The herald., 1897-10-10

the OpiniOr tl1at lie mad not Deen beat u
of down this way when he saw the re-
turns for the first two nights of his
engagement here in "A Virginia Court
ship" He must have altered his opin-
ion, however, on seeing the patronage
extended to his Fool of Fortune" The
public showed itself keen CROUCH to dis
criminate In favor of the play of the
modern kind with which Mr.. Crane is
thoroughly identified.
The stage has numerous traditiotXs of
men whose abilities were recognized as
comedians, but who, nevertheless,
yearned for distinction in the tragic
walks of the drama. Perhaps Mr..
Crarle Is not satisfied with the distinc-
tion he has achieved as one Of the lead
ing comedians on the American stage,
and, may be he is ambitious to shine
In the higher walks of the ''legitimate."
This temptation may have prompted his
acceptance of "a Virginia Courtship."
which he first tried on the dog in San
Francisco a few weeks ago and then
brought the piece Gown here, but If his
new productior1 achieves anything more
than success destime" in the east l
shall have missed my guess for once.
Mr.. Crane is capital representative
of the bourgeois type of modern Amer
lean life, a type that is easily recog-
nizable whether it appear in a dress suit
or clad in homespuD He is so thorough
iy at home in this line that his acting
is without apparent effort and he tlever
becomes theatrical He may we'll rest
satisfied in such a wide sphere.
+ 4 4
The question came up the other day
In social discussion as 10 the right of
a critic to ignore the public judgment
of piece on its first production, and.
to what extent he was privileged to go
contrary to what appeared to be a un-
animously hearty reception of popular
actor in ar entirely new play. Such
discussion could only arise in a case
where the logical premises had not been
agreed upon by the disputants. The
very object OF criticism is to obtain not
merely a detail of defects, but an clue
idation of the good poirlts in a produc-
ton. This is a task that may only be
accomplished by one who has had the
necessary training and experience and
who besides has cool judgment which
will resist the sinister influences that
are sometimes brought to bear.
1t is the duty of critic 10 record the.
impression made upon an audience by
the actors and the play, and he is fully
entitled, and expected, to state his rea-
sons for agreeing or disagreeing with the
verdict expressed on a first nights per-
formarlce. Because the claque succeeds
in working up noisy applause writer
is not bourd to gush about the reception,
nor to indulge in fulsome laudation Of
the play and the performance. On the
other hand still more reprehensible is
the practive allowed in some journals Of
persist eratly stating everything that
comes along. This work is done by writ
ers who have become so notorious for
that style of lampooning that, If they
should attempt to seriously praise any
thing, their attempt would be laughed
at.
In the long run the public is the best
Judge of criticism, and learns where it
may look for dispassionate judgment
which tells the truth without fear or
favor. The habitual slop-over with a
flow Of platitudinous phrases on the one
hand, and the chroric skeptic with his
battery of rdicule and contempt on the
other hand are read, if al all, for amuse-
ment. The public trusts the man who
keeps the middle of the road.
4 4 +
Maud Adams has made her metropoli
tan debut as star al the Metropolitan
Theater I'M New York, the play being
"The Little Minister" adapted from j.
M. Barrie's novel of that name. The
first nights performance appears to
have beeu successfully managed so
that the newspapers have to record the
success Of the play and Of the star The
story Of the book does not appear to have
been at all closely followed, but the dia-
logue is described as apt and telling,
there Is no excess of dialect and the
character study is good A leading New
York critic complains that it is much
more difficult than 1t used to be to Judge
not of the artistic value of.the play, but
OF its commercial prospects at the first
performa nee. Perhaps" he says, "it
is never worth while to speculate about
the commercial prospects of a theatrical
production. Nine-ter1ths Of them seem
to fail whether they deserve failure or
not. But the claque never yet saved a
play from failure" From all of which
1t may be gathered that the success of
Miss Adams in her rev piece and its ac-
ceptance by the public are facts yet to
be demonstrated.
MY Friend From India" which is
described as modern, roaring farce
was produced at the Baldwin in San
Francisco last week. The Chronicle says
is is 'rollicking from the beginning.
sometimes so frank that it would have
been vulgar If it had not been so humor-
Gus an exaggeration of human nature -
1t describes the piece as being "irresist-
IDLY funny" and says "the farce will
strike decorous people as being blunt