The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-01-28


Crawley was plotting and planning every
conceivable way to get into society; was
anything wbrse than the average brilliant
girl, hopeful for the position TO which her
attachments might have lifted her. Had
she not been remorseless, unprlncipled' anu
cruel, she never would have taken ad-
vantage ofSthe opportunities that onered'
But. had the opportunities not offered
Becky would hardly have courted them
Born of wealthy parents. bred IN renhe
ment and splendor. married TO man OIL
distinction and money, she might nave
been merely as are other such individuals.
Circumstances which she was too weak
and selfish to control were her undoing.
OF course. a definite conception of nc
tional character cannot be proven correct.
This. however seems a reasonable eX-
PLANTATION of Becxy's conduct. II is the
explanation which the writer drew from
Thackeray. and which Langdon Mitchell
apparently has given Mrs. Fiske.
At all events the Mrs. Crawley OIL
Curzon Street cannot be aptly described
as that sort OF woman
Despite all the ability &c Clyde Fitch
and David Belasco. by the way. and despite
all the crudenesses OF Langdon Mitchell
Becky Sharp" compares with 'Sappho
or "Zaza'' as a Titan study in the nude
compares with one of those vulgar back
drops which occasionally are seen at the
burlesque houses. In the novel, vanity
Fair" the career Of the principal per-
sonage is treated with the utmost delicacy
and caution. Undoubtedly. there are III
teiligent men and women who have read
Thaekefay's work without imagining that
there was anything in the least wrong
about the adventures introduced. Such
T. n in MI
effect depending both upon broadness and
comprehension. But, nevertheless, the
piece contains no line or situation that
could give offence. The task OF presenting
the heroine" in all her viciousness and
badness has been accomplished by sug-
gestion rather than by bald realization.
Even in the crucial third act, the spectator
practically is left to his or her own infer
ences. Mr. Mitchell is to be commended
for not having mistaken brutality FOR
strength or ribaldTy for atmosphere.
To say that Becky Sharp" is great
would be absurd: to call it wholly good
would be a mistake. Like "Sappho." 1t
is adequate as vehicle in which to dis
play the genics of a remarkable star. Only
enc bit in The play is really stirring. the
others relying for their power to please.
either on the personality and eleverness OF
the star or on the ability OF scenic artist
and stage manager. But the fact remains,
nevertheless. that Mr.. Mitchell has been
the first to succeed in putting Vanity
Fair into such shape that 1t is at all
possible. Certainly. the Offering interested
those who saw II last week. II enjoyed
long runs in New York aud Boston. In
brief II faulty and occasionally dull.
Becky sharp is one OF the seasons most
absorbing and deserving products. The
returns its Is bringing justify the state
ment.
Over at The Columbia where Stuart Rob-
son delighted his friends by proving to
them that his hit in "Oliver Goldsmith
had not been exaggerated, the auditor con-
tinualIy felt as did Alice. of Wonderland.
when she found herself meeting acquaint-
ances concerning whose readiness she had
been skeptcal before. To have the genial
author OF tShei Stops to Conquer put in
front of one's eyes seemed sufficiently
marvellous bnt. when T.. Samuel John
son. whose dictionary always had formed
halo for his head in the minds Of the less
erudite. was hauled through an exceeding
iy fast ceatuFytand set down again. trans
formed into a sort Of. supervising good
angel woEder came TO he at discount
The introduction of David Garrick. whom.
In June. The writer left comfortable lying
in Westninster Abbeyi of Edmund Burke
AMI Mr. Featherstone, and finally OF Mr.
Boswell tie biographer.zpr proved bewilder-
ing TO say the least Certain folk in the
Luckett & Dwyer house must have been
hoping that their dead creditors were under
tremendously heavy gravestones.
But then, after all. oliver Goldsmith
was quite like fairy fable. There $ as the
Beast. who loved a Beauty. and there were
a number of bad and malicious persons who
were doing their utmost to keep the two
apart And finally Just as these bad and
malicious persons seemed about to succeed.
Beauty discovered that the Beast really
was a prince in disguise and-well. the
story-teller didn't leave to the imagination
of his hearers the necessary fact that they
lived happy forever after. Instead. a
great many desirable things happened. one
OF top of another and the tale ended with
everyone who had watched 1t quite sure
that the bad and malicious persons would
be imDotent until pages beyond the last
chapter. This. practically. was oliver
Goldsmith--the most simple of simple
pieces.
In the simplicity of Augustus Thomas.
however, frequently is hidden his charm.
Mr., Robson's newest vehicle is only more
deiight full because Of the fact that 1t dis
cu,>u.. no problem and attempts TO lessol.
4 sweet, quaint. delicious little comedy is
Oliver Goldsmith a comedy that super
induces appetite for cheerful after theatre
supper and pleasant dreams over the
nightly pipe. He were a bitter man who
could quit the playhouse with the fall OF
DIE final curtain and still not let his
pessimism and misanthropy remain behind
in the seat He might call fer them on the
morrow-might the average iudiriduai-ior
pessimism and misauthropy are quite use
full in every day life But for Or. johnson
and Mr. Burke. even Goldsmith would
tave learned that. These qualities would
be homeless. however. until the morning.
The quiet straightforward beauty OF the
Offering even preeiudes the idea Of criti-
cism. The writer noticed. en- TUesday
evening. that the lath with which the poet
struck his tormentOr was plainly Dc igned
to break. but he did not smile; noticed
that Il box in the Goldsmith garret tore the
name of very modern soap. and he did
not carp The production Is pleasing fer
reasons that do not admit Of stiited expla-
nation and-that's enough.
On the ether hand "a Rich Mans Son. -
the William H. Crane effort was aggres-
sively annoying. 1t contained doctrine
in every line. and many Of these doctrines
were false. The supremacy Of money and
the absurdities of humanity and the gen.
eraI vrongness of everything was paraded
from the first curtain until the last The
| arguments offered we're not even consis-
J tent One had no sooner been told that
"spk-stocking socialism" was sickening
| and that .miilionaires. like less fortunate
| m0rlals. made theI bread by the sweat oI
then brows than one ran full into an ac-
| count OF the fashion in which the Rich
| Man" meeting Il trust stronger and less
| conscientious than himself. was obliged to
sell out or be wiped out" This Rich
,,-.e rGgbt al 10 ,sas if,npr-