The herald., 1898-09-14
AT THE THEATER
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES q

LOS ANGELES.-After listening to the
countless pages Of dialogue that make up
Mr.. Ogilvie's three-act domestic drama.
1.-THE Master" and after watching the
rather long procession OF characters that
come and go. all acting in the capacity of
feeders" to the central figure Of the.piece,
one is in doubt whether to do homage to
large capacity of the star who so persever-
ingly keeps the center of the stage through
the three long acts.
''The Master" is not play Of action, and
therefore many people would pronounce 1t
"slow." There lis but one prominent char
acter in it, and he dominates the scene In
accordance with his name. He Is described
as "a financier," and 1t Is me entioned Incl
deDtaIy that he has fortune Of ten mil
lion pounds He rules his clerks, his de-
pendents, his wife and children with rod
of Iron. He is, in fact, a typical English
husband Of the pattern made familiar in
novels and in plays, whose will Is law, and
who knows no law but Of his own making
The author manages to make 1t clear,
through sohloquies and other old-fash-
ioned methods, that the financier's chill
dren, boy and girl, both Of age, have views
Of their future which do not accord with
the fathers DEGREES. Like old Lear, the
financier then bamshes his daughter, he
also banishes his son, and afterwards turns
his wife out Of the house for corresponding
with the outcasts. Then his nephew, a
pahe-faced, sandy-haired young man of sim
lister aspect betrays his trust and thus
breaks the last bond that links the finan-
Ger with his kind. Deserted even BY his
servants and tortured with the gout. which
seems to be the only thing that sticks to
him, the f1nancfer is on the point Of be-
coming bankrupt, when his wife suddenly
returns, and in the nick Of time, by the
sacrifice of her fortune, saves her hus-
bands commercial honor. The daughter
also returns, plus one baby. and the son
gets back at the same minute from the
wars with medals and promotion. Even
the scalawag nephew gets forgiven in The
general reconciliation that ensues upon
the breaking down Of the stubborn will of
the would-be ina ster"
1t will be seen that there Is no particular
originality in the story, and the interest,
therefore, is centered entirely dn the way
in which the characters work cut their
peculiarities according to the opportuni-
ties afforded by the author and
stage manager. There are several
very clever ''bits," one of the best
ibang the great mans nephew by Mr..
WelleA The young fellow Of dissipated
habits, Of furtive eye and bilious complex
ion 10 depicted to the life, and the way in
which he Is made the victim Of his own
wrong. doing is an object lesson Of strik-
ing kind. The confidential clerk Of Mr..
Allen was another capital characterization.
Anything more perfect Of its kind has not
been seen on this stage. The butler and
the servants are made quite prominent
and do their respective parts in way that
indicates thorough preparation. Mr. Cooks
butler Is gem Of large size.
Mabel Bert made a very touching and
sympathetic character Of the wife who
has to bear the tyrannical rule Of the mas
ter, and Miss Dale had a fieeting oppor-
tunity as the disobedfent daughter.
Mr.. Miller so completely engrosses the
action and the dialogue that there Is COM
paratively little chance for the other peo-
Pile. In the first and second acts he does
not command the interest that Is evidently
expected He IL in fact a little tiresome
and his autocratic manner 10 not at all
convincing. Ordinary as the type Of char
acter is. 1t Is very apparent that Mr.. Miller
is travelling outside Of his limitations in at
tempting such a delineation. But the
third act goes far to redeem hds shortcom-
ings in the other two. It ie here evident
that the actor has made a most careful,
Intelligent and able study OF the part, and
his low tones, which are the most snowy
part Of his register, come in with great
effect and anturalness. It is scholarly
and In many respects, an impressive de-
linea,ion: a study, Though, which has the
atmosphere Of having been evolved out
of the actors own consciousness, rather
than having been patterned upon actual
experience and observation in real life.
The piece was capitally mounted and
various accessories were carefully and
even elaborately prepared. The house
was not a very large one, but was highly
apreclatfve.
Today at the special matinee, and again
tonight. "Heartsease" will be repeated.
On Friday evendng the new "Frawley
company" will open at the Los Angeles
theater with Augustin Days adapted
comedy, Number Nine" Mr.. Frawiey
who has not been seen here in some time,
plays the role of genial Irishman, and
during the presen tation of this play in San
Francisco received most f1attering notices
for his handling of the part Mr.. Fraw-
ley and his company have always been
great favorites here. The plays to be pre-
sented are all new to Los Angeles, and
include amongst others E. H. Sothern's
romantic drama, IAN Enemy to the King"
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