The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-01
THREE NEW NATIVE PLAYS.
WILLIAM n. CRIME AND FANNY
"a NEWPORT IN TWO OF THEM.

sketch, "a Pass Tor Two," with the Coutters
nav comedy in the manner OF old comedy
vas A refreshing novelty at tho Knickerbocker
Theatre last night. 1t was tho work of Eugene
". Presbrey, who had written It for William
n Crane, and tho especial value which IL
developcd was n role in which that comedian
vas very entertaining without recourse to any
unseemly pranks OF levity. Mr.. Crane has ar
rived at years Of artistic discretion. He shares
with Joseph Jefferson the distinction OF being
comic on the stage without any sacrifice Of dig
n,tv. But he has to work the harder OF the
two. because Mr.. Jefferson's audiences will let
him 60 on indefinitely with old plays, while his
expect q new one every season. Moreover,
Mr.. Crane 10 10 American in manner
and preference that he cannot, or at
least will not, take material from a foreign
source. Happily he has prospered through his
dependence upon native authors, and in his turn
has given much support to them. This latest OF
his productions. "a Virginia Courtship." won
the unstinted approval of It's first New York
audience, and seems sure to maintain him on a
high level of dramatic rospectability. He i'm
personates in Mr.. Prosbrey's play an irascible
vet warm-hearted Major in the carly days Of
This century, when the Old dominion was
English enough to possess q landed gentry,
with fox.huntine for q pastime and punctilious
manners for q mark OF social supremacy. This
man has q love affair Of his sons and another of
his own to engross him. and they are respect
lively with the daughter Of q neighboring widow
and the fair widow herself. An element of vii
lainy provides q sinister interest, but most Of
the matter is amiable. and the main outcome is
entirely o wholesome diversion.
Is an author a plagiarist IL he confesses freely
that he has taken from old comedies the ideas
for q new onei "In evolving the scenes and
incidents around which "A Virginia Court
ship Is built says Mr.. Presbrey in the play
bill, IT have humbly tried to follow models
and In some respects have copied personages
which are familiar" He means by this that
he has made transfers d from o aThe hivsiS,"
The character which Mr.. Crane assumes is
o composite of Sir anthony ABSOLUTE and
are repetitions of Lydia LdnOuish and Lady
Cav Spdnker, and the story contains passages
Boucicauit. The amalgamation is Ingenious.
facilc. and effectual. The borrowed things are
blended thoroughly, With = than, much M larger d6Sn ra%9nnt
treatment Of his curiously constructed role. He
S SSFf Is e Ss nfiEI{; H Zoo N 1c reS be se'f Is li Teef M.
s sspest. HIS IL 'p p%ertpo 9nsi e q as H we'll as III that aatne Of
his excellent company. is not alone careful
and capable, but also Of e kind to command
Annie irish plays the fox.hunting widow; Percy
Haswell, the gentle dRuRhter; Walter Hale, the
Pepes B 5Goek; a = Negro o9' William 1ne B sassaa a bland HnSdi
ncighbor: George F. Devere, an overseer. and
The mounting Is tasteful and liberal in
SNOWY scenery and frequent changes of
Eomen's pictSresGnS costumes ,Gi,S Of the period.
craft and literary skill, the most serviceable
comedy that Mr.. Crane has had since THE SEN
ator." and Mr.. Crane has put 1t winningly before
the public.
Eonn- no-n,nork Drodrood l,at pfrbt a. khn
Fifth Avenue Theatre, in somewhat amended
form. the drama written for her by Fanny A.
Mathews and based on certain events in the
life Of Joan dare. The author makes no pre-
tence to any historical accuracy in the relations
Of the characters in the play, and ono of them
10 wholly fictitious, while the others boar but q
remote resemblance to any Wow Of them that
has been taught from what exists
on tho subject. Her particular intent. as tho
programme declares. is to represent the maid of
Orleans as q thoroughly human creature and to
accentuate the physical and natural side of
her character rather than the deeply spiritual
or religious. A Joan Of Arc who is not guided
wholly by her spiritual nature is rather a diff
cult problem to deal with. Tho heroine
of Mrs. Mathews's play hears her
voices and sees her visions before,
leaving her peasant home. she sets out TO deliver
France. But she is in love with one Of the
French knights associated with her. and. in one
soliloquy, emphasizes her womanhood and her
desire for the ordinary, sympathy and affection
of that estate. This phase of the character is
The play which Mrs. Mathews calls Joan lis
in five acts. They show the heroine at her home
under the influence Of the voices that impel her
70 her destiny; at the head of the French troops
she is led to the e' pyre ~ The Phns' pic;torini aspects na g Of
ed, and the views were without exception sub
Rtantialv and affRaPfiVnIv nrnGanfaH Tho
details Of costume were lavishly and gen.
orally with good taste supplied for every
IN the management of details. but as a whole
there was no cause for complaint so far as the
concerned. Miss Davenport's attire as Joun
vas indeed u~nhecoming in nearly every scene.
But 1t was possibly appropriate. and IL may have
would have answered both requirements.
The play with all its scenery and costumes is
more for the actors than supply them with the
opportunities for prolonged defamation. The
siiyi bold as We'll IT, and yadn there egt' i: s see@insi Hef no end
%els sSs lines ncD DaiSh M are dsiIea Spon and I'd
s sPssE. ri Mr.. more %eDo%p% TGlRfa1 %a.. arranged IN psr,ic to
lar, given over to lengthy speeches which
spectators badly. In the whole five acts OF the
play there is scarcely a moment that is touched
s si'a shs d% pisnnss S GUILTY. ai, E a slfe whi sha are ne
, VT 1T them with The slishtest touch Of inter.
SrS% her mother. comes nearer this reali:
ne language is appropriate, and the material
Rlcsuresa9sness may; combined with Miss
measure Of success. But It is as undramntio
Ss a catechism and more monotonous. Miss
DaVenports voice Is scarcely equal to
the strain which her strenuous role puts
u TO-. But. she acts with earnestness
and the facility Of experience. Mr..
Mcdowell was wholly conventional and Mr..
Jewett moderated his outbreaks. There was
e9me admirably clear and graphic acting by
Mrs. w. u. Jones. In other respects the per
tormanee was generally adequate.
re" dramatic players have passed into vaude-
viiie employment 80 happily as did Fraser Coul-
Ter and Grace Thorne-Coulter at Keith's yester-
aay. But they should not take too much credit
10 themselves for succeeding where equally
proficient actors have failed. for the great
AID to their success wal tho excellence of the
snort play that engaged them. 1t was by E. Z.
hidder. showing somewhat conventional mis-
behavior nv a bnahanl hut tharau1hlv |