their lovers with such lido.
matte farewells as "solong." Nor do they talk
slang to thair servants. In the play the posi-
ton OF the family Il clearly shown to be "A good
one in the community, but Blue Grass society
would have ostrscized that heroine within a
week after she first said ''solOng'' when she
meant good day 1t Is doubtful, too, il It
would nave given a friendly hand to the young
horse owner who wore a miniature Koh T.. Moor
IN his plaid flannel shirt. 1t must be the rough
life and rude manners Of the Kentucky noun
taineers that sometimes get before the eyes
OF writer's and blind them. to the fact that
there Is no society more settled or refined than
that OF the Blue Grass region. The region OF
Hatfield. Mccoy yendettas Is very different
from the home OF the polite Kentuckians, but il
Is fairly certain that the French tramp would
be lynched in either OF them.
This figure Is obviously u repetition OF Mr..
Gunter's agreeable Prince Karl, who was a
German guide In Switzerland instead OF a
French vagrant in Kentucky. There is a rad
4-.l ItV,r.ng n fI.N xUn pnna fIhn -.