The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1898-11-18
Miss O'N8il a Great Star in
Leah, the J6EGSS.
A STRONG, ODD OLD PLAY
Great Power Or the Young Actress.
Distinctly Strong Work OF
the Support.

One cannot refer 70 Nance O'Nei. as
Leah The Jswess without quickly
reaching the superlative in praise II
her magnificent art. The young star
showed last night the art that from
the stage holds audiences spe,l-9ound
and that in the political life OF ma
lions sways the masses aud Shapes col
lective destinies. Few women y no saw
Leah would care TO possess the reserve
force or the irresistible magnetism OF
Nance O'Neil. II would be dangerous
20 peace OF mind. II would be oppres-
sive and heavy and stabbing. He would
be a strong man, q man OF unbridlei
inhibition, Of exceptional ambition. OF
vaulting ideality who would wish to be
able 10 manage rightly such intense
power, such unlimited leverage as has
been bestowed upon one able TO pre-
sent such a Characterization as does
play. One capable Of such agony as
comes to the Jewess in one scene
could scarcely bear the suffering. One
capable Of such storming as does the
Jewess in the curse scene could alien
ate hoPelessly the affection of all
friends. The great skill of Miss O'Neil
in this piece IS the presentation of one
emotion and the checking OF another
at the same time. Love and hatred
make a conflict. In real life each
wavers till the whole structure of the
struggle topples. In the Jewess love
rules. Then hatred. with love still
present but suppressed. takes the
Iscepter. Then the woman forgiveness
is manifested. IN all this Miss O'Neil
was regarded by her splendid audi
ence as no less than great.
Leah, The Jewess. is an odd play. II
is from the German and is based not
upon the Hebrew batting OF the day,
but upon the honest, if bigoted aver
sion OF village people OF 1873 to the
race that has been prosecuted in so
many lands. Leah is loved by the son
OF the village magistrate and the af-
lection is reciprOcated. They are
parted by the foul intriguing OF an
aDoState Jew, the SChoolmaSter. The
cursing by the Jewess follows the we'd
ding OF the magistrates son The Jew
eSS returns in five years TO forgive.
The German drama is rarely a success
in English for the reason that the
translatOrs alter the finale by obliterat-
ing the tragedy that is natural and
substituting an ending that is more
than pleasing. Magda is a most
marked example of this error or this
Difference to the taste of the audience.
In the German version of Magda the
heroine kills herself in the last act.
In the English adaptation the grieved
father dies of paralysis or mental
shock or something OF that sort and
the beautiful Magda lives on. The re-
vision OF these plays makes them open
like a bonn bardment with thirteen
inch guns and close with fire-cracker
piffs The last act of Leah is tame,
unsatisfying, unsatisfactory, incOnsist
ent. It is commonplace and STACEY.
The other acts are pearls OF movement,
story and dressing. The costuming in
Leah is attractive and many of the
scenes are remarkably we'll set.
Messrs. Weaver. Trimble and Carr,
with Gertrude Foster and Ricca Allen,
were the principals of the supporting
cast last evening. Mr.. Weaver did the
very best acting he has done here so
far. The same may be said of Mr..
Trimble, who had some choice lines
and rendered them with pronounced
effect Mr. luther was good as the
parish priest. Mr.. Carr as Joseph was
excellent in the dialogues with his
father, the Village Magistrate (NIr.
Weaver and his casting off OF the
JeweSs carried the house, but he was
not so good in his pantOmime when
being denounced by Leah. Miss FOs-
ter was q model maiden. Miss Allen
had the most important part TO which
she has been assigned since the en-
gagement opened and did ii full jus
tice. In fact one of the best things in
the play was the scene between Miss
Allen as Rachel, a Jewish woman and
Mr. TTimble as the schoolmaster.
Somewhat of q coptretemps in the
piece was the child of the company.
The youngster herself is to be COM
mended for her brightness, but her
size was entirely out of proportion to
the lines. There is a 1.-THE of com
edy in Leah which was furnished
chiefly by Leslie Morosco.
The bill for Saturday afternoon next
is the new East Lynne, with Miss
O'Neil il the star part. On Saturday
evening viii be presented another OF
the strong plays in which Miss O'Neil
has gained fame-Oliyer Twist. Miss
O'Neil will be Nancy Sykes. Mckee
Rankin will be Bill Sykes. L. r. Stock
we'll will be Frank and Herbert Carr
will ne Fagin