The San Francisco call., 1899-10-15

a play cannot be exhilarating, spark
ling, intensely interesting, thor
oughly laughable and comical, and
/ Il financial success withal, and yet
| possess complete freedom from vulgarity.
An impression prevails among many man
| ayers that unless a play have certain i'm
| proprfeties either actually enacted or
subtly suggested it will fail to draw large
audiences. But they make a mistake
! Humor-that glorious gift of the gods
| can be revealed in many harmless ways
which are nevertheless pleasing and pop
.ular. There is no necessity to dig into
| the mud of the streets for this sparkling
! jewel of humor. "Stage filth" is far too
| abundant 1.-ere are indeed many peo-
pie with unclean minds who like 1t, but
| the number is small. Others, indeed,
| patroniZe certain Objectionable plays but
it is because these plays have something
| TO recommend them besides their vulgari-
| ties. Clever acting, the fame of certain
actors, the prestige of certain theaters,
! gorgeous scenery, attractive music-all
these cause the large audiences.
Many of these adaptations from the
French Wen are produced every sea-
son are not only coarse but silly. Their
duI,ness would insure their failure were
1t not for the heroic efforts of the actors
who present them One feels a thrill Of
sympathy for actors like w. j. Ferguson,
gene Jephson, Josephine Hall, Mrs.
Rankin-actors with fine talents who
| consent to appear in farceS such as The
| Turtle" or Mile. Fiji" or THE Girl
| From Maxirns." I am glad that William
Winter has the bravery to taboo this last
| farce which is a disgrace to our stage,
! He calls it "a screed as might have been
written by a stableboy for the amuse-
ment Of a bootblack" He speaks of the
| vacuous audience which witnessed and
applauded the silly incidents and frivol-
Gus chatter of this latest abominaton
from Paris
With what relief and refreshment of
mind one turns from these abominable
travesties of sentiment and dignity to a
farce like "A Little Ray of Sunshine"
| Here Is humor, here are comical stua-
tions, ludicrous scenes. abundant laugh
ter, and the large audiences which
greeted The play at Wailack's encouraged
the true lover and supporter of refined
drama In this farce there is not a line,
a situation, a gesture, a suggestion which
| could offend the most critical Morel
The dialogue and situations have not the
negative quality of freedom from evil,
but the positive merit of being irradiated
with sparkling humor genuine, piquant
comedy. This farce differs from the or
binary kind in that 1t is not made up of
| clever bits loosely strung together; but
(.
j - Little Ray of Sunshine furnishes a
| spirited reproof to those people who in
sist that freedom from risky scenes and
vulgar innuendo results in insipidity and
goody-goody trash. A farcical comedy
like this does much to purify the stage
from the taint of grossness and cause re-
fined and healthful pleasure. That 1t
will have success on it's tour through
different parts Of the United States and
Canada is matter of certainty.
"a Little Ray of Sunshine is written
by two English authors, and is presented
by an English company. This company
is excelent-not particularly brilliant
but it does uniformly good work. Will
liam Elton is no stranger here. for he
won distinction years ago. He is
natural comedian of irresistible drollery,
with a sure hold upon pathos, as well as
humor. He takes the part Of an eccentric
nobleman who has been absent from
/ England for number Of years grown
rich and has returned to his home to find
that his relatives do not know him and
that some Of them are in pecuniary dis
tress. Many amusing complications arise
because he is taken for several different
persons IN turn. He conceals his identity
and with boyish JUNCTION and spirit he in
wolves his friends in great perplexity
finds out scme very important things and
brings happiness and Joy to all in the
end. The last act has few of the drol-
leries and laughable absurdties Of the
other acts, but Mr.. Elton, in his narra-
tive at the end, shows in beautiful and
tender way the close union which exists
between humor and pathos. A tear
tremhles on the eyelid Of every lest. saws
the Spanish proverb. Mr. Elton's tests
have large eyeids and well-rounded
tears
The honors Of the representation Of ga
Little Ray Of Sunshine" rest Of course
takes the part of Old Saundes the butler
is especially to be commended for his
naturalness. Wallace Erskine as the
young squire. and Grace Dudley. who Is
the squires sister. do vivacious, skiI1fu1
work. In the presentation Of a play like
this there is no DEGRADATION of the actors
or of the high calling they profess. The
healthfulness of it all is refreshing to
them as we'll as to the public to whose
amusement they minister.
Miss Hobbs is a refined as we'll as
clever and interesting comedy An ac-
complished dramatic critic of the New
York Sun said the other day: "The plav
is charming from the first line to the last
and deserves more success than 1t will
probably attain" The public at present
Is so taken up with unclean farces utterly
devoid of humor in most cases that it
will overlook a piece which is pure and
clever in It's rush after the so-termed
! Se0SdIlOndl. 1 MS Is unjust TO the New
York public, and the public Is daily fur
nishing a refutation of the assertion
Every night the cozy, homelike Lyceum
is filed by enthusiastic, appreciative audi
ences The success OF Miss Hobbs"
seems assured and the play will be seen
at the Lyceum for some time. The play s
the thing, but the acting Is also the
thing. And much of this success must
be attributed to Miss Russell and her able
company. Bad acting has killed many a
good play and good acting has carried
many a bad play. Given a good play and
good acting together and the combina-
ton is an artistic delight. The play at
the Lyceum has been written by Jerome
K Jerome and in his best style. The
dialogue is witty and the story ingenious.
Miss Hobbs is q new woman full Of ridic-
ulous theories IN regard to marriage. She
has an exaggerated idea of mans bad
ness and an exalted idea of woman s
goodness But instead of being old and
plain with cork-screw curls and wrinkles,
an angular figure, cracked voice and
squirting eyes, she is young and fair,
graceful and gentle, endowed with social
resources has sweet. low voice, and
tender gracious manners. When one says
that Annie l-ussel IS Miss Hobbs, then all
i-