The herald., 1898-03-15
At THE THEATER
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. ++i

Los ANGELES THEATER.-Lastn night
the patrons of this house had afforded to
them the opportunity of seeing genuine
Adelphi melodrama, brought here direct
from It's London home, and with every
character bearing the impress of the ma
tive surroundings. The first act takes place
In the British colony of Queensland, and
the Following three acts are passed at
Apply 'Ampstead, with a distant view of
st. Paurs cathedral in the background.
Inc characters are very British, and they
take care to let the fact be known. There
are Tor eccentric characters. rosy faced
roiy-poly, delightful old lady, who Is an
Aunt Martha after Dickens model, and
VINO is SO CHEEKY and bright and charita-
Die that her frequent lapses into cockney
olaiect may be forgiven to her, for the
reason that they belong to the part. And
tnere IL another eccentric part in the shape
OF celebrated Scotch oculist, capitally
made up and acted with an accent as pure
as the dew off Glenlivat. To be sure his
methods of handling a patient and of
"speering" into family matters are highly
peculiar, but Mr.. Hamilton is obliged to
90 IL In that way because 1t is in the play
ana melodrama must not last all night.
Everybody in the first act is very hot
very tired. and, with the exception of Miss
wainwright, very dirty. The scene is a sta
ton in the Australian desert, and the men
Ihe set is quite striking one. From the
action 1t appears that the heroine Is liv-
ing with certain Neil Garth, a "vag.,"
and has made up her mind to leave him
and go where water is more abundant and
society Of better grade She is free to
do this, because the man she Is living with
mas no claim upon her In the nature ia
legal tie. Before carrying out her purpose
sne Is the means Of saving the life Of a
young Englishman on his way home. The
act In Its entirety, to use an abused term,
is not convincing. but lapse Of two years
having taken place, the spectator sees
trace, the heroine, established in comfort
at Hampstead, near London, q year mar
ried to rising young professional man
VINO Knows nothing of her past. but loves
her with devotion as the mother of his
child.
or course, just at this point the trouble
begins. The obnoxious Neil Garth is such
a coward and low scoundrel that 1t Is won-
derful and the one thing not to be under
stood why the refined Grace ever "became
his." in the language Of the stage. He
tracks his victim and demands hush
money, which she yields up. Just here
comes in the feminine poor relation, joan
ma, the pious young person who is jealous
OF the new mistress of the house, and
manages to get possession of the important
secret She reveals 1t, by morsels, to the
confding husband, and the shock makes
him totally blind, a catastrophe that Is
carefully led up to, and makes a strong
climax to the act.
The husband, with his sense of outraged
morality and smarting under the knowl-
edge that he has been deceived, refuses at
first to forgive his wife, but finally is
brought to do SO, and experiences, In fact,
quite revulsion of feeling in very sud-
den manner, so that the play may be
brought to happy termination. Joanna,
who embodies the opinion of society in
SUCH matters, according to the author, is
unforgtving to the last, and Is herself left
unforgiven There is the usual underplot
of love affair between a very young man
with bad cold and a very young woman
with an interesting face and q bright way
OF acting. In fact, this pair, although they
have nothing to do with the plot, help to
brighten the piece considerably, and in
combination with Aunt Martha, relieve
the gloom that would otherwise settle down
over the serious and pathetic story of the
graceless Grace.
The piece Is called "Shall We Forgive
Herr" and is an attempt at being prob
lem play. 1t Is hardly worthy of that in
dignity, however, neither is the result Of
the argument any more satisfactory than
it usually is in any of the numerous plays
that have been written to advocate some
Converts are not made by any such proc
ess, but. on the contrary, the prejudices
of people are usually more intensified,
no matter on which side Of the shield they
look.
But, as a melodrama pure and simple,
and looked at only from that point Of
view, 1t was quite entertaining and was
really capitally acted, both by Miss VAIN
wright and her support. 1t was little odd
at first to see the leading lady so long ac-
customed to the dignity of classic roles,
coming on the stage to the "agitato" Of the
orchestra. and to listen to the old familiar
music cues for entrances and striking sit
uations Then the infections of the voice
used to make point and bring down the
expected applause, the wonderful stimuli
taneOus entrance of all the characters at
the right moment to make tableau, were
In keeping with the old fashioned but still
popular melodramatic rules, and never
failed to secure hearty response from
the audience.
The house was very well filled, not so
largely in the gallery as 1t would have been
II the gods had known what kind Of piece
to expect. But the audience all over the
auditorium was highly appreciativa and
got worked up into real sympathetic ex-
hibition Of feeling when the muscular par
son downed the bully with right handler
and then took of his coat to fight. And when
Miss Wainwright was in her greatest trou-
BILE and sobbing out her woes, there were
many fair girls whose handkerchiefs were
called into use.
''Shall We Forgive Her?" has been criti-
cised rather severely, but altogether from
a wrong point Of view. While some people
may object to the introduction Of such SUBJ
jects for discussion in play, 1t must be
remembered that in this instance the
theme is delicately handled and presented
by very competent set of people. It was
also decidedly we'll received by an intelli-
gent audience.
The full cast of characters is as follows:
Oliver West. Edward r. MaWson
Paul Ellsworth, missionary........
.............."......... .Nestor Lennon
James Stapleton.. Henry Napier
Neil Garth, vagabond.
.......................F Frank q. Jameson
Reggie Walton. Harry Webster
DR.. McKerrow, an oculist. t.......,
........................T C. Hamilton
Jerry Blake. miner......T. C. Hamilton
Joanna. Gertrude Whitty
Nellie West. Madeline Lack
Grace. Marie Wainwright
not figure in the above list. It is therefore
only fair to say that 1t performed it's part
to admiration, and smiled with such
lively appearance OF good humor that an
chorus of "ohs' and '.ahs'
Issued from the feminine part Of the audi
ence with one accord.
The piece will be repeated tonight and
tomorrow.