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 a tactful and
Z crafty playwright; dramatizes some popu-
: lar novel without using the very dregs OF
I what may be in the hundreds of pages OF
/ that novel. there rs no scarcity Of wise
acres TO cry proclamation and degrade
I tom" When the aforesaid playwright,
! driven to extremes. neglccjs TO ceutraiize
! the interest in single character, ana
adopts individuals and incidents that have
naught TO do with the character. the work
fails inevitably and unqualihedly. This is
the condition.
Freeman Wills is not the first man who
has arranged a Tale Of Two Cities Tor
the stage A German Or. Adolph Leon
made a version of the story. which vas
performed at Vienna in 1890. \ second
and much better version was enacted
through the English provinces under the
title OF For Her Sake 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, 1893, by an n
. KNOW N mt tHtI OF 0lI lElI- II ms = SUP
porting company. Il survived a necessary
removal to the Prince Of Wales, a house
hitherto exclusively given TO comic opera,
where. except for few weeks devoted by
Martin Harvey to Liverpool and Ike
towns. 1t ran until a month ago. Henry
Millcr'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 art of a play must be measured
by the line that passes the box office OF
the resort at which il is being shown may
find refutation of adverse criticism in this
fact
AS a matter OF verify. literal transcript
ton OF Dickens masterwork is imp0ssi-
BILE. The novel is an exceedingly long one
and its available creations and episodes are
almost numberless. In a Tale Of Two
Cities there as material for a Chinese
comedy. That the book was written with
d view 10 its utilization behind the foot
lights there can be no question. Il 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
or course the clergyman -dramatist
omitted a deal that the earnest reader OF
Dickens might have been glad to have
seen. He took the auditor from Sydney
Cartons chambers 10 Dr. Manatte'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" Or. Manette's return 10
his cObbleTs bench. the struggle between
Lucie Manette's guardian angel and the
wife of DefaTge. the conversations with me
xood-sawyer and dozens Of minor i"C,-
dents may have been missed. but their in
PRODUCTION was impracticable Nor is
there reason for condemning ar wills
because. from the unnamed acquaintance
Of the umbrils he formed Mimi. Many
Of the most artistic touches in the play
were due 20 the presence Of the gil. WHO
bore on the barrister so closely as 10 he
wholly desirable The invented speech
OF sydney Carton. by which hs amused
The populace. humored ii. filtered Il. and
finally convinced il that. in obeying him,
il was commanding itself constituted he
best episode OF the stirring and admirable
tribunal scene.
Mr. wills managed to maiataja in sgd
ney Carton those qualities which render
him the most loyable character in fiction
perhaps, excepting Cyrano de Bergerac.
With a mastery hand he painted the vices
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 10 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 UNNECESSARILY in the portrai
ture that loaned TO the piece its wonder
ful depth Of pathos.
Despite the canting mentioned above,
the title was nothing short OF an inspira-
ton Could there have been fashioned a
name more eloquent than The Only
Way"
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
Those who know how to
judge acting must have felt that he spoke
the truth when. on the scaffold, he said:
1t is a far. far better thing that ! do than
I have ever done"
The audiences that Witnessed Henry
Miller's 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,