The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-23
TW0 OLD PLAYS NEW HERE.
TEARS IN GETTING TO NEW FORK
FROM LONDON AND PARIS.

gate" by Pinero, and Nine. Piinr-Morin
with my Cousin,' by Meilhac-'. His
Excsllency the Governor" Mt the Empire.
One OF Arthur W. Pinero's beat writings for
the stage. as rated by its literary quality. Ia
THE ProHigate." Notwithstanding It's merit
In that respect IL was not acted in New York
until last night, nearly Il decade after It
had been given to London. or course. its
sexual theme was not what had kent all
our managers from using II. They are not
so squeamish. The neglect must be as
cribed instead to Mr.. Pinero's delicacy
in presenting the subject. He did lot illus
trate 1t with enough Of theatric manner to
make it yield either caloric characters
or ~confiagratory action. IF we are
to incur II certain amount Of censure
for exploiting the subject on our stage" they
may have reasoned. then we prefer to go fur
ther INTO the forbidden field and harvest some
thing OF n more rank growth" The evil be-
havior which causes the sorrows In this play
has occurred years before. Only the consc-
aucnccs are shown to us. A protiigate bache-
lor has becomes respectable husband. His wife
Is an embodiment OF personal purity Shcwould
never have married him II she had not thought
his record as clean as her own. But it Is
smirched with dislovalty to a trustful girl.
He loves his wife fondly and 10 faithful TO
her. His present virtue Is sufficient atone
ment. he seems to believe. for his past
sins. But the girl has not escaped from her
trangression so easily, She suffers a while
quite as though she we're deservedly a social
outcast instead OF being n ~pcnitent sufferer
from one mans profigacy. After a while she
finds n refuge in the household Of that very
man. This Is in his absence. however. and
neither she nor the kindly wife knows
that the situation is portentous. The
girl wins the honest love of the wife's
brother, and then. unable TO abuse the hos
pitality she has enjoyed. tells her benefactress
why she is unfit to marry the young woocr.
rpon the return OF the husband. he
lie exposed to his wife not Willingly by the
girl, but by retributive chance-as having been
the very kind OF a scoundrel whom she
most loathes and abhors. Another act.
as originally written and as acted in
London. brought the profigate to death
by poison. But In Harlem he had a kindlier
fate. The wife broke in upon his suicidal en-
deavor, snatched the glass from him and saved
him for further life with her.
1t was none other than Olga Nethersole who
brought The Profligate to us at the Harlem
Opera House last night. But she did
not play the misled maiden. rs she
had done years ago in London. That
would have been a weak and vapid creature
for her to portray after Camille. Carmen and
Mrs. 7dnQUerdy. No. Miss Nothersole banked
the fires in her amatory furnace and acted
the wife with much painstaking. She depicted
most graphically the guilelessness OF the school
girl wife. her lawless virtues. and her exalted
ideals OF conduct for men and women. But
Il lacked spontaneity, 1t did not sound or look
that this bride mightn't have been as
t that sS ssG was a less sh 'ero HF%lpdGIFSiis sno S8 1e Of hut SS.
man nature than she asserted. Miss Neither.
sole's aspect, Of informed maturity did
r rinl w SRR%RorSM Mr.. WI" Finero 5"G had "n Created yoas se
It was 4 Periorma9c which did not; until tie
third act.where the, wife calls on the husband
over and over to deny his guilt. and when
despite pRe. lis Flea aFi tcr tq RI ses'f his
a]etress's ability TO the best advantage; In
and true.so ]resoluto to doom, both him
and and Ds hsSrseiit to Snt Misty stiII faithful 1hSf she 10 Was US n an.
il anything was, gained. with the audience
BY, r, changing Ss, The ,n pIay,tss o eG %snl Sna from ron,
crime; It was not qasy to Judge o. that
twas a houseful OF intelligent people. and they
were deeply interested: yet several scenes be-
merriment. Some OF that misapprehension
was due, to bad acting. the company being
on %t TIE Whole Ss 9a lGGeoma NJ tSis o SexeGal eeikSepti88n ns
Miss Nethcrsole's companies. collectively, were
such as. any prosperous star should be
ashamed OF.
Mile. Pillar NORM selected Meilhac's comedy
MY Cousin" as the means OF introducing her.
self here as a speaking actress. Last night at
Wallack's she was not only seen but heard in
an English adaptation Of what may be remem-
bered as rather a vlvacious and sprlghtly work
when Nine. Rejanc produced II first here several
years ago. Its original Is thoroughly French.
LIGHT and lalipata I'm phnrapter- and IN the YER
sion acted last night is to be regarded as the
best. quite impossible to transfer to our stage.
The translation was not a good one. but prob
ably it served to show that the play is ineffective
in English. The wit of the original speeches
Ind disappeared. no substitute had been
supplied and MY Cousin seemed a very
slight and tedious affair. 1t was rather singu-
lar that such a diaphanous effort could be so
tiresome. The play is quite dependent on the
necessary atmosphere. for OF such elements the
success Of pieces OF its kind is composed. Be-
yond Mile. Pillar Morln's accent. there was no
suggestion Of forelgnness in the performance.
The actress who consents to make love to
her cousins husband to cure him Of another
infatuation was Of course played by Mile.
Pillar Norm. 1t Is a difficult role and she doubt
less knew that Nine. Rejane's performance was
rather fresh in memory. Her skill as a panto-
mimist Is sufficient to insure success In
certain phases OF her Work as an actress.
Her facial expression. for instance. was ad-
mirable aud her gestures expressive. The adj
ditional demands OF the spoken text made her
acting seem artificial and somewhat mechan-
zeal. Her VOICE is neither strong nor varied in
the second act showed how much greater
her, profciSncy and AUTHORITY, in that
shoulders than such a part as RiQuette i'm
poses. her success as an actress would be
greater than 1t was at any time last
night. and she would doubtless prove a
Cousin" is not likely to bring fame to her or
anybody else. In the present form. nothing
hut the triviality OF the. original remains. That
is not to be relieved by such attempts at in
device. even when reflected in a mirror, has
long been exhausted.
Nobody who laughs at " His Excellcncy the
Governor" which was transferred from the
Lyceum to the Empire last night. is able to
suppress his curiosity as to what may follow
the close of the farce. Never were characters
left In more interesting uncertainty. Pre-
sumably all their actions have been caused by