The times., 1897-09-26

Last week at the Washington theaters
was one calculated to give ennm to the
most blase. The managers viii all wake
UP tired this morning. unless we except
Manager hingSbGry. for not a theater dad
a thiubiefdi OF business except Sle Co
Iumba, where the popular prices induced
crowded business all week. The weather
could not lie nladcto be the scapPgo3t of he
state Of affairs ror the days and nights
were as coal and iGducive to indoor enjoy
TaenU as they sosld possibly have been.
There was simply nothing that the publc
cared to see.
Under proper ciUcuu stances, AT Piney
Ridge might have loue a good business.
PlacinEft at the ACadauIy.aud The Tarry-
town widow at uFe Nationalw a frea kish
exhibition Of Judgment on the part of the
syndicate. Many more such disturb rianCcs
of public expectation VIII disturb The
well-Set appreciation Of what may be
looked fDI on certain stages. The National
aud the Academy each has reputation to
sustain but very different sort Of TeIuta
ti0ns- Joe IIaJ is a cuu.edian, and his
comedy is 3 play which Tould sand ~
the head al The list by The academy stand
ard, whereas in tie National il falls way
below par. In Jhe case Of '.Piney Ridge, -
the oppositeiS trgc. BY Acadeul standards
it is a slow, tedious, snifflin' piece of
business, without real bridge, q rca!
engine or d real sensation Of any sort not
even rcsi speciality Had Il PLAYED Al lie.
National CJl.cism wOGl1 have made striC-
t.F.s, but the tees Jtas would ina we glaC ac-
cIlded it appreciation . : good, honest.
specimen OF drama, acted well in nearly
every character.
II is a real pleasure to drift aiullesAy
and tediously over d sea Of platitEdes
and tr,teuess and suddenly bump the bow
Of your cruiser on an island OF balmy, fra
grant lovelIuess. That is what we found
the other afternoon AT Piney Ridge q"
Il came unosJentatioHsly, heralded by an
advance man who WAS SO in0rdnately
modest that the usual procedure of hiding
from tie gent, dodgius down side streets
and around corners was reversed and we
boldly went forth TO seek the strange gen
tleman. When found lie submitted grace
fully 10 the discovery and only said that he
had nothing TO say, that his brothers
Che was a brother To Mr.. Higgins play
was a modest but honest effort TO write
wholesome and moving play for the Iii
version 0fthe public He didn't even use an
these poIysyIables, but they express the
meaning OF mis- diffIdent ina artiCulate speech.
The plot Of the play reads something ike
''PuGunEcad wilson" but the play is
dissimilar. The only possible point OF con
tact is the mixing up of "a white boy with
q mulatto in infancy. In Nj Mayo's play
this is a dominant motif; ia Mr.. Higgins
drama il Is not more prominent than two
OF three other motifs What is most pleas
ing about "Piney Ridge is the skilled
technique Of the author and his sentient
purveying OF sentiment which is neither
sentimental nor maudlin. The play builds
up fr0m start n finish in d thoroughly
surprising set OF consequential and contig-
Uous situations. Eacn act is better than
the enc preceding. each grows nationally
out OF the next preceding and each car
ries the story along There are plays which
leave us no further a the end of one act
than ar the end OF i4nOiher. We sit and
long for something TO happen that VIII
develop the story and stimulate Us. Mr
Higgins play l. refined down to the point
that each speech carries a value growing
out OF the one next before il and neces-
sary ID The one next succeeding IL.
Tie acting ~ thu best Sren on tE"
Academy stage in many seasons. Had il
been produced on Tire NationaIor Lafayeue
stages, wherrit belongs, theSame superlatiye
could not be used, bat il would stand com
paris5n well, and sustain itself, as goud
acting demanding 40 apologies. There
is a young woman in the company who
wears polished gold or diamond settings
in her two eyet-eth. and the effect when
She smiles is tortuTiuEly distressing. No
matter how tender the sentiment or how
delicate the comedy, or how absorbing the
Sita8ti0n. the moment she parts her lips
the lights catch the settings and thry
sparkle like incaudescents. She looks q
freak. II she wears diamonds she ought
70 take them out OF her teeth, or put
them in her ears or in pawn. If il i.
polished gold that plays havoc with ever
thing every time the Iady opens her mouth
then she ought 70 have il OXidZed, OF
replaced with amalgam- Anything, any
thing hut the disturbing Filings there al
present. They ruin the scenes. Truly. they
do not only her own, but any one else 3
10 which she is a Contributive factor, IL
only by her grinnine. glittering presence
BuJ IL Is smUch pleassnter toreyers to Alr.
Higgins and his play. Hig gins reminds one
OF Sol S Snith Russell. II e is not so quaint
and mellow in his pOrtraiture but he
has provided a character as beautifuIy
tender, and more manly, dramatic and
consistent than most that Mr. Russell does
Nr. higgins is nj times hard. realistically
hard: just as the piney Ridge rnountaineer
would haze been; but it would be more
agreeable To his audience if he suftenea
tie primtiveness OF Jack Rose a trifle
and favored him with a Iittlemore quaint
ness.
Itistobehopedtha prosperity viii attend
Mt. Higgins; he deserves il for the honesty
OF his effort and for the artistic and anus
ing an1movingy yalueof hisaccompishment.
We shall hope 10 see him il Washington
again in this same play. but at the National,
or Lafayette, where he would meet his
proper public, and heralded by al advance
agent less retiring and modest than his
Eenticmanly 5 dunObtrusiyebrother Intui--
tion does not bring people to the theater
These are aggressive days, days OF personal
pulls, volu5e promises, and exirayagant
advertising.
Raising our eyes be yond our own hori-
Zon We find the outside world full or in
farputfpsy has One fine ar4,r