The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-04

Tha; is the gist Of the whole matter.
The usual amount of cant followed the
local presentation of The Only Way" an
adaptation of Charles Dickens "A Tale
OF Two Cities" Whenever = tactful and
I crafty playwright dramatizes some poPu-
! lar novel without using the very dregs OF
what may be in the hundreds of pages CT
| that novel, there Is no scarcity of wise
acres TO cry proclamation" and degrade
tion," When the aforesaid playwright,
driven to extremes. neglecjs to centrailEe
the interest in a single character, ana
adopts individuals and incidents that have
naught 10 do with the character. the work
fails inevitably and unqualifiedly. This is
the condition.
Freeman Wills is not the first man VINO
has arranged a Tale OF Two Cities" for
the stage. German Or. Adolph Leon
made a version of the story. which was
performed at Vienna in 1890. y second
and much better version was enacted
through the English provinces under the
title of For Her S.ke.' Both pieces were
notable for their absolute fidelity TO the
smallest details of the original. Neither
stood The test of review or the judgment
of the public. The Only Way on the
other hand. was done at the Lyceum The
atre. London. in February, 1899, by an | n
known member OF Sir Henry Irving's sup
porting company. 1t survived necessary
removal to the Prince of Wales. house
hitherto exclusively given TO comic opera,
where. except for few weeks devoted by
Martin Harvey to Liverpool and like
towns, it ran until month ago. Henry
Miller's rendering of the offering won him
a place that he never had occupied before,
has made half a fortune, and outlasted
time at the Herald Square and the Garden
Theatres, in New York. Folk who believe
that the ar of play must be measured
by the line that passes the box office CT
the resort at which it is being shown may
find REPUTATION of adverse criticism in this
fact.
As matter of verify. literal transcript
ton of Dickens masterwork is impossi-
bic. The novel is an exceedingly long one
and its available creations and episodes are
almost numbeTiess. In "A Tale OF Two
Cities" there is material for a Chinese
comedy. That the book WAS written with
a view TO its utilization behind the foot
lights there can be no question. 1t is even
probable that the author. who had ambi-
tions in that direction, intended TO so re-
construct the story himself That he or
anybody else could have done better than
did Mr. Wills is doubtful.
OF course, the clergyman dramatist
omitted a deal that the earnest reader of
Dickens might have been glad tn have
seen. He took the auditor from sydney
Cartons chambers to DR.. Manette's gar
den so slowly that arrived there, the afore-
said auditor found the victim of the Bas-
tile completely cured of the monemania
of which so much was made in "A Tale
of Two Cities DR.. Manettes return TO
his cobbleTs' bench. the struggle between
Lucie Manettes guardian angc. and the
wife of Defarge, the conversations with :he
wood-sawyer and dozens Of minor iHc:-
dents may have been missed. but their in
PRODUCTION was impracticable. Nor IS
there reason for condemnng sir. wis
because, from the unnamed acquain ance
of the tumbrils he formed Mimi. Many
Of the most artistic touches in the play
were due TO the presence of the gil, WHO
bore on the barrister so closely as to he
wholly desirable. The invented speech
of Sydney Carton, by which he amused
the populace humored it, nltte-ad It. and
finally convinced il that in obeying him,
it was commanding itself. constituted the
best episode of the stirring and admirable
tribunal scene.
Mr.. Wills managed TO maintain in sgd
ney Carton those qualities which render
him the most lovable character in fiction
perhaps. excepting Cyrano dc Bergerac.
With a mastery hand he painted the vices
and weaknesses and affections and gener-
osity that led TO Cartons noble act OF
abnegation and self-effacement. The law
yer never WAS made to boast Of his good
or bad traits and deeds, nor we're his
friends given the task OF explaining them.
Occasional speeches. odd bits of business,
looks, gestures, movements, gradually sug-
gested to the ignorant the soul of
Sydney Carton, than whom greater love"
had mo man" An apparently inconse-
quential phrase from Dickens here and
there aided ip,measurably in the portrai-
ture that loaned to the piece its wonder
full depth of pathos.
Despite the csnting mentioned above.
the title was nothing short OF an inspira-
ton. Could there have been fashioned a
name more eloquent than The Only
Nay"
In short, the season here has not brought
forth a play less amenable TO criticism
than was that which Henry Miller pre-
scented last week at the National. Mr..
Miller himself. in all his career, never be-
fore has had the opportunities existing in
the role of Sydney Carton. Never before
has he proved himself so worthy of those
opportunities. Those who know how to
Judge acting must have felt that he spoke
the truth when, on the scaffold. he said:
1T is far, far better thing that l do than
have ever done"
The audiences that witnessed Henry
Millers performances volunteered an ex-
PLANTATION OF the low average maintained in
contemporary theatricals. The writer saw
THE Only Way" twice during the local
engagement. On neither occasion did he
observe that the majority of those attend
ing evidenced the slightest intelligence,
let alone artistic tendency in their manner
of greeting the drama. Situations con-
tanning a world of hidden meaning were
taken for their superficial Significance, and
lines of great beauty were drowned in The
rustic of skirts and programmes. When
an incident or speech of real pathos mad
Z triflingiy humorous side, both houses
laughed noisily. And. every time that a
quiet piece OF business was being accom-
plished some person ,lexterously would let
fall an umbrella.
This was true from the first curtain to
the last. The wronged and maddened sister
Of Defarge was herd crying in another
room. The gallery Uttered. Sydney Car
ton looked at himself in the mirror. The
dress circle howled. he touched a wine
decanter in the gardens of DR.. Manette
The orchestra smiled broadly. I've
thought OF new wedding present" quoth
Nj. Lorry, fish knives" Fish knives!"
whispered every third woman seated.
Fish balls." exclaimed one behind the
writer. Sydney Carton encouraged Mimi
and a thousand eyes watched the dan
cling Comte de Fauchet He mounted the
scaffold, and the gathering reached about
for its wraps.
Frankly. having taken programme Space
in which TO express gratitude to members