The times., 1899-09-24

/ there are laughs in words and applause in
attitudes that he had neither counted on
nor especially emphasized. star has never
TO think much OF himself in such a pre-
sentation. At the worst his role generally
stands out. But the eonsiaerats stage
manager or director should try to give
his support the benefit 0f every suggestion
he can make. Small things become great
in any production-they tower in the pro-
duction of a comedy like The Liars
what do you think of Mr.. Jones' work.
Il believe that The Liars is one Of the
cieverest things on the stage. and / ex-
pect great deal from II in the South.
where il has never been seen before.
There is not a great deal to the story OF
the play but the manner of the telling Is
ideal. And after ALL IL is the fashion in
which yarn is spun that makes 1t tolsr-
aoie The simplest and least consequen-
tial OF plots can be so brought out that
it viii seem delicious. IL Is In this that
the old dramatists were dreadfully in
competent-that is. incompetent from our
standards Except for their age and the
aalo OF intelligence that Surrounds them.
no one would sit through performance OF
last-eentury comedy or tragedy Eowa-
days Just review any OF those anti
quated classics mentally. Everyone OF
them Is crude and labcrfous And vet
writers proclaim that art is deadfr
Ihe interviewer expressed his surprise
at hearing such sentiments from former
Shakespearian Iuminary Mr.. Skinner
laughed. Il believe quoth he. "that the
stage is now IN better condition than il
has ever been before. This may seem to
be most egotistical statement when Il
Is considered that I belong TO 'Time-the
present but | cannot wait until after Z
am gone to say all this The theatre has
never really known good aeting-life-like
-rrrrffl
methods were stiIted and frequently ridicu-
lous The stars OF fifty years ago too
often were great only in contrast Able
players We're few and far between A
performance was magnificent IL the pre-
senting organization included three rer-
sons worth seeing Now critic attends
premiere and is moved to wrath II the
most insignificant fellow in the piece doas
not prove perfect in what he has to do A
few moments ago you were speaking OF
William Norris, who is here with Children
OF the Ghetto The last time I saw Nr.
Norris was in A Social Highwayrnan-' He
did not have fifty lines to speak but his
characterization was filed with subtIety
and thought that would have made him
famous two decades back Audiences thar
witnessed the production Of the Hollands.
however, probably left the house, saying.
both were admirable and without having
noticed Mr.. Norris. So common is talent
at the close Of the nineteenth century.
Of course, there wsFe geniuses twenty
years ago, hundred years ago. OF thou
saHd-taeFs have always been. When r
went on the stage. at the end OF the 79's
the bill boards were weighted with people
now famous. Billy Florence was alive and
Lawrence Barrett and Edwin Booth and
Charles Fechter and Mrs. John Drew and
Joseph Jefferson, who is a better actor
now than ever before in his career. But
| fancy that half of this list would attract
little attention Just at present II is very
romantic and beautiful to think OF these
chaps as uneGualed. but the thought is
not fair 10 Nat Goodwin and John Drew
and Richard Mansfield 1t is very roman
TIC and beautiful to roam about London.
IN and out of the haunts of David Garrick.
They viii tell you in England that there
has never been another Garrick They viii
detail to you how he used to go to draw
lng-rcom ahairs-for Garrick was a social
lion and knew on which side his bread was
5Ettered-and how he would have men and
women alike either in hystericaI tears or
in laughter equally hysterieaI Can you
imagine GarTick before a modern hIase
audience II so, can you eonjure Up the
hysteris he would provoke3
"On Monday night, after The Liars had
been finished. I dropped into the National.
l was pleased at seeing what care and study
had been put on every small point of Chill
dren of the Ghetto But / was not sur
prised. The critics Of today arraign star
for having on his stage chair that is
Identified as being OF a fashion prevalent
only some fifty years after the period OF
the play. This. too. is a new departure
When Sir Henry Irving came over to the
Star Theatre, in New York. no one had ever
cared how scene was set. On the road
7
tony's address to the Romans from a soap
box placed before drop on which were
painted telephone poles, street car lines,
and groeers signs. reading Jacob Brown.
teas, cOnees, and spices. Edwin Booth
engaged excellent supporting companies
and never took the trouble to see TO their
rehearsing. Where do / go now2' his pso-
pie have said 10 their director. oh, any
where you please would frequently be the
reply; when night comes Mr. Booth will
find you. Imagine a modern organization
drilled like that. No, the old days were
good enough as far as they went but all
this talk about their being the paImy days
is sheer nonsense Improvement is tha
order OF the age Art is more advanced
now than it was two years ago. and next
year it viii be more advanced than il is
now. VIII you have another cigar"
And so the conversation dEifted into the
Turning down from the Shoreham halt
an hour later The Times man came
across William Robyns. whose sketches,
" Straight Tip jim and The Counsel
for the Defence" were the features OF
last weeks performances at the BiiOu.
Mr. Robyns is a tall angular. New Eng
land-lcohing man, who has inteii gence
and speaks good English. even Il he is
IN vaudeville. On the way 10 his theatre
be said:
In Sundays paper 7 noticed that YOU
plead exteauating circumstances for Lillian
BurkhaTt's piaylet. Her Soldier Boy II
seems to me that this was the right course.
You cannot Imagine how impossible il ia
70 beg, borrow, buy. or steal worthy ma
erial in the form OF One-act pieces No.
only is it quite as difficult 10 write a
comedy as to construct a
-hree-hour one. but Ii is much harder to
ind the former than the latter Men a
great ability do not produce sketches. ana
men of small ability can't There is the
entire affair in a nutshell. Both authors
md managers seem to feel that there Is
10 tragedy without red fire and no fun
Without seltzer bottle.
when first my wife and I took to ths
continuous we had quite a time of L. We
lad just bought The Counsel for the De-
enee' and it was decidedly labor TO get
N opening for the bit. One agent really
said TO us, 1t is too much like a play