The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-02-20
At THE THEATERs.
METROPOLITAN.

IL Is Inc love tnat uYetn unto Death
and beyond that Is portrayed In THE
Sign Of the Cross" which opened for the
week last night at the Metropolitan. The
dramatic mechanism employed to pro-
duce so powerful play Is the rather I'M
usual combination of superstition, fanat-
icism, the jealousy of woman and the
abysmal depths of sardonic cruelty and
hatred as depicted in Nero.
There is an inconsistency in the pro-
fessed love of a woman for one whom she
Is willing to lead by the hand to his
death-a death under the red fangs OF
wild beasts. This Is the acme Of cruelty,
and cruelty and love are not kindred SEN
timents One cannot but feel that all
dramatic unities would have been far bet
ter preserved, that the holy passion of true
love might have been better exemplifed
In 1.-THE Sign of the Cross had Mercia
even given her soul for the life OF the
man she loved. Women have done this
in real life, at least, and the heroic deed
has been sung in song. told in story and
limned in dramatic literature.
And yet, of the great Christian-notived
plays now competing with each other In
this country, THE Christian" ben
Hurr' and "The Sign Of the Cross, +"
the latter is certainly the strongest dram
attic presentation. The others are newer.
The simplicity of the plot is enhanced
a hundred fold by the heroic grandeur OF
time, place and environment A young
Christian girl, buried in the solitude OF
religion, retrospective in thought, and
dead to the world through imagined sane
tification and the daily impress OF the
faith of her race. Is thrown into the vol
uptuous, debauched society of the Ro-
man court In the reign of Nero. Twice
her life is saved by Marcus Superbus, and
through the fast gathering gloom of per-
sonal disaster she catches few CLEANS
of the sunshine of human love. But
though the icicle may melt beneath the
fierce rays of the sun that feeds upon II,
her heart does not respond to passion
grand in its intensity. She moves as one
whose feet are earthbound, but whose
soul has already been liberated from It's
body and housed in paradise. The SOD
den carnality of an emperors court may
flaunt its vices In her face, she stands
amidst the registering men and wanton
women a crystal gem of purity, with
them, but not Of them. She appears sur
rounded by an atmosphere OF cold, pas
sionless etherealism. She rejects dis
honorable proposal, but with Scafeeiy
more energy than she rejects an honor
able proposal of marriage. Really II Is
difficult for the practical mind TO con-
ceive a sane motive for such self-abne-
HE condition for Mercia Is when her loyai
lover accepts her remuneration OF HE ana
agrees to share death with her.
Of course here are the elements Tor
strong pIay. a series of sensational cpl
sodes and climaxes which, naturally lehu
70 rivet the attention Of an audience WIZ,
the chastity unfolding of all the morbid
details. 1.-The Sign of the Cross IL hot
new to ST. Paul. It has been seen beIofe'
and many there were among the audience
last NIGHT who had reveled In spectacle
Of the torture in the dungeon ana hearo
the roar of the coliseum audience as 1t
welcomed new victims to the blood-drip-
ming fangs Of lions and tigers. but WAS
If mt the same morbid curiosity that at
traeted the Roman wives ana daughters
TO the amphitheater where early Chras-
tians were slain!
Mr.. Charles Dalton has the leading part
Of Marcus Superbus, project or Roine.
He presents a strong, yirlle character
manly as a soldier and tender as a lover.
In every way his acting in this role is
satisfactory, and the audience lasl ntsht
amply testified to this fact.
To Mr. W. E. Bonney, as Nero, praise,
almost unqualified praise, Is due. Ills
conception of the character is distinctly
original AS a man worn by pleasure and
senile in his youth, his yirility wasted ana
memory on the wane, yet filled with
surfeit of malignancy, he depicts nim.
1t is we'll done.
The Mercia Of Miss Lille Thulow was
amply commensurate to the part assign
ed her in the cast and does full justice
to the authors conception Of an early
Christian maiden-one who, having hvec
SO long in the shadows Of cruelty in this
world. is anxious to break Into the light
of heaven.
The antithesis of Mercia is the Beren1s
of Miss Agnes Scott. In her part we are
given the warm, innpulsive, passionate
italian woman, a flesh and blood woman,
of the earth earthly In the third and
fourth acts she does most excellent work
in the two scenes with Marcus, and won
appreciative recognition. As whole, the
London company presenting The Sign of
the Cross" is fully the equal of any seen
in st. Paul, and good business through
out the week is assured. 1t is a great
play-one Of the best-py most excellent
people 1t will be seen at the usual
Wednesday and Saturday matinees, with
a special performance the afternoon
of Washington's birthday r. T. S.
GRAND.
Tomorrow at 2:30 the first popular
priced matinee of "McFadden's Row of
Flats" will be given at the Grand There
will also be a special matinee at cheap
prices on Washington's birthday for
which seats are now on sale.
Secret Service William G.1lette's war
nlav comes to the Grand next week