The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-06-13

1
The farewell performances of tht
Giffen-Neill Stock company will bt
| given this week. The engagement o.
this capable and altogether admirable
organization has been all too brief
hundreds Of local theater-goers will
sincerely regret it's early termination
The drama selected for the final week
is UNNECESSARILY a stronger attraction
considering the adaptability Of the
company to it's presentation, than any
play thus far produced by this or.
gan1zation. The drama chosen is none
other than that famous and highly
successful work, Jim the Penman," a
play that completely captured London
| and New York and all other cities in
which it was presented. A glance al
fen-Neill company will at once reveal
their fitness for the leading roles.
The title role will be entrusted to
James E. Wilson, who, it is quite rea-
sonable to predict, ought to portray the
character of respectable and dignf-
fed forger as finely as he depicted the
personality Of "a social highwayman.
James Ralston, or Jim the Penman'
Is an accomplished associate of the
fashionables, prince of entertainers,
man OF marvellous magnetism and the
cleverest forger in all history.
Jim the Penman' was first produc-
ed at the Madison Square theater in
New York, and its success was so ire
mendous that itIran there for upwards
Of 400 consecutive nights. Its author is
Il, y 10
ton will have a strong. role in the play.
that Of Nina RalstonI Miss Hampton
excels in the portrayal of serious char
acters, rather than light comedy roles.
Charles Kent is also cast for an impor-
tant role ai3i re
+ The story of "Jim the Penman" is
one Of unusual dramatic strength, and
although at this time the fashionable
criminal is a familiar stage figure, the
play, almost the first of its class, has
lost little of its original worth during
the five years that have elapsed since
1t was laid aside. There is about the
piece the charm Of the drawing room
the charm that added so greatly to
Captain Swift""-and, to be still more
dramatically modern, "a Social High
wayman." Crime. with the accompan-
iment Of gathering teacups. gossip
ing Of dowagers and the badinage OF
social great and small folk, is unden-
iably more fascinating than the plain
blunt crime Of the eight-story back
with mere policeman ever at the
heels of the criminal. And so the def
manner in which the chain of circum-
stances Is woven about James Ralston-
the supposedly steady and honest man
OF business, the apparently upright anC
affectionate father and husband-fasci.
~. I'D rs JiY1o
Penman" a play Of surprising interest
and attractiveness. 1t is, too, a play
wonderful in4adramafiev situations and
strong characters. Indeed, no greater
test Of the ability of a stock organic
alton can be asked. The story of the
play is that of the forgeries committed
by Jim the Penman, alias James Raj.
ston Louis Percival, the role to be
played by Robert DrOuet, lS2,a mar
somewhat past the middle age, who
has been defrauded by means Of for
geries of Jim the Penman, and who has
also lost his sweetheart through the
same man Mrs: Ralston and he were
once engaged, and in the second ac'
where the two make the discovery thai
they have been duped through the
efforts of the clever forger, the scene
is most impressive. In the third act
Nina Ralston, the fOrgePs wife, dis
covers who the forger is In this scene
there Is a great opportunity for q
fine actress. The cast will be as fol-
lows:
James Ralston ...,........ james =. wilson
Louis Percival Robert Drouel
Baron Hartfeld ..-.... Charles Kent
Lord Drelincourt '.,c...f.....; RooeTs MOTIFS MOTIFS
Capt Redwood |, william 1JHhn s. saM maael
M NIL, 1N palstnn "" Arnold Daly
DIR. Pettywise William F. Over
| Servant Observation-Disclosures Oliver Bailey
Nina Ralston ......Mary fahipC1l
Agnes Ralston ...s. Kate Blaneke
| Lady Dunscombe ..,,,.......... Eleanor Carey
Mrs. Chapstone .:...:.. :. % lanche Johnson
Commenting ON ehe abomniable ROOF
garden shows of1last summer the New
York Herald says: 4
The managers themselves know Wha
a. poor quality of shows" they have
been giving, and one of them, being
asked by the Herald why they did mo-
provide summer performances Of g
better quality, frankly replied:-"The
show is bad, abominable, rubbish, as
all poor shows are, but in the open all
howlers are the only singers that car
be heard ten feet from the stage, and as
for the other acts half the audience
can't hear a word that is said, so what
the use putting on high priced teams
that have got anything to say that's
worth nearing dCIOUCIIS dit
knockabout specialists are the only
ones that are worth putting on ur
here.
"And, besides, what people come VI
here for is not the performance, but
the beer and tiles breeze. The tables
most sought after are those where .yoU
can't hear a word from the stage. See
how nice and quiet and cool it is over
In this corner. Can you hear anything
here? Not a word Do yau want to-
Not much. And right you are. Fee
that breeze? That's what the people
are here for The show be BANKED
They don't want it; :. Look at those
empty. Seats down front. See how
crowded it is over here Do you see
how it is2eOf course you do,
And that is about the size Of it as
measured up by the manager of one
Of "the most pretentious Broadway
roofs" as the Herald rightly said The
proof of it's truth iaTthat some of the
roofs are abandoning lthe vaudeville
feature this summer and are going ir
| for ''the beer and the breeze" substi
| tuting a. band for ithei variety show Of
previous seasons ~
And "for this trehef ;much thanks"
Is *;o1
Rose Coghlan will be the star mex
season in manager Perley's production
| of ''The Sporting Duchess. -
Of ~
THE nolicv inajlgurated at the Metro