The times., 1899-09-19

-eN~1 CNbOS, tue HuO LOOK cOlSUIlO
uen and the London Journal" without
dying OF either; the Maggid Moses, who
was born on page lac, only to be ruth
less4y slaughtered on page l65 or Raphael
Leon, who afterward spent all his breath
in trying TO make 1.-The Flag of Judah"
1utter He is forced to imagine scenes
such as those between Levi Jacobs and
Esther Ansell; between Hamburg and
Strelitski; between Mr. and Mrs Hyams.
All of these have nothing to do with the
love of Hannah Jacobs and should have
been, as they are, omitted. But why the
evident partiality should be shown be-
tween them and equally useless bits that
have been included in the structure is
ineXplicable.
The curtain in rising on Children OF
the Ghetto rises on a room in Miliy'5
Whitechapei home. Sam Levine, Ephriam
Phillips, and Michael Brnbaum are seen
playing cards with their hostess, and Mel
chitsedek Pinchas is brought 10 the quar-
tette in search of those willing to purchase
his poems and autographs. Malka enters.
too, looking much as though she had Just
stepped from an old daguerreotype-th
full realization OF the austere chatterer of
the book Esther Ansell and she quarrel
as Mr.. Zangwill had them do occasionally,
and Hannah Jacobs announces herself as
a proxied '.Schnorrer in search OF contfl-
buttons for an institution known to ali OF
the party At this Sam Levine takes out
the ring with which he lad intended to find
favor in the eyes of Leah, his betrothed,
and, as he has done once before with the
welded Milly. puts it on the finger of the
pretty solicitor. accompanying his action
with the words of the Jewish marriage
ceremony. Everyone laughs at the joke,
there being present no Daniel Hyams TO de-
clare the mock affair legal, until Pinchas.
who has come from the fertile kitchen OF
the house, gives his opinion that Levine
has become the husband OF "Reb" She
muel,s pronounced Schmule'sl daughter.
CONSERVATION results, and all concerned
are either angry or miserable until the poet
declares that divorce may undo what has
been done, and, laughingly promised the
hand of the bride as a reward, goes In
search of the Rabbi, who arrives shortly
after with the lemon selling Moses Ansell.
A long series of formalities is gone through
with, and happiness having been restored,
the curtain falls. The act has not been
absorbing, but the novelty of the rites OBJ
served has loaned it interest and kept it
from being dull. Last nights audience was
still sure that the play would succeed
This surety was all but forgotten in the
scene following-one in the Peoples Club
on the evening of the Purim ball. The
carly portion of the act is given over to
the introduction of Sugarman, the "Shad-
chan" Shosshi Shemdrik, Mrs. Belcoviteh,
Becky, and other characters of no interest
to' spectators who are trying to follow the
thread of the plot. A number Of dialogues
equally superfluous ensue, and, for twenty
minutes, everyone seems to be intent on
going away and coming back again as soon
after as possible. Nothing notable occurs
until Pinchas presses his drunken atten-
ks L, ~.
apartment by David Brandon who has en-
tered in true hero style. Seated immovably
on a settee at the centre of the stage,
Brandon and Hannah Jacobs indulge in a
long conversation that is smart if not
witty. AS played by Blanche Bates, the
girl might either be merely flirting or art
lessly showing her suddenly conceived feel
ing for "the young man from the Cape"
but the bit is the first sign of heartiness
the piece has had and one is correspond
ingly grateful. The second section of
Children of the Ghetto" however, is al
most stupid, and the house was glad when
it was over.
The primal half of the third act moves
along in the same prosaic fashion s.Reb''
Shemuel Hannah, and Mrs. Jacobs are seen
at home, having just finished their meal
Hannah reads from religious book Mrs.
Jt-cODS goes ABOUT Win a Qe2Qacle. Inc
Rabbi, like an interlocutor at a minstrel
performance, sits on a chair and answers
uninteresting questions put by various call
ers. A very humorous bit of business is
interpolated by Pinchas, who is about to
light his cigarette when reminded that it
is the 'Shabbos," and who then drops the
weed, only to return for it later, but the
fact that Jew may not have anything
10 do with fire on the Sabbath has not
been sufficiently dwelt upon, and so both
this touch and that contributed by ''Shik-
sab" who comes in to poke the CRATE oc-
casionally, are lost. At last, Hannah, hav-
ing been asked by her father for her opinion
of Pinchas, tells of her love for David
Brandon, and, in a touching little con-
versation, is given permission to wed. Es-
ther Ansell and Hannah have a short scene
together, and then comes the prize situa-
tion of the piece. Brandon, returned from
Germany, calls and meets 'Reb" Shemuel
In the course of mutual courtesias the ia
natical Rabbi learns that the man his child
worships is a Cohen" descended from the
priests of the temple, and, therefore. for
| biddan TO marry a divorced woman. The
father sticks TO the letter of the law and
forbids the match. Hannah, suffering ter
ribiy, says not much but refuses TO go
against the wishes of her parent Brandon
also suffering, speaks brutally to the "Reb. =
Then the lovers part. Brandon goes back
to the English soil beyond the door. and the
commonplace common sense of English Gus
toms. Hannah starts upstairs and falls to
the ground. The still-unexplained but now
| discordant ''Shiksah" extinguishes the can
dies. and the act is over The climax is
strong. If it does not come too late it will
save the play.
rba ~
exposition of the market at Petticoat Lane
and includes a strike that has no place
in the proceedings. But its atmosphere
of peace and quiet is delightful In the
| middle OF the act, Hannah sees Brandon
and promises to run away with him. Then
! her resolution fails her and she begs for
! time. He agrees to wait. "Reb'' Shemuel
reaches home, and, with his wife and
daughter, goes into the house. The un-
fortunate, whose life is being blighted BY
joke and a bigot returns. In the quiet
street he hears the voice of the Rabbi
! from the front room. The woman fol
whom he is willing to give up everything
who has sworn to give up everything fol
! him, does not come. He casts a stone al
| the window. Some Christian rough ,
says Mrs. Jacobs. "Close the shutters
Hannab's face is seen at the window and
Brandon steps forward. Hannah, you arr
| breaking my heart" Mine is broken al.
ready" replies Hannah, and disappears
1.-The young man from the Cape" bent like
an old one, staggers across the road anG
| falls at the curb And from within "Reb'
Shemuel is heard intoning Pour out thy
wrath on the heather who acknowledge
| thee not and on the kingdoms that invoke
net thy name" 1t is the end.
This is the story of Children of the
Ghetto" and these its defects. The dia.
| logue is, as has been hinted, smart, bu