Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-25

theater goerS this week-"Cunberland, 6l
and What Happened to Jones'" the latter
&C ming out first so far as attendance was
concerned and in the interest manifested
by the audiences. Not that it was the best
play, for it was more series of incidents
without coherent plot or purpose, but II
furnished hilarious entertainment and sent
the people away in good humor MI Fyles
drama, on the contrary, contains some
vell-drawn characters and is splendidly put
upon the stage. While there were some
fmprobabilities in the story, 1t is a consist
ent and interesting one.
Next week there will be wealth of at
fractions for amusement lovers. There will
be Mrs. Fiske in her dramatiZation of Mr.
Hardy's great story, Tess of the D'Urber-
villes," who will be seen at the Grand Opera
House. Mrs. Fiske is not controlled by the
syndicate, and therefore is competed to go
to what is ordinarily a popular-pr1ced
house Her manager, however, is satisfied
that she will do as big business there as
she would at any other theater, for he says
IL is has been her experience in every city
she has visited. Then there will be Gill
Iette's latest play, Secret Service which,
as we'll as Tess" will be seen in Wash
ington for the first time. and finally, but by
TO means the least important, Will be Fan
ny Davenport. no will present a repertoire
of Sardou plays, in which she has made a
greater success than any English-speaking
actress.
While there has been a marked improve
Ment in the accommodations for the bene-
fit of actors and actresses on modern
stages, there is still great room for bet
ter convenienceS in many of the large the
aters of the country. An actress, espe-
cially one who has expended large sums
in elegant costumes, is often confronted
with dressing rooms not over clean. and 1t
is quite a problem to occupy such apart
nents without injury to delicate gowns.
Fanny Davenport, who will be seen at
the National Theater next week and who
Is famous for her magnificent stage cos
TUNES has devised a scheme which is not
able not only for its ingenuity, but has
thus far proved a shining success.
She has had constructed a complete set
of canvas walls and ceiling. This Is ar
ranged to field up in small compass and
is carried from place 10 place with the
other paraphsrnalia- At the beginning OF
an engagement the stage carpenter at
tached TO the company goes to Miss Daven-
ports dressing room and places the tenn
porary walls in position. Electric brack-
cts are fastened to the framework. and
when the star arrives she finds a perfectly
clean room, on the walls of which she can
with impuTity hang her daintily colored
dresses.
Then there are long rolls of carpeting
which are laid across the stage from Miss
Davenporps dressing room to the different
entrances. so that the ladys garments
may not sweep up the accumulated dust
left by the negligent janitors. All this
may seem unnecessarily cautious, but when
one considers the large amount of money
required 10 provide modern stage costumes,
where imitation and sham no longer find
a place. saving in this line is an impor-
tant Item and enables an actress to always
present before her patrons garments which
are fresh and new. This would be impossi-
Die II constant precautions were not taken.
The example of care and cleanliness is
followed by those in Miss Davenport's COM
rany as regards scenery and properties
and this accounts for the fresh appearance
OF all accessories in Miss Davenport's pro-
auctions. 1t is only from the fact that this
remarkable woman has devoted all her
energies TO the stage that she has been
enabled TO consider every detail, even the
most minute, but no one can question tha,
her EFFORTS have borne fruit.
The electrician who manipulates the
lights for Mrs. Fiskes production of Tess
Vi the q UrpervIlles is a ve~y important
person In the first scene of the play that
of the Crick farm house and its rich rural
nelshborhood, the action begins at shutdown
and PASSES through the long twilight of u
summer day. The russell color of the sir
rounding country is thrown into vivid view
Dy the beams of the dying sun. By the
time the climax of the act is reached the
shades of esening have gathered and the
stage is in semi-darkness. The artificial
light effects in this act are the work of an
expert electrician, Clarence Corie who Is a
veteran IN his own especial line. Corie is
an Engllshman and came to this country
several years ago when Henry Irving made.
his first production here of Faust" Corie
prides himself on his work and boasts that
ne has never succumbed to the illusions of
the stage so far as to forget his own par
ucuIar duties The other night in a one
nlght stand one of Corie's assistants who
stood in the wings manipulating a calcium
became so engrossed in watching the play
mat ne forgot to change his colors at a Ger
tain cue Corie called him sharply to ac-
count, but the Only anolnoy hat al;n
Quent could muster up was, "Why, sir I
got SO interested in the piece, 1 clean forgot
my lights You blooming idiot" retorteI
Core, you re not paid to get Interested"
The very next night, however Corie him
self presided over the lights in this critical
scene 1t happened to be the first time
that Corle had had a chance to watch this
PORTION OF the play. AS in the case of the
unfortunate assistant, Corie allowed him
self TO become absorbed in watching Mrs.
Elske's treatment of the murder scene If
stage Nanaser North had not awakened
nm 10 a realizing sense OF his duty Corie
would probably have remained an enthraII
ed spectator for the remainder of the per
Torrance Suddenly reused to action he
returned al once to the execution of his
once " hen the play had concluded Corie
approached the stage manager in a crestfaI-
len way and requested Mr.. North not to let
MS fal from grace become known to the
other members of the company I've been
In this business eighteen years" he said
and L never was caught getting interested
In piece before" Stage Manager North
good-naturedly agreed TO keep the incident
secret, but somehow or other il leaked out
Secret Service" by William Gillette Is
the eleventh ultra-successful venture in
playmaking made by this man. and THE
Private Secretary, Held by the Enemy"
Too Much Johnson" and other familiar
plays of his have been so successful that
one might naturally believe that the phe-
nomenal and international success Of '.Se-
cret Service would be considerd by its au-
thor as fitting climax to his career But
Mr.. Gillette's ambitions are not vet all
satisfied He is restless to write another
play "A serious one" he says, with a
woman of action and force for the heroine
In the advanced complications modern wo-
man is burdened with and subjected to and
the heroic attitude she assumes so ineenf-
ousiy and so potently: not n comedy at all
you know, but a grave and philosophical
construction of Himalayan problem full
OF intense dramatic possibilities and yitali-
". 1 am deeply interested he continues
in the vastness Of the theme and the frag-
mentary history bearing upon it,"
crane and success seem to be SYNONYM
Gus, for one rarely hears of any of the
comedians plays being anything but big
Il