The herald., 1897-05-15
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LOS ANGELES THEATER.-Otls
Skinner, and his clever company were ir
their element last night, reveling In the
enacting of all the impossible, wild, dar-
ing passionate and thrilling episodes that
go to make up a romantic play. MI.
Skinner, although he modestly suppress
es any mention Of the fact by way of ad-
yertisement, is the author Of the drama
which was presented under the title Of
'"A Soldier of Fortune" The incident of
the opening act Is taken from the novel
Of Yates called 1.-THE Honor of Savelli."
The action takes place in the early part
Of the sixteenth century and relates to
| the French occupation of Italy under
Louis XII. The Italian soldier Of for
tune-Savelli in the book and Torelli in
| the play-is, through conspiracy.
falsely accused of theft, and, failing to
prove his innocence in the face Of strong
circumstantial evidence, is drummed out
| of the camp as a dishonored man. The
action of the piece thereafter is devoted
to his adventures in quest of his detract-
ors, to prove his innocence and re-estab-
| lish his honor.
OF course he has faithful follower who
shares his fortunes, and equally of course
they have hair-breadth 'ecapes and al
ways come off victorious. Naturally,
too, the ladies in the cast cut quite a
figure. Torellt is loved by beautiful
lady who has brute of husband, and
Torelli himself is in love with dark
eyed damsel who, from the pinnacle of
her lofty position, looks upon his suit
with a scorn that would be whitening,
If her voice had the power that her words
demand. She does not relent until Just
before the final curtain falls, and does
SO then in order to bring the play to a
satisfactory termination.
The other woman in the case Is no less
a person than Lucrezia Borgia, who
wears velvet train and frown in the
person of Sarah Truax. Lucrezia' s. chief
duty is to fall in love with Maud Durbin
in the scene where the last named lady,
In guise of a cavalier, attired in bewitch-
ing russet tights and ct ceteras to match,
iS masquerading for the purpose of
assisting the numerously beloved Torelli.
Lucrezia's one speech is a terribly long
rhapsody about a dance she has Just en-
5oyed with the supposed cavalier, and
takes the form of an invitation to make
a night of 1t, which the aforesaid cava-
llier, being a lady herself, is obliged to /
|evade. Then there Is a blind girl who
has little scene and afterwards fades
away, while her father, the court Jester,
plots to avenge her ruin by the naughty
Caesar Borgia.
The strong scene of the play is that In.
which Borgia falls a victim to his own
design Of poisoning two Of his enemies,
an incident that leads up to the only
real dramatic climax in the play. Bor-
gia's previous pursuit of Eda Aberel and
his running away on Mr.. SINNERS in
depreciation is a decidedly weak scene,
too improbable even for a romantic
play, in which 1t is Of course necessary.
that the villain shall be foiled.
The last act is a stirring one, giving
the storming Of Borgia's castle and the
rescue Of the hero and heroine and the
death Of Blanche Daubigney, whose in
opportune affection for Torelli makes 1t
necessary that she shall be got out of the
way. Maud Durbin plays this charac-
ter Of Blanche with all the grace and
expression that 1t requires and carries
her masculine costume with a charm
ing modesty that indicates the unac-
customed Use of such a garb to thed
wearer.
Matters should be arranged so that
the curtain should fall directly after
the death of Blanche AS it is, an anti
climax is brought about, the characters
file Off in an objectless fashion, the dead
cody of Blanche, which has grown
miraculously rigid in two minutes, Is
borne Off, and the stage is left to Mr..
Skinner and Miss Aberle, who have
rather tame love scene of short duration
which closes the piece.
Mr.. Skinner plays with all his usual fire
and vigor. He enacts more wonders
than man, and with the calm conf
dence Of his unassailable position as
the hero of the play who is bound to turn
up right at the end of the last act, takes
all the risks of fire, sword and duel,
hanging, drowning and quartering, with
dashing heroism and convincing cour-
age.
"A Soldier of Fortune" is full of all the
incidents that by prescriptive right be-
long to the realm of melodramn
of the Dumas, Stanley weyman
and Conan Doyle type That 1t is inco-
ASiSht 6OSs WltuOOt SdylLS, DeCduSe tNS |
chief object Is to crowd in it's compass |
all the incidents possible. That it is en-
tertaining is also beyond doubt, as was
evidenced last night when Mr.. Skinner
was honored with a number of curtain
calls, upon one of which he made q
pretty little appreciative speech Of |
thanks to the Los Angeles public which |
had patronized his engagement.
Today at the matinee Romeo and Ju- |
liet" will be presented and tonight |
Richard the Third"
Boyle Heights
Queen Esther circle and the Woman's |
Home Missionary society are holding |