The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-10-14

wife. Then his presence Is discovered, The
faithful mother stills stands stanch Tor him.
She shields him with the falsehood that she
induced him to hide until she could plead for
his forgiveness, But rs soon az she IL left
alone with him, her grief aud shame break
out in heartbroken yet positive remuneration
The sudden change OF manner Il complete
and 1t gives fine force to the plays one truly
dramatic situation.
Blanche Walsh has a srell Of polished COM
pdy and one OF rough melodrama in "Marcelle "
For the former her stately beauty - displayed
in q Iompadour toilet Of a fine lady Of u CEN
fury and a half ago in quebec, when French
fashions prevailed In that city. MIR. Pre-
brcy likes to write in the vein OF old comedy,
aud hr shows pruiCicncy IN It. The rnrIort
in this example or his work j. not altogether
clear To the careless observer, Tut every one
compartments that u liugurnot girl las been
, abducted from France 10y 4 villaiuuuS poll
tician. that on ~hiphuaId he has been thWaitrd
hy her true lover, an lnglt-lnai, and that
She and this hero are figuring III quebec ~
adhrrrnt- OF the French while really serving
~ spies for the English bc-irger,. There IS
"a vicious old %courtirr to annoy her. "a hru>qur
Official to SUSPECT Ter. a misguided brother
10 increase her Ierll~, and 4 brave but rash
husband to further oumpllcttr her ur"dlCa-
mrut. But She has II ready VII. and she holds
out against her foes and controls her friends
a, the hrruInr- Of old comedies are wont To do.
Mis-, Walsh figures we'll in that Kind " acting
She Is imrerIou~, resour,ciul. dominating
and grandiose in way, that are admirable IN
stage ladies Of white powder. pink paint and
black patches. From that old comedy fourth
act of Maroelle' Miss Walsh pas-r, on To u
NTH act Of modern mclOdrama Her exploits
us L spy have been beneficial TO the English,
but disastrous to herself. She is now a captive
In the hands Of the most evil II her Prosecutors
The man who exported her from France,
aud has grown more and more sooun-
drelly during the drlaN of his evil design. The
villain and the victim are IN a room together,
The doors are locked on the outside by his
coutriyan,c. lie ell, her that he can no longer
escape from his pursuit. She pleads and pro-
tests. lie Is mrrCllr--. While the Cauuous
ot Moutcilm and Wolfe are heard booming In
a distant battle the man and the glrl light by
themselves. It goes from words 20 deeds,
| She runs from table 10 chair and sofa for de
fence. and his ASSAULT, drive her from one ref
uge alter another, She Is hreathle~S and eN-
hiusted but desperately reaolute. She learns
that the house il mined. and that a fuse in the
| floor leads TO a ~gunpowder magazine below,
She will die rather than surrender. She sei2es
Il candle and lights the train. lie tries TO stamp
1 VIZ Nv NlFEAllA ANNF' w. hh 7 Nv IT, ''i'l'h
rises through the flooring to enveloIe the ter
rined man and the resigned girl. The e1plo-
sion comes. The house j. shattered. and tie
villain is killed. but some way or other the
heroine i left unhurt, and the hero il there TO
clasp her in his arms. All Of which is no more
wildly improbable than things that happen
in some Of the highly regarded stage romanoes
Of the day.
May Robson does not figure az a star In self
and Lady. nor does she play the part in the
farce that a leading actress would be likely to
choose However. her originality Of cOncep-
ton and her participation in tho principal scene
make her the best remembered thing in the
play There il not much in self and Lady"
To distinguish it from the numerous other Palais
Royal pieces Of marital ~inhdelity + VI Hol-
land Is an elderly gay dccciver. and Fritz vii
liams has less age and wickedness. Maggie
Holloway Fischer Is a viNenish old wife, and
Isabel Irving q trusting Young one There are
the roGuish maid servant, the frisky skirt dancer,
the operate tenor, the CoVuettiSh milliners and
the discreet Wallets and walters All are there,
and all are assembled in the second act at an
all-night restaurant The oddity in this riot
NJ conventionality is Miss Robson as a fasCina,-
ING Spanish dancer The part Is as usual rs
any Of the plays other matter, but the treat
ment * original The first surprise j. in tho
actre->'- appearance Miss Roh~on'S name
on a programme i n promise Of eccentriCity.
This time she does not speak for almost a minute
after her entrance Not until the first sound
Of hor shrill voice docs she receive the applause
always bestowed on n favorite Her makeup
is oyacgcratiye. but not in her usual way. She
l. almost beautiful To look tho Spaniard she
darkcns her complexion, hlackens her oye-
lids and wears n luNuriant WIG ~ jet Her
gown IS 2 black satin. deliberately spangled
and showing q mass Of scarlet lingerie. The
audience docs not quite know how 10 accept
hcr So attractive a parsonage Is nof 70 ha
nronsidara'ely ridiculed Net Miss Robson
has not turned At this late DAY TO soriousnessl
Her manner resembles OLGA Nethersole', or
more nearly her own imitation # that actress
in "Sapolio 20 She i sudden aud melodramatic
in hcr changes from passionate love 10 equally
spanish hate II is in artistic hurleSque, almost
As fine n Jcssia Nillvard'S acting in My Tady's
Lord" when she was apparently seriously in
tera-'irC, hut kept an undsrcurrent Of mockary
In tha. case the play was wholly in that vein
and failed because the public did not take the
trouble 10 understand u Clever a. Miss Rob
son j.. she would be more popularity appreciated
If She were less subtle and unique In this
scene a man has engaged Room s In a hote
for supper with his own wife She has heard
him sing Faust and, not knowing him 10 he her
husband, has made arrangements 20 meet him
Vickcdly lie docs not recognize her hand
writing. and she signs herself a countess Sho
DISCUSSES herself in a black cloak and veil. and
So doe, tho eccentric old wife, whose spouse Is
there with three milliners. The Spanish dancer
and the tenor are in Room :. the very mention
nf which apartment Is supposed to suggest sin
N flaming rcd OF course. the old beau goes
in there 10y mistake and il thrown out by the
dancer Likewise. Of course. the old wife Is
revealed and gets the blame that doesn't belong
to her The young wife escape undiscovered
10y her husband, and. to complete the round Of
action, the hirtatious houscmaid is kissed by
every man in the piece All this started in
Pink Dominoes" Where will II end?
MUSIC " MUSICIANS.