The times., 1898-04-03


ma has been jeopardized by the intro
duction of the most rabid lurid and
stilfied plot ever devised by two anna
teur play carpenters. The effect is that
which might be noticed in a combina-
ton of red and yellow In an oil painting
or of round and square stones in the
same portion of mosaic. Lachlan
Campbell. William MacLure and Jamie
Soutar were character types of the most
remarkable order and they have been
transplanted with considerable care, but
even contrast does not save their dis
tinctness when they are placed side by
side with the overdrawn and melodra-
matte folk that have been literally
thrown into their society. There has
been a Tompkyns, a Flora Campbell,
Lord Hay and an Irish Sandy McPher-
son in every Davis and Keogh produc-
tiCn staged in the last ten years. The
admirers OF Ian Maclaren might have
stood anything better than the transfor
nation of Beside the Bonnie Brier
Brush into a secondhand Sidewalks
of New York" or Brother for Brother"
This great defect seems all the more
pity when one realizes the extreme beauty
of the greater part of the play Its first
act is charming in simplicity that be-
comes power when the quiet run of events
mergeS into the excellent climax that
brings down the curtain. The next scene,
spite the likeness to Hazel Kirke." can.
with a touch here and there be made one
of the strongest bits of work before the
public, while the little encore act follow
ing is simply uneXcelled as a bit of panto-
mime of the first order. Never has there
been seen in this city n touch of human
nature more affecting or more true in its
fidelity to the human heart. 1t would
take a large number of faults to totally
blot out the impression left by that scene.
But Messrs. Macarthur and Hall had
seen THE Old Homestead, and in trying
to initiate it's most conventional situation
they overstepped themselves. The street
scene of BESIDE the Bonnie Brier Bush"
with it's constantly-appearing and disap-
pearing policeman, its dress-suited heroes
and villains it's offers of bribes and it's
conspiracies and intrigues does much to
| mar the beauty of the entire piece. The
( return. Immediately after, to the rye
! fields and thistled downs of Bonnie Scot
/ land, with it's simple, honest, hard-vis-
! aged folk, brings one back to the kind of
] thing that is going to make this presen-
/ tation almost as immortal as THE Old
! Homestead" if it is only given the
! chance. After the darkness that separ-
/ ates London from Drumtochty has clear
! ed, one breathes in the air as if he had
! in reality just returned from the ill-smell-
ing British metropolis to the wide mead
! ows of the country.
There is much of infinite beauty in
Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush" even as
it is now, and a little judicous pruning
/ will go far toward making the presenta-
ton really charming. The criticism pass
] ed on 1t takes especial pains in bringing
out its faults if only because the remedy
| is so simple. A little manipulation VIII
| have a wonderful effect upon q produc-
I ton in which there is so uch excellent
material. The strength. the beauty, the
! locale of the drama should place it far
| above anything of its class and a small
| amount of pains on the part of the au-
| thors, such as the managers have dis
played in their lavish staging, would elm
mate the chance of adverse remark.
Probably the most effective way of do
ing this would be in cutting out altogether
the role of Tompkyns and leaving to ac-
! cident the misunderstanding ar present
| plotted by the villainous villain and which
Makes Flora and Lord Hay think each
other faithless. Lachlan, too, might use
his own eyes in forming conclusions
about his daughter and the nobleman
without being forced to see by a planning
scoundrel of the most usual type. This
would leave no room for the Grace
Church scene" or for the policeman. 1t
would bring the drama down to three
acts and shorten it considerably, changes
that are very necessary indeed. The plot
in a piece like Beside the Bonnie BrieI
Bush" is most palatable when least
brought out. The work between father
and daughter, with the child's love story
and that of Kate Carnegie, would furnish
reasons for the incident and atmosphere
that are to establish the value OF Ian
Maclaren's books to the stage.
There is something entirely Dalyesque
about Dalys productions that makes
them enjoyable where others would
/ coil n =
that seen last week at the Columbia
could force an audience to stand such a
} stupid, nonsensical, long-drawn-Out
sketch as RosenfeId's 5 'Subtleties of Jeal-
ousy." but then, even the best farces
in the hands of the greatest of interna-
tional managers acquire meaning and ca
pacity for pleasure that would be lack
ing had they been presented by any one
else Number Nine" for example
while so thoroughly Anglicized as tc
be really funny. would hardly have sue
ceeded had Mr.. Daily not taken it up
He did. however, and treated it in the
usual manner for him. AS result
there was an elegance and refinement
about the comedy that made it savol
; more of a drawing-room entertainment
than anything else. The gentlemen
and ladies were well-groomed, the fur
niture and properties new. and the seen
cry not only specially painted" bu
{ done by an artist. Not a color nor
move Jared on the senses from the be
ginning of the performance until it,
} ending The players in the company
l spoke and acted as if in their own homes
easily and naturally, without trace o
constraint or overwhelming. There wer,
no bitches, however small, and no sac
rifices to dramatic license Every mem
Der of the troupe knew what to do ant
did 1t. whether he had a part with tw,
, lines or two hundred.
In Augustn Days combination ther
is no lack of regard for detail Whel
someone turns down a lamp the light
; go down also without waiting for tn
. . electrician to finish sandwich and
cup of coffee. Should anyone look at
, timepiece and say lit is O'clock" tn
audience is not forced into the conclu
sion that he is cross-eyed, but immedi
ately learns by inspecting the clock il
question that it is really 2 o'clock. Their
are dozen other things noticed in tn
Daily ngagements-things little in them
selyes-that go Il long way toward max
ing up the enjoyment of a production an
which all managers would do well to re
alize. They make Il Smiling" coined,
far more pleasing than roaring farce
and conspire TO keep the treasurer of tn
house at which the company plays i
the best of good spirits.
Accidents happen in the best regulat
| ed families" however. and it is smal
q wonder that occasionally little things g
by unnoticed in combinations of twent
, | or more people. Despite the truth o
. | the above remarks two apparently tri
| fling carelessneSs occurred in 'Numbe
I Nine one night last week that injure
2 one of the most important scenes in tn