The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-02-07
TRIO OF STARS
IN SHER|DAN'S
CLASSIC COMEDY
Warde and Miss Kid
der UnConvinCing.
JAMES THE SURPRISING HIT
HIS REFORMATION IN "THE
SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL"
JAMES THE SURPRISING HIT
"Suzette" Revived at the Tivoli.
Monkeys and Dogs at the
Orpheum-News of the
Other Shows.

Louis James and Frederick Warde,
tragedians of heavy reputation, and
Katherine Kidder, the comedy actress of
Sans Gene" fame, commenced a fort
nights engagement in the Columbia The
alter last night in Sheridan's jovial SOCIAL
satire, THE School for Scandal" A large
and conspicuously well-clothed audience
was in attendance and several episodes in
the play were rewarded by liberal APP
plause. Messrs. James and Warde were
cast as the brothers Surface, Charles and
Joseph respectively; and Miss Kidder was
the Lady Teazle. On the programme this
triple plated combination was described
Romanly as 1.-The great star trlumVirate
and a great many persons in the audi
ence who read this and remembered the
ponderous past of Warde and James were
led to expect a weightier performance
than the one they got. But the prognosti-
cations of the know-it-allS tailed only
slightly with the nights results.
Mr.. Warde, to be sure, played Joseph
Surface as we expected him to play the
part-with huge emphasis and most of
the obvious tricks of the overactor; but
on the other hand, Mr.. James who was a
dire failure in comedy last year, played
Charles with astonishing ease and buoy
ancy; and to make prophecy worse, Miss
kidder was only palely enjoyable in a
part that every one expected would fit her
closer than her cuticle. You never can tell
what will happen on first nights. That's
the lone thing that keeps me from writing
these notices before instead of after the
show.
However, last nights disappointment
worked both ways and there was almost
as much to applaud in the performance
as there was to cavil at. In the first
place the play was good one-full of
sparkle and satire and good nature
human nature. too, and yet so stepped in
the atmosphere of artificiality that Meth
er overactlng nor undertaking could quite
lose you the fun so long as the ball was
kept a-rolling and the manners of the
period observed. And l must say here
that in points of costume, department and
general stage direction the production
was admirable. 1t had the atmosphere.
What ii lacked was character; or, in 9TH
er words, several of the principal actors
were not equal to their parts.
From his point of view L can readily
understand Mr.. Warde's conception of
Joseph Surface. He, l am sure, regards
as MIR. Warde is by nature and persistent
cultivation a tragedian of the DEEPEST dye.
he brings to bear on this transparent
hyp9,efiite Of sherldans all the arch
"Othello." His soiloquys and asides are
deep and sinister his good-natnre is of
the kind that promotes goosefesh in the
gallery. In fact. it was the humor OF the
tragedian all the way through, which is
just the kind of humor that is not wanted
in the part.
of Miss Kidder's Lady Teazle is that she
was oyerawed at the facts that Richard
Brinsley Sheridan is dead and that his
comedy is reckoned a classic BY some
vague perversion of reverence the word
classic always seems to frighten actors
into unholy seriousness Sheridan, for all
Gus of the old satiric playwriters. He
laughed at and with everybody including
himself. He affected the epigram be-
cause that was a mode of his day, and
also the suggest way to say Il good
thing and make It stick. He is indeed an
ideal comedist of manners, who has lived
these hundred years and more to survive
the garbling and gagging of Mr.. Angus
tin Daily and still be good fun for every
body, from your butcher to your banker.
Sheridan was en- 1rishman of fnvlncible
wit, to his day what that other Irishman
Oscar Wilde. once promised to be TO ours
Lady Teazle is bumptious young beau
tx from the country, SO enamored of
metropolitan giddiness that without a
passion to her heart she would follow the
fashion even into the snares of infidelity
Her exposure is forced upon her; her con
fesson Is revenge upon her faithless ac-
complete; her repentance is a joke on poor
Sir Peter She is the cream of satire a
charming vulgarian, and there is no real
reason reason that tina can be see my MISS ddeF
care ''wot t ell or Whatever You
choose to call It, with which she PLAYED
the washerwoman heroine in Sardou's
comedy Miss Kidder tries to give the
part dignity which it will not answer
for. In the first quarrel with Sir Peter
she roughened up a bit with delightful
effect but in the most of the rest OF the
performance she superref1ned the role un-
iii but little of its original spell was felt.
And now to be amiablel Mr.. James as
Charles Surface was a positive joy I
hav5 never known O man to mend his
ways as Mr. James has done since last
we saw him. / complained then. you may
remember, that in voice, figure, gesture
and facialism he was too huge for this
little world 1 even went so far as to
saw that vaudeville stared him in the
face And now he heaps Goals of fire on
my head by playing Charles Surface with
ali the dizziness and agility and colloquial-
ism of an actor who had never roared