The herald., 1897-04-25

Wife" by George Fleming, who is an
English woman. The story is tnat Oh
weak woman who listens to the impor-
tunities of the villain. and for little
while forgets her husband. She is only
untrue to him in intention, however ana
in the last act the VILLAIN is killed and
husband and wife are reunited. This
theme can hardly said to be strikingiy
original, but 1t Is worked out in rather
new way, and the dialogue is forceful
and strong. Reports cay that William
Faversham played the part of Roger
Ainslie, the good husband; the villain,
Sir Noel Drage. was cleverly done by
Robert Edeson, while Viola Allen acted
the part of the wife, the weak. vacilla-
ting woman, who finally DISCOVERIES that
she adores her husband. Such role is
one to which Miss Allen ie admirably
adapted, and she did the part full justice
Frederick Belasco. of the Lyceum
School of Practical Acting, in San Fran
cisco. was the defendant last week in
suit for damages. A young man and
his sister, with unbounded belief in their
histrionic abilities, took a course under
Mr.. Belasco. They received his tuition
for five months, paying in all $3.50. After
that time they appealed to the law for
the return of their money, as they had
not been a success on the stage. The
case was decided in favor of Mr.. Belasco,
the court concluding that he had per-
formed his part of the contract in fur
nishing tuition, and that it was no part
of the bargain he should furnish the
talent.
Another new comic opera has been
brought out in New York, THE Wedding
Day." The book is by Stanislaus Stange
and the music by Julian Edwards. The
music Is said to be pretty, the staging
very good, but nothing is said in favor
of the book. The whole piece teens with
vulgar suggestions, and the dialogue APP
proaches the indecent
A writer in the Chicago Dial, Anna B.
McMahan, calls attention to the differ
ence between the attitude of tho public
toward the player and the theater in the
old times and that of today. She says:
For two hundred years and more Eng
disappearing people pointed to Shake
speare, writer of plays, as the greatest
Of all writers. On our literature of the
stage we based our claim to ownership
| of the worlds greatest literature; yet at
! the same time the stage itself was shun-
| ned by pious folk and condemned by
church and council, and the poor play
ers were placed under social ostracism,
sometimes even denied Sacraments, fun
eral rites and marriage by the clergy"
And then the changed condition is noted.
The stage and the actor were never so
honored as they are now. The profess
sion of the actor is steadily growing in
favor with the best elements OF society.
No one with broad knowledge of life
and its progress, says the Mirror, can
deny the place the theater holds as an
Instrument and an ornament of civiliza-
ton. The fanatical declarations Of
preachers of small brain, isolated habit
and meager information against the
theater fall Intellectual upon the intelli-
gence of the time.
| The Lotus club Of New York gave a
| banquet to William Winter, Saturday
| the oath instant. on the occasion num-
Der of the old guard of journalists. liter
airy men and actors, gathered to do hon
| or to the veteran dramatic critic.
| The suit of an actress against Richard
, Mansfield to recover salary for season
| after her discharge by that actor-man-
ager, in which the plaintiff secured judg-
ment, has been decided on appeal in fa-
, vor of the defendant. The case attract
| ed attention from the fact that in the
| evidence brought forward it was said
that the actress was discharged because
she dared to sit in the managers chair
| during a rehearsal and some newspa-
pers, since the appellate decision, have
| therefore concluded that strict discip-
line, as represented by the chair episode,
| is upheld by the adjudication. The judS-
ment above, however was that the court
below did not have jurisdiction, and the
testimony involving managerial dignity
was irrelevant in the suit.