The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-03-22
UNUSUAL AT THE THEATRE.
0ooD sHAkEsPEAREAN COMkDY FOR
A QUARTER or A DOLLAR.

tho Douneily Company-Half an Hour OF
THE Musketosrs' In "a Vaudeville show
Music and Humor Of Patience"
rood performance OF As You Like II" at
twenty Ave cents seems an imposslbility ~ a
money-makiny venture. vet II II TO DO had
any afternoon this week at the Murray Hill.
The Donnelly stock company has done much
that IL admissible In striving to give nrst-
lass entertainment at fourth-class prices.
There IL little sense In the cry for theatrical
education OF the masses. People do not 20 TO
tho playhouse TO be taught anything. but
to be entertained. However. there Is a
multitude that cannot afford Broadway
prices. yet appreciates good drama. The
Donnelly company makes no absurd
pretences OF elevating playgoers. II gives
some plays that are good only by contrast with
the vulgar melodramas and farces OF most OF
the cheap theatres. But A You Like 1t" is
not too good as literature to BE- acceptable at
the Murray Hi as popular entertainment
That theatre 10 . place to which students may
60 without dlsdaIn to see q performance OF
Sbakespeare's comedy. II Ia an evenly bal
anced representation and not arranged to ex-
ploit q leader. Excsllently as Shakespeare was
usually treated at Days there was often a
transposition Of the text for Ada Rehan's sake.
Wnen EuWln Dootu piuycu Mdcucth u y cuI
out som Of Lady Macbsth's important
scenes. In "The Merchant OF Venice"
lie curtalled Portals matter by a third.
and ended the play with his own exit from the
trial until he acted with Helena Modieska. and
later with Lawrence Barrett. In AuRustin
Raly's production Of Much Ado About
theatrical climsI for Miss Rehsn In the church
ROunl To thORQ NADIA Inv earlier actors and
Tempest" into an opera, and Romeo and
to sS" : happy conclusion b. having JHNIies
syaks aud homo 90 nits nosuicide. Thomas
s ssS .Usecn =, ,,sRR: s.ss Snen 4 (. acted that 9 psttl
srsi ide .s, that sSs Ss;sI Is treated less t"s rev rev
;s osndsd. n0 \, t than M IN sSs Mi 4lfe "A. a' You 'r Ike pPs
II" 10 used very respectfully. Rnntins Is not
heard. and the reading is ssnsTally excellent.
5ssS%ass Sn,Sd asor q '%Ss siis: s a. S.l' s'1 dis.i a.
suish the mselves particularly by the thought.
fSisss: s:D Of s0s sss!r f ;ss Rassis, slI sSs F .Ss s,1ss
and Intelligent, she evinces much ,cl.verness
: :nS a s .Ssn ' siisns, s sS' 1 sSaia in DO s1D .:ii
Gnlwsra.'' COMPARED 70 iSs recent maltrept:
the Modiessa company, the Donnelly. players
Modleskas own acting did not atone Tor some
Murray Hill company will bring out, more OF
shakespeare's plays before the seasons emf,
The ready sword OF UArtdonan Is drawn
now In vaudeville. Proctor's Palace il the
scene OF his trial, for his appearance Is an ex-
pertinent. Continuous variety Shove have In
cluded lmost everything decent In the way
OF stage effort. but this 10 the first essay in
that rOmaptioiapr which parvataa 'Tha
Musketeers." A half hour Is filed with
fragments Of the play. Two changes of
scene are made with the stage darkened.
The Captain OF the musketeers berates
three OF his soldiers for quarrelling. Then
follow the meetings. in Which UArtdonon
agrees TO fight each OF the three soldiers. and
Is admitted to membership In their commani.
adventurer and the Queens waiting woman.
when UAytdgndn makes successful love to
another,s wife, and lights with her perseSu-
interrupted by the arrival OF Rfchelietfs guard.
and the antagonists loin ~ a contest with tho
are laid bare the charac,sristics OF the swag-
gerers, pleascs most. Paul Gilmore a. the
Gascon ,adventurer Is an engaging fellow. and
~tenselS theatre affairs. which the play
provides Tor him; His love making Is OF the
tuper.ardent kind that Is dangerous ia vaude-
small doses at infrequent Intervals, But 1t
fares well In this instance. Now and then q
head. with a sword in front OF It. comes into
way to fencing. The sword play OF the con-
GLIDING scene Is not, taken, at. so nearly It's in
tended value. At the end OF II the stage Is
strewn with the weapons Of the defeated. men
who have escaped In a manner to suggest that
they were not very dangerous antagonists. A
genera encounter between swordsmen is a
dih1cult matter to present in a stirring fashion,
in these days when long-range lighting Is 30
much exploited In real warfare. The essay at
BTOntOFfa a m nlnVa nll var Whn
and enough others 70 keep the swords ringing.
II does not often happen that a satire sur
wives In prosperity on the stage long after the
subject from which its humor Is drawn has
been almost forgotten. Patience has lasted.
however. even though the theme which in
spired II is as extinct as the dodo. The cult OF
sestheticism. along with It's most conspicuous
missionaries. Ia scarcely known to the younger
generation. What do Bun,horne with his lily.
Grosrenor with his sunflower and Lady angela
with her cohort OF maidensi in Grecian draperies
mean to the youthful hearers OF Gilbert X
Sullivan's operetta' II must retain for them
some OF the qualities that first made 1t popular.
else IL would have disappeared as completely
as the greenish-yellow draperies and the
other phenomena Of this aesthetic outbreak.
Undoubtedly much In the work is rococo to
those who rememb Dor whatits original purpose
was. The excessive pseudo.culture which in-
splred II was one OF those tiresome exaggera-
tons which dropped out Of mind utterly when
the public was, finally tired. IL Ia a tribute TO
the worth Of the work that il has not lost its
dependent Of the special theme, and would be
ensertaihR n gig. - eny see't ~ aIwSn 6 2 ths same
ask ssRsG the 0 @i Ssrn ai ID 4 z. she Ra y y; nag and Ds ~" says
she earns her Lying. Gilbert did not write his
wittiest line. But there are few such un-
tilbertian specimens In the text. Suliivan'S
IN usir does more than tho nhrpttO 10 kppp