The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1900-02-06
PROVIDENCE OPERA HOUSE.


Frank Turner .......... sydney Booth
capt. Dan Marble James A. Herne
Freeman Whitmarsh ....W. T. Hodge
George Salter, .........,.C. Dibden PITT
Hosa stevens .....,, John II. Garrick
JIM ADAMS ............-..,,1- II. Burke
Ed Mills ..................R Robert Cling
Mrs. John Russell ...... Mrs. Sol Smth
Elizabeth Ann Turner Marion Abbott
Martha Reese ........... Julie \. Herne
Jane Cauldwell ..... Chrystal Herne
Frances Towd ....,....... Jessie D0dd
Miss Raily .a.....H HARRIET Mcdonald
Susan Murphy ......Gcrtrude Bindley
In the building OF a James A. Herne
play there must bc lots of realism and
repose In the keel. a baby In the gar
board streak and in the mldship Sec
tion dinner with something real and
hot 20 eat as well as the stage celery.
which even in the most palpable stage
feast. must be provided FOR the diners
60 visibly chew. These being laA and
fitted the work may then proceed 20
the launching
In sag Harbor," which opened last
evening at the Providence opera house.
all these essentials are in evidence i'm
the construction. ~ anything the real
ism and repose factors are more than
commonly pervasive. The dinner is
skinny compared 10 that famous
Thanksgiving feast In "Shore Acres"
The baby is about as usual There
may be distinctions IN babies. but
much difference is not 10 be looked
for
The baby In sag Harbor" is n
charming success, nevertheless The
programme fails 20 inform rs whether
the baby is regularly attached 10 the
company or Is picked up I'm Providence,
some other 10 be substituted al the
next stand. Ii this weeks Sag Har-
bor' baby is local talent, however IL
Is TO be especially congratulated FOR its
fine stage presence. it's rare restraint at
critical situations and the delightful
abandon with which II takes it's cues
and fills the centre OF the stage. Never
was strong thinking part interpreted
with more faithfulness or with so much
delight 20 the audience-in the case OF
this part. the spectators-than is done
by the sag Harbor' baby
The baby has the stage for the bet
ter part OF the last twos acts. But the
theme of babies runs through sag
Harbor" like a fuzzy little strand in a
big hawser There are babies past.
one present. and one In the future.
Capt Dan Marble. which Is Mr.. Herne.
finds difficulty I'm making progress with
winning "A wife because the woman OF
his choice has been much disturbed on
account of Genesis the quantity Of
"begat' there is in the first book OF
Scripture The nearer she approaches
: the old maid stage the more apprehen-
sive she becomes or the "begat fea-
ture of welded bliss. Capt Dan finally
overcomes her fears and before the
last act Mrs Marble has pleasurable
anticipation nf doing her due share OF
begatting herself
The widow Russell. delightfully."-
s.f Ia
real "old ladies" 4 the stage. whose
presence makes US doubt whether an
other generation will produce their
EQUALS. refers TO the baby Of the past.
Her late husband was whaling cap
tain. and. according to the village talk.
she mad TO go TO sea TO acquire her
baby.
The baby OF the present is the one in
evidence Ben Turner tMr. Forrest
Robinson) marries the orphan girl who
when he was a boy he rescued from
the alrnshouse. His bre--her. "A sailor is
also in love wiuh the girl Martha, win
ningly played by Miss Julie A. Herne.
and she Il appears had a girlish love
for him. The choice she makes brings
something of tragedy into their quiet
lives but in the end the baby helps 20
staighten matters out lncidentailyth
quarrel the two brothers engage I'm
over the girl they both love. offers
fine illustration of how the men I'm such
circumstances are prone 10 make fools
of themselves. playing toss with senti-
ment. and how the weaker sex can
view the situation with a sterner and
more practical sense calculated To save
all concerned from disaster. In Sag
Harbor" the rival brothers are STACEY
just as men I'm real life are often STACEY
under similar circumstances. But the
woman is real. as few women in play
are real. under such dramatic condi-
tions Martha Reese Is a creation that
Mr. Herne ought 10 feel especially
proud OF fathering. when the lover OF
her girlhood and her husband are IN
dulCing i'm sentimental row over herand
the latter insists on being as foolish as
most men under similar circumstances
in real life like 8o be she asserts her
self I'm an emineutly practical fashion
IN defense Of her .womanhood and her
child I'm a way to bring both fellows 20
their senses. The woman in a problem
play wouldn't behave Ike that of
course. She would make a bad matter
worse. But Mr. Herne doesn't write
problem plays.
As To the Sag Harbor" dinner. it's
chief dish is a smoking hot clam pie. It
looks real and ft smells real 20 the.au-
dience. But as the folks at dinner re-
strain themselves from eating Il and
devote all their attention to munching
the celery just as though the clam pic
were nothing mo- than a dusty piece
of paDier mache from the property
stores the dinner must he passed by "a
entitled TO no especial consideration as
"A feature OF sag Harbor."
The realism and repose that pervade
sag Harbor" are however, complete
They constitute the chief elements or
every part. the atmosphere OF every
act. They are painted into the scenery
and built into the appointments. Sag
Harbor' is as duiet and peaceful as the
place for which che play Is named. You
laughsa "a little. YOU cry little and for
the rest take placid enjoyment without
any specific emotion Ghrough the un-
folding of the plot-though, of coursa.
there isn't any plot. You simply sit
down and pass few stage years with
the sag Harbor" folk ~ selected and
portrayed by author and actors. You
pet into the atmosphere Of the place
YOU are introduced 90 tho people and
YOU participate I'm their joys and .sor-
rows through the experiences which 90
most ~ them arc Of the every day orr
der 20 n Few OF thcm critical. 10 none
of them anygh'n~ but pleasurahle I'm
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