The times., 1899-01-17
AT THE THEATRES.
Lafnyette-"The Rev. Griffith Daven-
port"


The curtain at the Lafayette rose short
| ly before o'clock last night and in conse-
quence comparatively few people heard the
| first words spoken in James A. Herne's
new play. The Rev. Griffith Davenport.
| After the late Corners had begun to arrive
| the prospect of missing large sections OF
the piece not only deepened with them
selves but spread to those who had been
seated in time. II anyone in the theatre
! caught much that was said on the stage
during the first fifteen minutes of action
| these ultra-fashionables were not to blame
for the circumstance.
Manager Painters handsome house has
seen four first productions this season, and
three of them-"Hotel Topsy Turvy,"
| ''Zaza. and '-0n and Oh''-have proved
| triumphs. The fourth is Mr.. Hernes ar
! rangement of Helen Gardeners Unofficial
| Patriot and is called THE Rev. Griffith
I Davenport" Whatever il may turn out to
be after weeks of pruning and planning,
the presentation is tcertainly not success
as il now stands. The clever author Of
Shore Acres" seems at last to have over
/ reached himself. and what is undoubtedly
| his most pretentious Offering threatens TO
| be also his least effective.
Inc man VINO Dardits the OF slavery
! in these days is ureading on dangerous
ground. The applause that followed the
! utterance of sectional sentiments last even
! ing-sentiments favoripg the citizens Of
one part of the country or another-estab-
/ lished the fact that feeling between the
| North and South is not yet dead, even
while the moderation in this enthusiasm
/ told clearly that the intensity of opinion
| that made Uncle Toms Cabin a fortune
/ laS p.aS n
I true, the playwright who touches upon the
| subject of the black mans rights and
! wrongs has at once to be guarded in his
! prejudices and to realize that he cannot
| count on the riotous natures of either side
TO prepare for him profitable constit-
| uency. Accordingly, such a work just at
| present must become only sociological
and psychological study. And dozens of
costly experiments have assured the ven-
| turer that American amusement lovers
| will not visit the theatre for the purpose
| of being lectured.
Mr. Herne's one way out of trouble was
in totally ignoring the argumentative side
of his question. There was the probability
( that this student of human nature would
/ take up only the domestic end of the great
struggle that so tried the souls of men and
! that he would bring out of that combat
some simple heart story that would call
laughter TO the lips or tears TO the eyes in
quick alienation. But he has not done
| this and last night the consequence looked
| TO be a failure. There were moments Of
| interest in his work and times during the
| play when some people in the house cried
| but 1t was plain. to see that neither the
care nor the attention of the audience was
| claimed during the greater part of the
| time. THE Rev. Griffith Davenport" lacks
| the simple beauty of detail shown in
| Shore Acres"-it lacks the strength and
realism of 'Pudd'n wilson which it
resembles-it takes up only a discussion
that is visionary even to the fictitious
! character with whom II should weigh most
/ heavily and which has ceased to be part
I and parcel of the lives of men.
And all the errors of the presenta ion
/ are not errors of judgment like this. Mr..
| Herne's Offering does not appear tC De so
much dramatiZation as 1t is an adapta-
/ tion. The novel has been taken SO lit
orally that often whole pages of il are
repeated verbatim-a proceeding that
might please the reader. but that hardly
adds quickness or strength to a play. The
author seems 10 have been anxious to get
into his effort every scene and episode and
/ incident that has been used by the woman
from whose story he took his piece. AC-
/ coTdingly he has crowded his matter to-
gether in manner that permits of Iior-
NAL sequence Of events but hardly OF that
quiet reserve that proved SO much in
| Shore Acres" The color and atmos-
phere of the times are maintained-oGe
feels keenly that the decade portrayed is
| one that is desperate 10 all concerned and
desperate beyond fear of the sufferers be-
ing wounded or killed, but there is i
straining for effect and fidelity 10 arti-
fetal rather than natural assumptions that
is veXing.
Mr.. Herne also seems anxious to show
i
al once. He tells his story with com
pany of hundred people when fifteen
might do as well. Whenever il is pos
sible he drags his supernumeraries to the
stage, just as a comic opera star brings
on his chorus background for his ey-
cry love scene or song. Mr.. Herne's de-
sire to create another ''Cyrano de Ber-
gerac' has evidently run away with his
better faculties.
But all that is TO be said OF The Rev.
Griffith Davenport is not in the way OF
condemnation. II the scene between the
1 preacher and his wife in the rourth act
drags, and If the author has done unwisely
TO hang an incident of the nrst solely upon
TWO children, he has also created much
excellent material. There are some strong
dramatic points in the effort and one oI
: two things that thrill the spectator. Tn.
suicide OF a slave in the second act ant
I the baffiing OF modern Simon Legree ha.
great effect on the house, while Daven.
ports defiance of those who threaten hin
in the third. the parting of husband aut
!, wife in the fourth and the capture o
the father by his son in the fifth act al
s prove powerful Which brings one to tn,
= story-if one has not already perused H.
= Mr.. Herne begins his drama long afte
c Miss Gardener begins her book. Griifitl
4 Davenport has become a Methodist cir
= cult preacher has met and marie
Katherine lie Roy. has raised family O
two fine boys and has become seriously en-
Il tangled in the slavery question when IN
S curtain lifts. The minister is bit vision
10 ary In his ideas about freeing his ser
/ wants and something OF a fanatic in hi
o determination to accomplish this purpos
even at the cost of the happiness of a
q concerned. In order to contrast strongl
II without being arbitrary the author make
: the eldest son lean with his mother to
B v ard retained the blacks. who have bee
faithful so long, while the younger on
: Is even more hot-headed than his fathe
in his anxiety to give these people free
dom. An agreement is reached betwee
husband and wife whereby the negToe
are presented with their manuInlssion pa
( peTs and made to take them-in mo:
i cases against their wills. This act heat
,, the temper of the neighbOrs to such
4 point that when the election OF Abb ahal
a. Lincoln seems possible a delegation
:. them, headed by a man who has tarr
u fed one OF his slaves into committiu
= suicide earlier in the play comes TO y
homestead and orders the Davenports
&c leave. The preacher refuses, and wit
u his friends is abs@t TO offer resis;anC