The times., 1899-05-17
THINGS THEATRICAL.
NntionnI-"My CousIn.o

Proverbially sensational and notoriously
risque, interpretations from the French are
invariably hailed with delight by rapid
ly decreasing clientele of the American
theatre. From Paris have come the chaste
Because She Loved Him So," and the i'm
mortal, but overadvertised THE Turtle"
And now comes MY Cousin" the labor of
Henri MeiIhac, which received its premier
American presentation at the New Ma
tional last evening, in the presence OF
critical and intelligent audience. Disrobed
of its verbiage, which is bright, and at
times even brilliant, the story deals with
the dishonorable Vaccinations OF Baron
Raoul La Eutte, who discards his spouse
to compromise the wife of friend. The
Baroness discovers the proposed clandes-
tine meeting and seeks the aid of an act
ress TO foil her husbands design. To ac-
complish this the actress ensnares the roue
in her own net with the consent of the
wife, and reaps the whirlwind as result,
avoiding paying for her temerity only by
revealing the fact that her assailant is an
illegitimate cousin, in fact. half sister.
This is the story in brief, elaborated by the
desperate endeeyors Of the second couple
to unravel their difficulties to mutual ad-
vantage without simultaneous discovery.
l
also interjected to display some exception
al pantomime, but this is really incidental
to the plot.
Laying aside for the present the ques-
tion of morality, and considering the play
merely from the point of view Of the lit
eratist My Cousin is far from model
of construction. Two acts are consumed in
telling the story, which might have been
accomplished in one The initial 22t is
merely Incidental. and contains at least
one risque situation and suggested cVil
/ incidents.
The second serves to heighten the de-
prayity of the first and to enable the wife
and actress to discover the trysting place
of the handsome Baron. The last enables
the actress to drive her supposed rival from
the clandestine meeting through the op-
perfume arrival of her husband and to per-
nit the actress and Baron to indulge in a
sort of Tag, You're It" and Pussy
Wants a Corner chase about the furni-
ture, terminating in a lasciyious scene
toned down for Washington, which ends
only with the expose of the relationship
between the assaulting and the assaulted.
The customary reconciliation between the
erring husband and the loving but idiotic
wife. and the acceptance of the love Of
another admirer by the actress leads up to
| the final curtain. If Meilhac had desired
he might have given the whole play in one
act, but dwaddles it out into two and a
half hours, the only saving feature being
the dialogue and the alluring pantomime
of the star, the lines replete with bright
ness, sparkling with it. rich in humor. but
bedimmed by the audacity Of evil desire.
Each act lacks action.
| Difficulties innumerable appear TO have
been encountered in this first presentation,
| and considering this fact, the production
! was excellent. The company is not now
good by any means, and will not be until
alterations are made, but 1t is acceptable,
at all events. Nine Pillar Norm. as the
| actress is of stellar magnitude only
| in pantomme, that true essence OF
art. Her several bits were mag
nificently done and her reading of
lines has undergone perceptible i'm
| provement since her appearance in "A
Paris Model and That Man" Her gowns
are elaborate and she is fair to look upon,
| but her merits terminate here. Theodore
| Babcock, while decidedly STACEY and still
given TO raising his eyebrows at every OPP
portunity is a scholarly and natural roue,
reaching with delicacy the forceful situa-
tions required in working opposite Pillar
| Morin. Samuel Edwards, comparative
newcomer. gave delightful impersonation
of the silly old millionaire playwright
while Earl Brown was sickening as the
lover of the actress Nine. Cortreliy, ac-
complished character actress that she is
easily won the second honors of the night
by her reading of a small part while Ida
Mcmillan is abnormally vigorous and re-
pulsive. Beryl Hope displays neither in
tensity nor intelligence. or possibly the
apparent want of both is due to lack OF
rehearsal, which second conclusion is more
charitable If less just
In brief, My Cousin" is a typical
French farce, appealing to the sensuous
rather than the sensible. the irreligious
and irrational rather than the Intelligent
and intellectual.