The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-10-09
AT THE THEATERs.
METRoPoLITAN.

There are hundred good laughs in
"Matrmony,' Arthur James Peglers
new comedy. which received its first
presentation on any stage at the Metro
| politan last evening, The dialogue Is
bright original ana thoroughly modern
the plot Wel-connected series OF highly
ludicrous complications, involving the
love affairs of three couples and possibly
four. and the action is rapid ana the
staging excellent With these merits
"Matrimony'- has much to commend 1t
and to win charity for its faults.
It's second act is one of the funniest
scenes In pure comedy way that mas
been given to the theater-going pubic IN
long time; the third act is amusing,
but the situations are more strained ana
the, action less sustained, and the promise
of the second act is not fulfilled. Where
Thirty Minutes of Matrimony" was en-
tirely too short, the three-act comedy IS
| two minutes too long. The dramatic
climax of the play is the discontinue OF
Count Taritoff. the bigamist and all-rouhd
! fmpostor With his exposure every one
| in the audience can see that the thing is
Strengthened out, whether they stay or
| not. Reynard Westbrook very empiri-
| cal deductions fronG very supernclal
study OF matrimony would not be serious
| ly missed by more less romantic
world which has just Toasted itself with
| the love affairs Of three sorely tried but
| eYer-loying couplesy and to strip the
! glamor off with tiIe ipse dfXit of a. cyn1-
| cal bystander leaves just little bad
! taste in the mouth
| Second of the faults, and akin IN It's
| effect to the first mentioned, is that Jack
| Talboys, the hero of the second act and
| the best comedy part in the play last
| night at least, is lost entirely to the au-
| dience thereafter until just before the
| curtain falls, having in the meantime to
| regain the sadly shattered confidence of
| a loving girl and a stern and suspicious
| mother-the girl's-in order to bring them
| with him to share the blessing of his own
| parent As q matter of fact, any doubt
| there might have been about Jack being
able to get the blessing of the major was
removed after the opera glass incident of
the second aaet, when Jack. in his own
| apartment Views his stern but loving
papna entwined in the arms Of a gay
Queen of the footlIghts Popular in
terest in Jacks affair from that on OBJ
tains to his hope of restoration to favor
IN the eyes Of Isabel and her ma. The
solution of his tangle would be interest
before however,. and not after the u11s
tangling of the troubles & The iiggufes in
the romance on WHICH the play is based.
So the fault in the third act Is of
omission rather than commission. 1t is
not that it is not funny. but that it is
! not as funny as the second
There is plenty of good material in
Matrimony," and with the third act re-
vised it Should be a splendid success.
Crossing the Alps was a basket picnic
compared with this" Clara's terse char
acterization of the troubles that beset
her, even in the first act, is BIT Of c6ff-
densat1on that speaks the ciean-cut style
of the play, but What pull it is to
be old and wealthy Jacks more world
~ observation, was more popular with
the house.
The stage setting was admirable Es-
pecially elaborate Vas the second set,
showing Jack FTalboys' den" This
breezy Boston broker, somewhat athlet-
ic liz his proclivities, was splendidly en-
shrined.
In this role Benjamin Howard was ex-
cellent, which but laccantuated the dis
appointment at his premature dropping
cut Of the complications
Edgar Baume's George Tremayne was
too devoid of action to be either hero or
HrSt-clasS lover. <a1E +t:I.s
And, right here. let the question be
asked, what claim has George Tremayne
to the sympathy Of his audience save
that he is the sweetheart of clever
woman, and that he is wrecked by
train? Is there place in the piece
where he manifests any claim either to
Clara's affection or anything else? He
is welded to the girl Who loves him--by
whose wit? Hers. She has to chase him
from half acress.a continent. She H. in
trouble What does he do to find her?
Hires a hanson and buys railroad
ticket and gets wrecked. This may seem
severe criticism Yet here is the
heroine bearing all the difficult
ties Of their romantic attachment, and
Tremayne net Even helping by entangling
the incideplal Complications that beset
her brother, his friend. Clara Talboys
desG cves better The audience feels it,
aga felt it last night.
MIS- Chapman, as. Clara, carried the
hG.den Of the dramatic requirements of
the piece, and we'll. Clara is an i.de-
pendent, Intelligent, spirited girl, who
dares to take heroic measures to pre-
vent the breaking up of her love affair,
and disturb the plan Of her fathey to
marry her to millionaire, who i, Sd.
Grayce SCOTS F4Qrtepse, me FRENCH
maid, is of valuable assistance in the
! comedy, and Grace Franklin Lynch was
| entirely acceptable as Tottie Teeters, the
| otker wife Of the industrious, but un-
| principled Count Tartoff.
| George Bloonquists Taritoff was a
| good study of not very virile role, but
one yery essential to the entanglements
| Of the drama.
John w. Buttons Maj. TaIboys was a
/ meritorio1s bit of character work, and
/ Frank McVicars Thomas. Tremaynes
| English servant, was well done. --.z@
Emmett Slackelfords Jim, the sporty
individual who has been engaged as
Z, Jacks man. was fine bit of charac-
ter work. The makeup of the Bowery
boy was unmistdkabe, and the charac-
terization a line exer1plification Of Mr.
| Shackelford's versa tility.
Mr.. Neill appeared as Reynard West
| brook, the newspaper reporter, whose
| visit to Clara under a misrepresentation.
| apparently. as to who she is. affords
| Der the opportunity to thwart her irata
| fathers desire of taking her home or to
| convent until her real lover can arrive
This artifice was original with Mr.. Peg
Ter In Thirty Minutes of Matrimony,
and affords happy solution of the diff
| Guilty
GRAND
Robert Mantell's new play a romantic
drama in five acts, The Dagger and the
| Cross, made a tremendous hit in is
| first presentation IN st. Paul before a
| crowded house at the G.and last even
| ing. Having in itself every element OF
| a successful drama OF the most in ensa
type, it was presented by an adequate
cast, headed by, Mr.. Mantell, whose pre-
nyn ", De-