The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-05
THINGS IN THE NEW PLAYS.
CHARAoTERIzaTIoN BIZ mn. IRVING,
MR.. CRANE AND MISS IRWIN.

and Fictien in "RObespierre GA Father
Of Humor and Sentiment In "a Rich
Mans SOMA wife slow to Jsalousy In
"slster Mary''-Points in Other Pieces.
The MaAimillen Robospierro now on our stage
WAS made TO order by Vctorien Sardou for
Sir Henry Irving He is taken out Of history
and conveyed into fiction. About half Of him
f. truthful tho other moiety Is hctional, and all
Is adroitly adapted 10 the impersonating actor.
The bcst that Sir Henry did in OLIVIA" "Thc
Bells and Louis XL" he Is doing over again
in "Robesperre" The gentle domesticiy OF
p,,mroo, the superstitious cowardice Of Mat.
fh.dS and the suspicious apprehension Of Louis
Are repeated In this RobeSpierre. As the actor
~ pre- eminent in the three characters is no won.
ser that he is greatly successful in the fourth.
But IT is an equally remarkable achievement
nv Sardou, tina, Of imparting 10 the Man Of Ter.
10, those traits Of amiability which, II he possessed
The n,es, trace OF them, were not recorded along
with his bloodthrsty ferocity. BY making
him rcmorseful lover Of the woman he has
u-,rred, and a desperate defender Of his illegit.
maj, son against the guillotine. he Is sufficiently
bumanised to serve the dramatic purpose In view.
I, This were not Sc. all the ability Of Mr.. Irving
az an actor and all his stagccraf as a producer.
would no, recommend the Performance to popu-
,,ty II is not the splendor Of the Fe,e TO the
Suprcme BEING, with It's display Of RobeSpferre
At the height Of his rise in power, nor the tntetul
sessions Of the Convention with It's turbulent illus
,t,,on o, his downfall and death. which gets the
b,nttlest applause at the Knickerbockcr These
historical representations are fine in pictorial art.
and they are appreciated fully though they cause
NO vidc-eyed wonder as our American managers
are doing such things quite as well OF late, There
are current examples for comparison The TIL.
bunsl scene In The Only Way" Is almost as good
as the corresponding one in 'Robespierrc." while
the soldiers and the mob in barbara Freitchle'
make better showing than the same factors
do in the street episode " tho Irving Sardou play
and 20 does the excited crowd OF Jews in the last
sc, II Children Of the Ghetto" where the manage
men, ot s,ageiu of people Is mastery In general
and in detail The weird prison scene. wherein
Mr. Irving depicts the horror and dsmay Of Robes
ri,rr, In the presence Of menacng ghosts, the
imaginary appariuons OF his guouned victims,
nues the audience and IL a valuable addition OF
the playwright to history for a thea,rc purpose.
But even tina, does not get the applause that Is
given 10 the interview between the father and his
accidentally Identified son. or 10 the anxious
watch by him and the mother W zee II the boy IL in
one Of the passing carts on the way 10 the guillo-
tine These two scenes. the invention of the
author and with no warrant in history, reach the
hearts Of the behUlders and more than all that is
authentic In the piece. enable Mr.. Irving 10 make
RO5eSprrrS an uniorgct,able parsonage
William H. Crane has introduced another Of
his serio-comic fathers in a Rich Mans Son"
and this one is quite as enjoyable as any in the
seres--a hearty wholesoulcd. humorous and
sensible old fellow, whom mos, Of us take to- and
nobody can dislike. After one legged month as
Peer SiuyreSdnt this actor Is standing s;urdily
on both fec, again, and in an attitude which his
public likes TO sec him in AS TO the play which
Michael Morton has made over from the German,
Il is more good than bad in AN artistic sense. and
as much can be said Of few comedies with tarcical
tendencies. Moreover. its goodness is positive
and It's badness negative Its practical value
lies in the fact tina, ii provides happy role for Mr..
Crane As the self made and unpublished man Of
wealth, whose grammar is defective, but whose
meanings are all right. he is always capital His
motive for pretending TO become impoverished is
sound II his action is not. He wishes to get the
socialism out Of his sons head lie undertakes
10 teach the foolish fellow that any man has a
right TO be rich. and that the possession Of an
honest fortune Is nothing TO be ashamed Of So
this is a problem play in away. But It's lesson is
loosely enforced on the audiences, u not on the
mimic characters who ore subjected TO the dis
comforts Of sham poverty. during one OF the acts
The illustrations OF luxurious life in a Madison
Square mansion, and OF the reverse in Temp,
kins Square tenement. are graphic and iovial
Ono Of .he incidents in a Rich Mans Son" car.
ries an excuse. " not Justification for those writ
ers Of fnrces who use old ideas Two OF the minor
characters are big harsh wife and a small, mild
husband They are the Same embodimen,s Of
the henpecker and the henpecked that We have
had so many OIL Through two OF the acts she IL
oppressive and he submissive in the familiar
manner She does not let him say that his soul
Is bis own, or anything else She Is voluble and
he is silent But at length he tames the shrew so
suddenly and completely that the audience roars
AIT As though nothing oil the kind had ever hap
pened In play before.
Inc socabill," between May Irwin and her
audience Is one OF the causes OF her popularity.
In 'Courted into Court which she played few
SEASONS ago there was supper scene in which
we spectator felt that he was Just having a roll
licking time with party OF old friends, II was
mere maj Hot Time In the Old Town Tonight"
now one OF our country's wnrsongs. was sung
ior The hrst time In Sister Mary" the same
eject oil social evening with friends Is gained.
only In this case II Is card party. The players
~ AZ small tables. with Miss Irwin at the most
oonspcuous one Plot is dropped, and one feels