The times., 1899-02-12


The Turtle are at all clever-neither
exists in any pronounced form. Some OF
the business is diyerting and several OF
the lines are bright, though most are
not. Altogether the only redeeming trait
in the play is its brevity and its only rea-
son for existence is filth. Pity that Ameri-
can audiences will support such an offer
ingi
1t was not until one had gone from the
Columbia to the Lafayette or the Nation
al that he realized how feyerish and un-
pleasant The Turtle was and how charm
ing were THE Little Minister and The
Last Chapter" George II. Broadhursts
latest effort, in particular. was doubly en-
joyable in contrast with the cOnfessediy
disgraceful product exhibited at Managers
Luckett &c Dwyer's place of amusement
The change from one to the other made a
spectator feel as though he had just step
ped from the steam room of Turkish
bath establishment into the open air. II
was the difference between the deadly red
and the oyerpowering odor of q big hot
house rose and the delicate beauty of
yiolet-the difference between the French
and American schools.
This is a day and age when that pose
which men call cynicism is so much in
fashion and has been so well cultivated
that IL seems extraordinary for conyen-
tional. pretty little love story, such as is
embodied in THE Last Chapter" to hold
ones attention and secure his sympathies.
We're theatregoers the practical persons
they claim to be, nothing would prove cas-
ier than tearing Mr.. Broadhurst's work to
pieces and making It appear ridiculous and
puerile. And yet no one who went to the
Lafayette seemed to have any inclination
of that Sort. After an ocean of such
worrisome dramas as THE Conquerors
and THE Tree of Neutrality-suspicious. such
lighter farces as The Telephone Girl" and
The Turtle"-it was a real pleasure TO
see piece in which everyone lived and
loved in the best and simplest way, and in
which the trifing sins committed were
treated with kindness and charity. The
pure nature of the comedy stole into ones
heart and touched so responsive chord
that the listener did not feel tempted to
stop and ask how he was moved or why
The scene that brought forward the
struggle between Eric and Yvonne in
Paul Potter's Offering was strong. and that
of r. G.. Cartons in which Brian Holling-
worth and Lotus Roupell fought over the
formers wife was unique, but the one and
the other failed to find the spot approach
ed in Mr.. Broadhurs.'s play by Mrs. Stan
ley's warm love for her son and the sons
unselhsh affection for that parsonage
whom Timothy Salter would continue to
call "the school mann" Then the sugges-
tion of THE Last Chapter was Won
derful. There was Doctor Fairchild, a
gentleman of an earlier school, who went
through the story saying nice things to
everybody and doing thoughtful ones for
the mother and her boy. Not until his line
about its better far to have loved and
lost than never to have loved at all in
the last act did it occur to the auditor that
the fine old gentleman had probably once
been more than an admirer of Mrs Stanley,
and even then the romance was only in
supposition. But it was q wonderfully
pretty romance just the same, and one that
left its imprint on the minds OF those who
quilted the house.
Despite the conventionality Of his tale
Mr.. Broadhurst had the bravery to do
three or four radical things in THE Last
Chapter" Almost any other author would
have taken care not only to marry the Doc
tor to the widow in such play but would
have finished every side issue in the same
way. But the tactful constructor who was
responsible for What Happened to Jones
let his patrons go on thinking OF Estelle's
blind admiration for Frederick Chichester
Percival as a mere childish alteration and
OF the sentiment between Mrs. Stanley and
the physician as something that might
have existed, but would never return,
while he brought the two central tales to
a promising close just as all such things
should end in the last chapter" 1t was
bold-of Mr. Broadhurst to work up the only
powerful scene in his piece to the highest
point and then let ie fall TO a Gillette-like
climax and yet the idea was an admirable
one.
Ii is pity that, after such display OF
originality, the author cannot be made to
dispense with the music and light cues in
his comedy. Mr.. Broadhurst is too clever
a man to be forced into relying upon the
orchestra leader and the electrician for
his strength. Nor is there need for the
lines which finish the second and the fourth
acts of the effort. When young Stanley
learns that he cannot send the money he
| owes to debtor. and receives the letter
which was to accompany his check there
is no reason for his words-"Dear mother,
How disappointed she will be-" The audi
ence knows what is in the epistle and what
is in the mind of its holder. sigh would
express all that the stilted phrase does and
more. So, when the same Stanley asks
Katherine how his story shall end and she
throws herself into his arms there is no
use OF his adding the word. Happily"
No one in the theatre could mistake the
pantomime. When n woman casts herself
into the arms of a man it cannot be taken
to express the fact that she wants a cook
stove or a pound OF onions. Or, at least,
no one would think so in play.
But THE Last Chapter was too care
fully reviewed on Tuesday TO exact more
than casual mention here. Suffice it to
say that the Offering is in direct opposition
TO The Turtle" one of the most delight
full and refreshing little things ever writ
ten. 1t may not succeed financially. and
probably will not in New York for lack of
the very qualities that made NJ. Gandil!ot's
farce. But no one who sees the work will
avar forget mr. OjItliVe its influence THE
Last Chapter" is not only credit to Mr..
Broadhurst, but credit TO the American
stage.
The constant succession of filthy produc-
tions that have been being made in Goth
am has at last had its effect and one, Sem
ator Thomas f. Grady. has introduced into
the New York Legislature bill to pro-
vide for the Office of play censor. While
the vicious impropriety of several pieces
recently done on Broadway makes even
this measure seem reasonable it is still
to be discouraged as the greater OF two
evils. The appointment of a man whose
power it is to regulate and suppress pub
lie amusements is a blow to the chief prin-
ciples of the republic and Il silly blow at
that No theatre in the country forces
people to attend its performances OBJ
scene drama then draws only those who
wish to see such offerings and hurts no one.
When presentations grow TO be too lax
the police may be counted upon invariably
to interfere and meanwhile it seems alb
surd to establish an Office the possessor of
which could easily hold back all that was
best in American theatrical labor. either
for the sake of blackmail and political
reasons or because of narTowness and ig-
norance. An English play censor succeed
ed in keeping Camille off the London