The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-09-28
MUSIC AND DRAMA.
MoTHs.

at the Jefferson for the remainder Of the
week, is q dramatizat1on OF Ouifia's novel
of the same name. The story is too well
known to need repetition at length. 1t
deals with the cuffsrings Of young girl
brought up in the seolusion Of an English
country house, who Is suddenly intro
duced to that kind Of gay society which
is made up Of tilted personages who lead
lives In which old-fashioned notions Of
honor and truth play small parts. In
this set the mother whom the young girl
has not seen for years. Is O leading fig
ure. She plans to marry her daughter to
a Russian prince. a libertine and a
brute. To accomplish this end she lies
to her daughter and tho young girl be-
lieving that her mother Is In the power
of the prince, consents to the marriage.
Two acts are given to the telling Of the
story mp to this point. The remaining
two are devoted to the efforts of the
Prince to rid himself of the wife OF
whom he has tired that ne may marry
another and q different kind of wom-
an. Unable to break the spirit OF his
wife in any other way he finally sends her
to his lonely ESTATES In Poland. There
sne is followed by young man Of noble
birth who has won fame as an opera sing
er ana who unselfishly loves the Princess.
The last act in which the action Ia sup
posed to occur after the wife has spent u
year In Poland is devoted to final at.
tempt ON the part Of the Prince and the
interruptions woman whom he lnves to
blacken the reputation of the wife py
connecting her name with that Of the
singer. The wife's friends came to her
aid and ono IF them, a young English
man who is also in love with the Princess,
forces the Prince, her husband, to fight
q duel In which the husband Is killed
and the Euglishman Is mortally wound
ed. The play ends with the Englishman
dying In the arms of the singer whils the
Princess kneels ct his side. The wicked
mother has disappeared in the previous
act when the daughter discovered tina
she had been lead to marry the Prince by
lie. 1t Is at best a somhre story, but
there are in the piece a number Of pas
sages which give opportunity for a good
deal Of dramatic effect and with the
exception of the last the different scenes
are worked out to climaxes of force and
power. The comedy element is supplied
by the love story of rich American girl
of the kind who exists mostly in novels
and a suffering English Duke Of the
sort found in the same style of fiction.
. In the assignment Of parts, that of
Prince Zouroff fell to Mr.. Post and he
made the best Of its meagre opportunities
In the first two acts and took advantage
of the stronger scenes i In the rest Of the
piece to give good presentation to the
character of a man of evil propensities
| and strong temper. Mr.. Probert was
CoFrese, the singer. The part Is one
containing some strong passages and
these MIR. Probert presented with telling
effect. although sometimes with moro fer
vor than, was. perhaps. necessary. MIR.
Alsop was foreeful as Lord Jura and Mr..
Capp as the suffering Duke of Null re-
newed the good impression he has already
made in comedy parts.
The play ia one in which the interest
chiefly centres In the female characters.
Miss Mcintyre was the We're, and while
her acting was acceptable as 1t has been
in the other plays presented here by the
company, in the strong scenes at the end
of thu second act when she promises to
marry the Prince to save her mother,
and at the end OF the third when she de-
clares that she will 90 to Poland rather
than yield to her husbands wishes she
displayed marked ability and oreditabiy
filled role which gave opportunity for
much emotional effect and power. Miss
Melville as Lady Dolly Vanderdecken o,
the INSCRIPTIONS mother, gave a capital
representation of the woman without
principle, who never lost her temper.
| Miss West as the Duchess of Sonneza,
took difficult role with an eye to its
many possibilities for artistic effect.
Miss Hathaway's character sketch of
the Yankee girl, who talked slang, and
expressed her opinion with freedom that
was refreshing even If not entirely true
to life, was well done and received the
applause which 1t deserved.
A TEMPERANCE TOWN.
Hoyt's plays generally catch the popu-
lar fancy and that satiricsl comedy en-
titled "A Temperance Town." ALWAYS
was and is now a reisning favorite. II
was presented last evening at the Port.
land theatre to an audience which filled
nearly every seat and we're kept to the
top-notch of good humor throughout The
evening. Everyone knows that this play
is one of the authors best. for while the
story is rather light many of the char.
aeters are wonderfully true to life.
We hare Mink Jones the town drum.
kard, easy going. good natured, too busy
60 help his wife, but with plenty of time
to do kindnesses for almost every body
else. And just such individuals are tc
be seen in every New England village.
Then there Is Uncle Joe. ready to guar,
rel with any one who questions his title
to being the Oldest man about the four
corners, and jealous Of his age.
Mary Jane Jones. the drunkard's wife,
IL seen. who goes out working to support
4 hon -