The times., 1898-12-22
THINGS THEATRICAL.

There is one thing about Olga Nether-
sole-certainly the spectator gets his
moneys worth in the length of her per-
formance. Four long acts, three fearful
intermissions and a dozen curtain calls
drew out the space of "The Termagant''
yester-evensng until midnight was near to
striking when the audience assembled left
the Lafayette Square Opera House. And
the play was stupid one at that
THE Termagant' has but solitary
merit and that merit is its novelty. When
a critic touches beneath the surface he
finds that even this single thing in the
dramas favor exists only in seeming.
since the story and its workmanship are
old even ii the period in which 1t Is set
and The people who enact it are new. In
plot and in design this effort of Louis N.
Parker and Murray Carson Is striking
combination of the palmy tragedy and of
the modern one, with strong flavor of
contemporary me.pdrama thrown into the
bargain. Mostly 1t reminds the spectator
of piece written by a certain William
Shakespeare and entitled "The Tanning of
the Shrew." But this late product is not
SO good as the work to which 1t is COM
pared by great deal-even without the
changes in form and construction that
have been evolved since the day of the
Bard of Avon.
The present all-but- t-premiere is mainly
series of splendid pictures. 1t is any
thing but play. From the first to the
final curtain the offering is visionary,
dreamfu vaporish. quibbiing. trivial,
artificial. fanciful and absurd. An old
lady would merely have called It far
fetched" II the effort be art. 1t is not
art in the sense of reproducing nature. In
painting it might serve as fanciful dec
Grafton. but certainly not as a portrait-in
verse 1t could easily be brought forward
as a ballad. but never as an epic. What
little of reality may be laid to the enter
tainment exists in an exaggerated and
distorted form. There is in the four acts
rothing convincing and very little that
appeals to any degree
THE Termagant" is even more than
well constructed. Mr.. Carson, who Is
probably responsible for the idea. can
not perhaps be praised SO much for this
as should be Mr.. Parker, who has studi-
ed under Davis and Keogh, and gradu-
ated with E. H. Sothern. There is great
deal of wit in the lines and some pretty,
il unshapely, sentiment Excepting Miss
Nethersole's production, that is all. When
it is added that the English actress has
supplied for the presentation two very
fine and detailed settings there is moth
ing TO be excepted when one remarks
that that is all
The plot might have been gathered from
a dozen sources. BaatriN is the princess
over an indefinite principalty of Spain in
the year of 1i93 More from what her
maids and men say than from anything
she does. 1t is gathered that she Is of a
most moody and changeable disposition.
She has always scoffed at the tender pas
sion and Knocked at IL until a certain Rod
erigo returns from his journey with Co
lumbus. Then she falls in love with him
so deeply that when the seed OF Jealousy
Is purposeiy sown in her heart she says
that which permits of the scoundrel kill
ing him and then murders herself. This
is told with an effort to bring in all the
trite romance and stale aids that have
served from time immemorial in pieces OF
the sort. Were Miss Nethersole not in
the cast the tale would be intensely stu
pid.
But Miss Nethersole would redeem most
things and she urges forgiveness for even
.'The Termagant." Succumbing to the
artificiality of her role and to the lack
of earnestness in the play she is still ad-
mirable and always a perfect mistress of
her art. She never rants, but invariably
impresses. even though she is not nearly
as convincing as one might wish her. II
there is fault in the portrayal IL is in
the fact that the star takes her part too
seriously. She evidently believes Beatrix
to have been whimsical woman rather
than vain egotist-a wise instead of a
frivolous person But then Miss Neither
sole must have taken the entire offering
seriously TO have spent on ii the money
she has.
The supporting company appears to un-
precedented disadvantage. T. b Thaiberg
is ungainly and dispieasing in the role Of
the mariner ard, while he does not act
without intelligence, certainly fails to
strike one as possessing any great indi-
or distinctness. Luigi Lablache
and Cicely Richards are ponderous and
as a pair of conspirators
even though Mr.. Lablache's creation is
by far the most life-like in the piece
Harry Dodd's priest is unseemly and Fred
Thorne contributes the real gem of the |
performance in a humorous comedy part |
that differs little from the Launcelot of /,
THE Merchant of Venice The minor |
people in the cast are all good, among |
them being Madge Mcintosh, Lillian |