New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-10-21

lies The noble lord, whom she has rescued
from intemperance and a garnet, aids and abets
this intrigue of mendacity. The murderer,
haunted with remorse, has recourse to falsehood.
and incidentally is allowed to go unpublished.
The chief villain Of the play is dragooned into
telling a lie and then shoots himself. The gods
of the gallery not convinced that the end
1ustifes the means.
The Lyceum play is mainly interesting as the
first attempt to make dramatic use Of the war
in South Africa a source Of public enter
tainment. Mr. Halves Craven has fine study
of perspective IN a sunset view of the
veldt; a series of skirmishes between the
British and the Beers is managed with skill
and close approach to realism, and the ex-
plosion of a shell in the Grand Hotel at Kimber-
ley is a triumph Of stage mechanism. The capt
ure of a British officer by a squad Of burghers.
the rifng of the mailbags. the exhibition of
wounded and MANNED veterans the commissa-
riat of Kimberley in war time and many other
South African incidents are illustrated, but the
only episode that excites emotion is the home
coming Of the soldiers in an English village with
stirring martial music and the reunion of fami-
lies and friends. These incidents Of the war
would be effective for stage use at this time
If there were a good plot for melodrama be-
hind them to connect them, and If there were
not grave faults of Judgment and taste in the
exposition of the motives of the chief characters.
Treachery of the basest kind is the principal
trait which is revealed IN the combatants
each side as portrayed in this drama. The Out
lander whose wrongs are at the base Of the
English for intervention and hostilities,
who had left his child on the doorstep Of a cOun-
try inn after the death of his wife, and led for
twenty years a life of rascality among mining
camps and was ready to act a spy for the
Beers in war time and TO accept a bride for the
o.ce Of he Of fp1bo IpX-
The Beers are exhibited as capturing British
officer and, instead of treating him humanely,
condemning him to DEATH file of burghers be-
ing ordered to shoot him ten minutes after he
had been entrapped. The officer himself, In
stead Of meeting death without fllnching, turns
coward begs for life, AID agrees to lead the spy
into Kimberley to assassinate the Governor. who
is his intimate friend aud when this crime has
been committed he winds Up his career by
abandoning woman whom he haA seduced and
seeking to entrap an heiress into marriage by
blackening the character OF his rival. The three
types the OutIander, the Boer and the British
officer are presented r. the blacklist possible
colors. and the only relief offered fer all this
pessimisn Is the romantic affection OF Red
Cross nurse for tipsy lord in uniform. THIS .
a perverse method Of inventing meIodrama az
the close of a protracted war, when there should
be magnanimity to a conquered foe and naugh'
but glory and honor for the returning soldiers.
1t is not strange that the production Of this
meIodrama at the Lyceum Theatre. following as
It does two Nell Gwyns at other theatres and
the revival of problem plays on one stage after
another is regarded by the mOralists Of the day
as sign of the decline and degradation Of the
drama The best thing that the optimist can
say is that while Sir Henry Irving lives there Is
hope for good drama, and that there are some
orTr1ar, nf highest
class Among these would give the first place
~ .Iulius Caesar" at Her Majesty's Theatre. 1
have recently witnessed 1t and found the per-
Torrance strong, symmetrical and well balanced
and greatly improved since the opening night a
war ago MI Tree as Antony is really
great: Mr.. Waller plays in the spirit Of Edwin
Booth as 1 remember him thirty years ago; MI
Taber, as Cassius, is exceptionally strong; Miss
Calhoun. as Portia has the richest and most
nnelodious voice to be heard ON the English
stage. and the mob is the best have seen in
anv theatre. There is also the promise at the
same theatre of work Of great power and
haautv-Mr Phillips's "Herod," which is now in
rehearsal for early production. Those who have
seen 1t in the preparatory stages predict that
audiences will be deeply impressed with its
human passion as well as by It's gorgeous color
ing and thrilling movement and the rhythm OF
the verse Mr.. Tree is treating this play with
poetic feeling, ana IL VIII De set rorIh 10 the oeS
possible advantage
The Haymarket. moreover, is about to be re-
opened by the regular company with The
School for Scandal" and the old English COM
edies are always presented there in a sympa-
thetic spirit and with artistic skill. Mr.. Ben
sons company will also produce eight or nine
plays of Shakespeare at the Comedy Theatre
during the winter, including The Merry wives
of Windsor" "Coriolanus" and Henry ~,
with more familiar works such as The Tanning
OF the shrew." AS You Like It. Hamlet"
Richard II" The Merchant OF Venice" and
Much Ado About Nothing" Through the In
strumentality OF Mr.. Gray Hin. Of Liverpool.
limited liability company has been formed for
enab Iing MI Benson TO persevere in his efforts
10 provide theatregoers with entertainments OF
an educational value; and this is Of itself a good
sign for the stockholders who have supplied
him with capital have done not for specu-
lative purposes but from genuine interest in
pood drama and from a sincere desire 10 elevate
nublic taste Mr. Hill is Of the most
cessfll solicitors in England, with great bust
ness which engrosses much Of his time. but he
"a also a Shakespearian scholar with cultivated