The San Francisco call., 1898-05-15


 at one time there should be in
 San Francisco three of the great
 est opponents of the art of panto-
 mime.
 Not pantomime in the sense of buf- foonery, of clownishness, of the Punch and Judy kind, but the old classic mode of expression by gesture, the deathless art of dumb acting, which is at once the beginning and the end, the lowest and highest form of dramatic art
 Just when things are at their low est ebb dramatically comes this trio of artists to our rescue. To be sure, Pillar -Morin, that bewitching combina- tion of grace and beauty, of comedy and tragedy, will be with us only a couple of weeks more. But her two mighty rivals are, in way, the prod uct of our own theatrical soil and they'll continue, probably, to uplift the stage and educate the people by the exposition of their wonderful art just so long as the box-office shall flourish and theater-g -goers be grateful and appreciative.
 It is true that Pillar -Morin has nat ural advantages which make conpeti- tion with her hopeless. In the first place, she is a, woman. Better than that, she is a French wOman-that most feminine, most irresistible of created things. Neither of her great rivals is female nor French-a bitter handicap. Neither of them is beautiful, as is this lovely brunette. Neither of them pos sesses the fascinating combination of traits which makes this exponent of grief or joy equally delightful. Both of them are a bit inexperienced. Both of them tread the boards with that dffident uncertainty that marks the amateur. Both of them seem more to fear Thespia than to worship her. Yet both of them are greeted by the plaud- its of the enraptured multitude.
 How do you account for it?
 4 very simple matter. It's art-pure art, that should be spelled in this in stance, at least, with a capital A as large as the type used to head war extras.
 When Tom-Sharkey appears upon the stage at the California, at the close of the second act of The Ensign" the whole house bursts into a roar of laughter. What has he done? Moth ing, apparently, but to founder down from the middle entrance in his sailor togs and stand like a pugilistio Co., Iossus of Rhodes, a long knife in his hand, his face grim and pale-as though he could feel fear-stage fear, at that!
 Now, this is art. The gaining Of eff fect-effect so strong, so immediate by such simple means requires high de- gree of ability. It is the kind of art so enVied by those who do not possess it, that works with the fewest possible tools. In whatever trade or profession it shows itself, it denotes genius. Re member what a celebrated French painter said of Charles Keene, Punch's great pictorial satirist.
 ''He is a great man, your Charles heene; he takes a pen and ink and bit of paper, and wiz half a dozen strokes he know low to frame a gust of wind"
 Now, that's just the way with Tom Sharkey. With half dozen strides he know low to raise perfect whiIl- wind of laughter. And a joyous, open mouthed laughter that is truly Eom- eric.
 That stern-set Mouth of his Gf pug lists mouth doesn't deserve a capital, what OOeS , IfenDleS at le0gIn ana pOurs forth a hastily uttered, profane sentence, ending with But we can fight like hell"
 You should see the effect of those half-dozen words. Keene's strokes are nowhere. The California is con- vulsed. It is a giggling harp now to be played upon by this master of comedy
 The great pantominist pretends to be unconscious of his marvellous power He stands statue-like in all the .un- couth awkwardness of a position so strained, so dead still, so impossible that only an artist could accomplish it. There's genius in those stiff, wide-apart legs, the sides of an artistic right-angle triangle. There's genius in that fixed eye, which seems to watch the curtain with a hypnotic glare that finally pulls 1t down. There's genius in that noble right hand that clutches the long knife as though support and safety lay alone in that.
 The audience roars. It is helpless; at the mercy of the great comedian.