The sun., 1898-02-07
i'm TWO PLAYS ON VIEW.
A sUoCEssFUE IMITATION OF OLD
OOMEDY IN n NEW COMEDY.

II
M. erase ana pzr. Prrssrsy Prssuos the un-
tended Hnsots n .A vireinta Csurtship, Z,
--Peints IN the PerfsFnapco ef "Ths Tree
er Knewieare - Hotss OF the stage.
A manner of old comedy has been attained in
"a virainia Courtship." Mr. Crane may rea-
sonably take issue with those who hold that.
/ because he has had successes in the portrayal
/ Of modern, everyday, unromantio types, he In
| therefore unfit TO enact an Old Dominion gen
tleman of a hundred years ago. Was he not
/ praised az one Of the Dron1ios with Mr. Robson
in Tho Comedy Of Errorsr Did he not share
| the honors with Mr.. jefferson, Mrs. Drew and
Mr.. Goodwin when he played SIR Anthony in
The Rivalsi" Was he altogether n failure
when he essayed FulstoT in "The Merry Wives
Of windsorf' 1t is at least sure that as tho fox
chasing, widow-wooing virginian at the Knick-
| erbocker he and his audiences have had jolly
| good times together during the past week. But
| II It he not conceded with unanimity that he 10
q John Gilbert and o Jefferson unitod in his i'm
| personation OF Sin Anthonv and BOB Acres
blended, there 10 no hesitanoy in tho acceptation
of Annie Irish and Percy Hsswol as variants Of
Lady Gay Spdnker and Lydia Lon0ufsh. They
are as charmingly affected and artificial as any
stickler for the olden methods Of high comedy
could desire They arc pretty women. they are
seemly figures in tho action, and their several
changes Of costume though rather startling in
| tho case of the equestrian suits, remove them
| far away from present fashions into something
strange and picturesque. Tho whole visual
presentation Of the play is well-nigh perfect.
The Crane Brooks companies havo long ex-
and this one IL Particularly suitable TO It's pccul.
lar employment. A nioety Of taste In the prep
srstions 4 Observable IN everything spoken 9r p
taught to behays as their assumed character.
chief dlnienlty eneouDtcred enc is to make those
they S naveiearned and practice the y very methods
| which they have becn echooled to eschem., II
"a WirFinia tonrtship i is performed so nearly
in the style Of old comedy. This result is due,
no doubt, to MI. Presorsy. The he! author. who per.
pertness which enabled him to darn the patches
Of Sheridan, Boucicault and Knowles into Q
that there Ell Is mo NO great Contrast Of texture to
| offend. has brought about harmonious and
| congenial Interpretation.
/ Mary Mannering's Moniea In "The Tree Of
| Knowledge is graceful and sincere delinea-
tion of Rirlhood, free from any trait Of the Sin
genue" in the theatrical sense Of that word,
chiefly through the actresses own skill and In
| telligence Mr. Carton has not done SO much
| to relieve the character of conventionality as
Miss Mannering's acting does. She is de-
/
| muslin girl Of tho drama, and rather an inter-
esting exhibi. Of that familiar type. Miss
Mannering has embodied her without false SEN
timent or ahectation, and in one or two scenes
| Monica might readily be made either one or the
other. Her offer to be friend to Belle, the
heroine Of the play, is q theatrical incident,
which seems natural and girlish only because
Miss Mannering contrives through her facility
| and her personal charm to impart those aspects
her lovers friend, she offers to part with her
| fortune on terms which are at least very un-
businesslike. It might readily be made to ap-
| pear heroically self-sacrtfcing or very silly.
burst OF q simple e-minded girl whose first
Julie opp could once make Il appeaF; that she
| thought of somebody else than herself-not OF
% ne sRs Psyaf
still. Indeed. the anticipated Improvement in
role Is not marked mar she e. has Ssr Tce
matter Of fact, it contains only two regis
| ters-one very deep and the other very high.
Miss opp is handsome and her personality Is
butterfly or not, she win be q stage figure
Morris gets &c more mo . out Of his conFentionai or role
| than any Of the other actors, 80 far as the ap-
Of the after sS o
epe IN LIT. ana PoSsu aavcs the snectst"rs un
unDea "a anI nyectix. ss the sitnation is thev
reonona tn T. vsry sIieStlv' Rnt for The dsoon
rerte5 and nd sderiv suiior thers are eiwavs an
nianse and sVmpatby. Mrs. Whifien as The dis.
| fressed motSer n rSle which she fills with ma
tLessoa t a V5 tud aoo ets ths trihmts ~ t.ers
| Sno ,ha 1 anarant r. iss rore snon1h tha. two
in oh snc haracters sbnrI so more an endience
| Gna ~ tbs,n "a an oId bacbsior and tbe other n
| wn9ber hui so far az the sympatbies Are ex.
o.od5 nolaod hw .nnna ST M ,beY 90 " rprnIv to tbsse
tyvn nerscnsIas ny 'A'' s' "
wv p''s'"s'''
7 Austin Fvnes who has become the general
- =. 49,. p...,as $780, ,r.. a. e. u.
manager ] oa aao and niot" ~ sSant M
n,ovs ,nto yaudeville. and so to render Il fea.
sibis for artists to take such employment without
loss of professional standing. Neither Keith nor
Proctor now has to go in quest of dramatic
| talent. 1t comes TO them In plenty
In addition to scenes from Measure for Meas
ure" with Modjeska, and an act of "Cumber-
land 81. next Inursaays matinee LOT the