The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-14
TOPICS OF THE THEATRE.
oxr OF CoYGREVE's BYGONE CON-
V EDIES REPRODUCED.

..a.uy or the Dramatic Arts BrinEs Dat
.Io,o for Love ~ Mt n NIntinee-Ths Letter
4. which NIr. Frohmnn WA Assaulted as
~uebrou-News Notes OF tho stage.
Til. Academy Of tho Dramatic Arts did some
.hirg Yesterday in tho independent theatre"
10. and did It we'll. Congreve's comedy, Love
a. 1--we" which Is 200 years old, and had only
-, Obscure performances In America long ago,
u,s acted at tho Empire by advanced students
~ Mr.. sargont's school. The unfamiliar work
l..d been pruned OF its original coarseness by
prof. l.. du Pont syle. and rehearsed by Max
r,umen, Tho acting was surprisingly apt and
,,sycr. Tho especial merit shown by tho play
~. was A manner consonant with the matter,
~h,ch was not treated with q modern method,
MAI with that flavor Of old comedy which 10
hard 10 get. even from tho most practiced COM
r.niss. Only two or three out OF the fifteen
,,hles were badly interpreted. On tho other
,.nd seyeral wero sustained with q facility
rrusunl even in graduates Of this academy.
The leading part of Vdientinc. requiring talent
N the best sort, was played with brIliancy by
Mr.. Irving, who surely has not mistaken his
calling. The extremely pretty Misa keim was
nice and dainty as the heroine. Others to COM
nsna were Mr.. Carleton, MIR. Short, Mr..
G.tcbell, Mr.. Halton, Mr.. Sedywick and Mr..
p,geon. Love for Love" Is n comedy OF In
triruc. clear In It's Characterization, abundant in
pirrammati wit, and somewhat ingenious In
its expedicnts Of complication. Its movement
4, sluggish, however, and although 1t WINS kept
moving as rapidly as possible In this spirited
performance, tho interest was not inherent,
Int depended upon the audiences curiosity to
zee a Congreve play on the stage. The gratif;
cation afforded was very great to a crowded
sssembiaEe, which paid the closest heed and
Tho letter In THE Sun yesterday signed
.Christianus," in which tho writer, q priest, con-
denned the current drama at the Empire very
,piritedly and declared that the production was
for tho purpose of filing the pockets Of q re
morseless syndicate of Hebrews" was talked
about considerably among theatrical people.
'Tho Conquerors' 10 the most discussed play
that has been brought out here in years. First.
the boldnoss Of tho theme gave rise to hot diff
ferences of opinion. Next, the discovery that
Mr.. Potter had based 1t without aoknowl-
edgment on a work by sardou gave a new Inn
petus to the talk. Now the a~ssailing of the
manager and his business, associates as Ho-
t Srsws Ali those things. added to the un.
deniable power Of the assailed drama, will tend
e keep 1t in the public m, mind, at all events J. so4a
tack on Charles Frohman and The Conquer
priest. In discussing tho matter an hour ago
With Mr.. Frohman, he showed me q vote of
thanks by tho managers OF the Roman Catholic
Orphan Asylum. 1t seemed to me O graceful
answer to his hot-headed priest, who. 1t seems.
wants to mako o racial question, out of the con:
MI. Frohman showed It to the reporter. It was
: ;si SA%n .sTS9siyl eP aggnnSs@ copy 20 ye. af n g r9Se fo Mr..
kindly spirit which animates the dramatic nro-
iession." and which had so ofton led him. to
Il. gsIisf Of th tb su anqartnu 1t she P fSs i ana aiG te
occasion of the testimonial was the entertain
T Vises' d sy h Tsi seta ahs a %sp ssssists eS siEhi ad r raH sfr a
the Metropolitan Opera House. It was signed
Committees SS Aanaeesno &r .0f FrSshma ana ss AID t that he s' had had
nothing to say upon the subject.
ITO note the last thing in which the actors of
tho day seem inferior to their predecessors"
said tho veteran expert who talked to THE SUN
reporter last week about the lack of elocution-
airy power on the stage to-day, II would like to
ask why it is that our younger men are in COM
parison with their predecessors SO lacking in
gracei In the former days of the stage 1t was
exceptional to End an actor who could not mako
the slightest action with perfect grace. They:all
did as q regular part Of their dramatic work,
and there were few actors beyond the first
stages of their career who had not trained them
selves to move with the utmost possible grace,
Whatever the nHturo Oh tn6 actiOu happened 70
DO. That is not true of the young people who
come under my eye to-day. Sometimes when I
zee a young man cross the stage I say to myself,
.Ah, II you only realized how that would have
been done by one Of your predecessors you
would never cease working until You had i'm
proved But they seem satisfied, and what
good would it do to tell them that they arc
lacking in the dignity, finish and polish which
they can only get by hours and hours Of work.
isnet merely the result OF the fact that they act
chiefly in not altogether modern plays. The
%SSe T. acs 9 no,s ete IN m IN =Son Mftp Psbe ssm d5.e%Ss
is largely due to the absence of any audible
are too polite to call an actors attention to any
SHORTCOMINGS In his appearance on his acting.
speet S \ sn sSo So nave sar galleries go ern c WHICH en- contain haHn
quite as good manners as the spectators sitting
In the boxes. But the older galleries were a
did that was good; The galleries watched
the stage. When 1t was apparent that he was
careless IN action or speech there Game q prompt
se esu from the gallery or possibly from some
Il can well remember that on ono occasion
towtossss t compelled TO make Q speech Of apology
Elediy' One buckle, at the knee of my short
Dlack oEeeches had become unfastcned. So
soon as ! got before the footlights and began TO
warned me that l had better look after my
banging loose. Not until / fixed It was / al.
,ImSd 70 go on with my, apology. It was that
%s.ehtion 70 every detail which made 1t neccs;
sssy th for actors to be constantly attentive. and
teG tnat they gave tho galleries no opportunity
10 break out at them, But to-day there is no
s scfo, restraint. Audiences never applaud an
Sotor or actress because he or she happens to
S S3,, graceful. OF course, that has It's effect
MIN audiences, but tho actor Is never re-
minded OF his awkwardness. It was n rather
sesere method OF impressing the Importance Of
BsSeeralness on the players. But It seems to
naSe been the only effective way, as since the
SStsr,es ceased to complain there has been q
EsSaual decrease In tho interest that actors
sano IN making their actions and movements
Rfaceiul as practice and presidency can"
ahe ordinance in Boston against tho wearing
VI mats in theatres is now seriously and uni
.otmiy enforced. Every woman Is required to
.ske on her millinery. Tho law Is obeyed
S'oasantly for the most part. Hero in New
io'k It has become so fashionable to discard
a4lst That the woman with obstructive headGear
AafAs herself as vulgar, and she Is getting
'earoe. except In the half-price houses.
II ANI . IT,