The times., 1899-05-07
THE PASSING SHOW.

From the view point OF the outsider,
| roulette and the drama are about equally
games of chance. and the venturer who de-
| clares that his system makes it necessary
| for certain numbers always to be winning
ones is not more foolish than he who pro-
| claims that he can pick and sort pubic
| taste. Theatregoers seem usually to attend
this or that class of entertainment with as
much reason for their choice as the. ball
displays when it elects TO stop here or
there, and the success or failure of play
often appears TO be governed by matters
more trifing than the smallest of the su-
perstitions TO which some managers pay
great heed. Notably those pieces which
are most expected to please are most o ten
removed early from the boards, while
those with chances SO slim that their ci-
rectors cannot look straight into the eyes
OF their hackers not infrequentiy establish
runs in New York and records outside
The incentive to these remarks need not
be sought far. Since David Belasco and
Henry C. DeMiile ceased combining their
constructive and literary abilities for the
0eneht OF those who patronized the Lyceum
Ineatre the fortune-founder of that estab-
lishment has not sent forth single offer
ing which might have been beIisyed to
nave achieved distinction on the road or
elsewhere. The productions made have
been OF works utterly lacking in the gener-
ly-accepted qualifications for praise or
proht. Generations of authors have proyen
that the amusement-loving want action
ana strength and purpose and the presen-
latiohs that left the stage of Daniel Frob
mans house have had none of the three.
critics have cried for scintillant dialogue
and dignifed method and extreme move ty
ana the expectations OF the Fourth Ave
nue temple OF histrionic art have possessed
| hothing OF the sort: people have demand
ed either virility or delicacy and ar.
vouchsafed neither, and yet, with a dis
| t,ict variety OF playwatchers. the organiza-
lon and its vehicles continue in favor
Gothamites snatched The Amazons"
sreedily. while the remainder Of the coun-
| try tolerated both THE First Gentleman
Oh Europe and The Mayfiower." said
complimentary things of The Tree of
hhowiedge when James X. Hackett took
II out, and fiocked to see ''The Princess
and the Butterny"-all of which comedies
represented pendulating stages OF inanitv
at the Lyceum.
fre!awny of the Wells" which wos
ions zone mere last week by Mr. Frohman's
lolk' was not a glittering triumph IN Lon
uc1 "here 1t was doubtless more under
SeaHodDie ana better understood than In
any other city. But in the hands of Nr
Morgan and Miss Mannering the effort
scored heavily in New York and threatens
10 satisfy If not to delight the denizens of
iess important burgs. .'Trelawny" Ia a
shght Improvement on its predecessors.
Dut II Is neither good play nor of the
sort one would anticipate seeing achieve
ihuch. It's story is not new and it is not
interesting. the action is of the tea-party
cd To
clientele OF the Lyceum, the dialogue is
not only SLOPPY, but must be inexplicable
10 the greater number of theatregoers and
It's color is most intensely foreign. The
portion OF the comedietta which pertains
to the unavoidable lovers involved carries
no particular degree of sentiment and the
language in which il is explained has no
more wit than the accompaniment has
movement. And neither is calculated
under ordinary conditions, to provoke ex-
cessive attention.
Not that ''Trelawny OF the Wells" ic
anything else than clever. But the clever
ness has been spread rather than con-
densed. careful observer remarked
after sitting through the Offering that Mr.
Pinero undoubtedly has ability. even
genius. but he is shrewd enough 20 make
1t go long way with enough of quality
injected into the mass of quantity to give
the whole pretty surface and this state
ment expresses the condition better than
could any other. The most inconseluen-
| tiai sort of a plot is literally dragged
| through four interminable acts and when
one has finished he has been no more than
| diverted. There is not the slightest sus-
1 picon of power or force to the material,
| the characters represented being neither
endangered nor placed in positions the
entrances and exits to which might call for
concern on the part OF an audience. while
| the emotions portrayed are those of the
! individual who asks for a cup of coffee
/ or lump of sugar with which to sweeten
/ it. This placidity Is continued from the
! first to the final curtain. Mr.. Pinero has
! not been satisfied to refrain from using
| the old style of clap-trap climaxes-he has
| abstained from rising above the common
! place.
| In "Trelawny of the Wells" one is ini-
| TALLY introduced to an assortment of an
| kle-revealing hoopsltirts and to an ac-
! tress who is about to leave her profession
| for the home of young man whom. with
his relatives corisent, She is to marry. A
melancholy Dane sort of fellow who seems
a compromise between Tom Robertson and
| Sidney Carton is also brought forward aad
| the spectators are permitted to guess that
| he idoliZeS the aforesaid actress. Then
| the curtain falls. Absolutely nothing has
| occurred, although more atmosphere has
| been circulated than could have been dif-
| FUSED IN an equal space OF time by an
electric fan. In the next scene Rose, the
! girl mentioned has begun a visit to the
J grandparents of her fance to whom she
| has gone on probation. She is not suited
! with the life they expect her to lead and
! leaves And the curtain falls again. Next
| one is given comparatively interesting
/ bit in which the hard old censor is won
over and agrees to back his cast tout guest
| in play. Curtain. Finally in the deadly
/ dullness of the final act is shown a rehear-
sal at which Rese meets her lover. There
! is a paternal blessing and the orchestra
| renders q Sousa march,
| The fire and intensity involved in the
| dramatic relation of this tale may be i'm
| agined. When 1t is remembered that the
| speeches employed are those OF another
country, another time, and distinctive of
| a profession little understood outside of
| itself; that there are neither situations
nor episodes. and that the dialogue is never
| really bright one may see the necessity
Of extraneous material in the piece. There