The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-06
MATTERS OF THE THEATRE.
.sut1L WE FoRGIVE HER9" AND
~ SOETHERN ROMANCE."

u.roIne-NOtra Among tho brnnnntiAts'
r,0-cis A harm Of naturalncss in "A South.
pon,nre." The story that 1t tells Is sweet
Vi simplc, II was pleasant reading In tho
- and Mr.. Valentine and MI. Dltrichstcin
esSscrvcd its merits very well In transferring
!. ,o tho stage. Katharine Grey realizes the
,,.n,urly girl of the stock farm delightfully."-,
y. ncgrocs are like tho real things, and most of
.ho characters are adequately portray ed. But
.Lo nroluption is damaged badly by two excel
,.n, actors. ono OF these Is Frank hangs,
anrc a noteworthy interpreter OF Shakes
sa.rc and still a d~igniiod and able
pr0c,iecr OF old.fashioncd methods In dra-
Ut speaking. His role In this play is
that OF u Kentucky gentleman and father.
NJ southcrn accent or manner Mr.. Bangs gives
= = supsestion. when II scene comes wherein he
.modIencd by wrath and crushed by shame
80 his daughters olopemcnt, he delivers the
vnss in the traditional style of The Ghost in
.uomlet." 1t is true that the authors have not
Iro, n suAicicnt or reasonable motive for the
s,n's outbreak, but the failure of the scene Ia
a.. rr,ncipally to the actor. Nothing could bet
ar sS' Illustrate tho Improvement that has boon
brought in the direction OF naturalness on the
..ssesrt that would have succeeded twenty.iye
Years ago. Contrary opinions mark the crit.
sisms Of Leo nom Dlirlsh@s'ei H. Is sctip pEa,.s "a
a. ~, Artistic nicety. and he is condemned
t n lack Of the requisite personality. He ex-
r.s.ses the emotions OF the hero,
I'm Ice not looks like him. His brain is all
rirht, but his body Ia not, Ho lacks authority.
Ese audience laughed when In a seriously dis
abIed condition he ambled unsteadily across the
s s,Svs. because he had IA tipsy appearance. When
IA clipped on horseback with katharine Grey
there was laughter again. although that was t
thc height OF tho romance mentioned IN tho
lille, Art alone will not carry II man triumph
sptIy through the mimic, exploits OF the stage.
Ho must possess also a physical qualification.
Frank Harvey has returned to one OF his old
t,voritcs in shall We Forgive Herr This
populurly acceptable play contains a fighting
narson who does up one of the villains in etfcc-
dive style. This divine is a familiar acquaintance
Of tho audience at the Fourteenth Street. and
M more satisfactory disposition could be mado
Of the villain. But the holy man is able to deal
with only one Of the wicked ones in this play. rs
the other Is a woman, and even a parson could
not be permitted to wal!op her. Thus the bad
Joanna escapes bodily punishment. But she sut-
fers In other ways. She seems TO do nothing moro
unreasonable, SO far as the spectators can see.
than object to the introduction into the family OF
awoman who has the usual past embellished
with the variety that a few years residence in
Queensland might be expected to add to it Ii
IL Joanna's intended husband that marries this
woman, who is played effectively by Hannah
May Ingham, and the fact that Joanna herself
had expected to I'LL that place had its influence
In determining her dcmeanor when tho new
wife entered the home over which Joanna had
ruled. The two are cousins by marriage, for
Joanna was related to the man she had ex-
pec,ed to become her husband. But that
made no difference to her. She put on
, black gown and a purple necktie.
.nj y,ntchnl for rhnnCaR She di6cOyprCd
anumber OF them incidentally. but it was the
main chance that Joanna was really in wait
for. II was all very we'll 10 stand around and
make disugreeable remarks. She was able to
do that for three acts. One unsatisfactory fea-
ture Of that business was that the author had
provided the other characters with speeches
that put Joanna i'll a poor light. She had only
10 venture some observation on the reward
Of virtue or the punishment of sin to
meet with some crushing retort. These were
dreadful odds for any william 10 have to struggle
igainst-and Joanna was only a woman william
1t THAT. She could not light u cigarette or pull
down her cuffs when the spectators cheered ut
her discontinue. she could ONLY stand still and
wait; what she did say, moreover, was all right.
tmay have been a little uncomfortable. in view
Of the pointedness, for some OF the people, but
Joanna views ON ladies with pasts were those
commonly held.
But the spectators laughed at her when she
was foiled and Kissed her momentary triumphs.
They we're even moved to hilarity when
laughed at. They would not excuse her, what
ever the justice Of her case might be. When
The old lady implied that some people who
went TO church were considerably worse than
others that had spent their past In Queensland
with men who were not their husbands. the
ss so eon Mas %ath She She had Eidk ealS sP BEEN g9q aryink w al
The time to let her old lover know that his
wife bad lived with another man without the
iormaiity OF a marriage.
Joanna suffered in the end. she had one
brief spell OF satisfaction. The wife was driven
away when her guilt became known, and
JOluun hAH tho hIEhn pH'a frttzt Rnf fhny
played a trick on her even then. She was led
INTO a final outburst of eXultation over her
Si few success reseoi,io and she mo Mo,ie m3 Who mrrIia IN
into respectable families after they had made
unsuccessful excursions into other ways of life.
heard the trade taita~ Which, Itch s so much D Sptfected him III
that he took his wife back to his bosom.
Joanna left the stage with only ignominy and
w Skins easily Is' over the little questions
INVOLVED in his play. What would ,puz.
ne P!aerS or Jones or furnish a thesis Is
Nj. HaTvey's schemes of development. So he
teunites the wife, who has erred and deceived
her husband before her marriage, to that self
shsne husband. with undisturbed equanimity,
PROBABLY he thinks that as the husband is salts
nd nobody else has a right TO complain. Al
Le interest OF the audience seems to lie in the
liIlle throw.down Of Joanna. Gertrude Whitly
pays the part admirably. and not tho least in
seresllns feature Of her performance is an evi
Gent conviction OF the hunlor Of the situation
se never consents to take Joanna quite
seriously.
Henry Irving's new play ON the subject Of
Peter the Great will contain scenes relating tc
tnree important incidents In the life of the Grcat
Gar. and these will be his divorce. his marriage
pcatherine, and his condemnation of his sor
Akr's before the clergy, the judges, and tn,
high officers OF state.
VS.. Gilbert. who promised after the failure