The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-12-27
CAST OF CHARACTERS.

LIE sMoyne and company.
CAST OF CHARACTERS.
John Churchill Duke of MARI
borough Harold Russell
ROBERT Harley Frederick Paulding
Doctor Swift ............ Joseph Wilkes
Richard Steele ........ Frank A. Conner
Colonel Jack Hill Charles d. Pitt
IlaeIiosi ;............... ...A Xel. Bruun
Lord V1lliers ............... John Vincent
LORD Chamberlain 1900. Gilbert Douglas
SoiS ....... OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. EDWIN James
An Usnef ............... +. A. HowsOn Jr.
queen Anne ...,.......... Mary E. Barker
MIS-. Masham Nora O'Brien
The Lady Taraminta - Ina Brooks
Tho Lady Susan Villiers. .CorneHa Hunter
Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough-
Sarah Cowell LIE Moyne
Rarely, save in sculptured frieze or
Grecian gem, does one find the classic
face and stately beauty that laughed
and wept alternately through the pages
OF Matters play last night as Sarah,
first Duchess of Marlborough Even
more rarely does it happen that the
stranger Who comes to this city for the
flrst time, no matter how great the fame
that may have preceded him or her.
achieves triumph SO signal and well de-
served. Mrs. LIE Moyne has abundant
reason to fe1icitate herself that she won
her au-ence so completely Possibly
there was feeling of sympathy for her
bravery IN attempting to play at all
last night, suffering as she was, from a
hoarseness that must have made her
every utterance but little less than tor
ture. Despite the handicap, however,
she succeeded in winning the appreciation
OF her auditors and was rewarded at
the end. of each act, even the last, with
repeated curtain calls
Nor was her hoarseness the only dis
advantage with which Mrs LIE Moyne had
to contend. The play in which she
made her appearance is not a strong one
AMI the demands made upon her are not
nearly commensurate with her capacity
1t is an historic drama the scenes Of
| which are laid in the court of Queen
Anne, and has to do with the efforts of
the Duchess of Marlborough to preserve
the reputation of her husband, John
Churchill, Duke of Marlborough against
the Vaccinations of INSCRIPTIONS plot
ters who, fearful of his growing prestige
with the queen, seek his abasement in
the eyes of Ills royal mistress It is a
story of plot and counterpart interesting
in the main and fairly well told but ar
ranged with but little regard for the
laws of dramatic construction, and in
more than one place dull to the extent of
being tiresome.
fact that it seems to mirror, with con-
siderable accuracy, the manners of an
age when women, under the stress of i'm,
pulse or excitement, did not hesitate to
use language that would scarcely be
tolerated in a modern drawing room, and
that would subject the user nowadays
to oStracism from select social circles.
What the piece seems to lack most is
dramatic strength. There are no places
where the action is tense, no situations
that hold the spectator in an attitude CT
suspense. There are some good scenes.
notably the one in the third act where
the duchess, indignant at being refused
an audience with the queen. bursts into
the room and on being informed of the
reason for the slight, hurls the lie in the
face of the woman at whose hands she
has suffered such contumely. But they
are few-too few.
But even were the play less mediocre
than it really is, the genius of Mrs. LIE
Moyne, for whom it seems to have been
written, and who dominates the stage
for the greater part of the four acts,
would vivify it and make it acceptable.
A face that is capable of expressing
every form of emotion; eyes that can
blaze with indignation or melt with
womanly tenderness; action that Is Who'll
ly void Of self-consciGusness and untaiut-
ed by affectation; naturalness in every
movement and unstudied grace in each
gesture-these are some of the factors
that make Mrs. LIE Moyne one of the
most finished artists that the theater-
goers of the city have ever had the priv
nege of seeing. AS the loving wife OF
a husband whose advancement was the
one thing in all the world of which she
was proudest, and whose reputation she
jealousy guarded. she was a creature
of many moods, defiant or suppliant as
seemed best suited to her purpose
Throughout her work was consistent, fin
iShed and convincing, and stamped her
as one of the greatest of the few really
talented women who are on the stage
today. Words are quite inade1uate to
set for the beauty of her art. It must
be seen to be properly appreciated.
The supporting company is not wholly
satisfactory. The John Churchill of Har-
old Russell is a virile piece of work, not
entirely free from blenish, but in the
main satisfactory. AS much cannot be
said for Frederick Paulding, whose i'm
PRESERVATION of Robert Harley was color
less and lacking in strength. Mary Z.
Barker was wholly satisfactory as the
vacillating queen, and Nora OBrien was
adequate to the demands of the role of
Mrs. MaSham. The remainder of the
company was mediocre. The piece is
well staged, and the costumes are those
of the period at which the action is sup
posed to take place.
Mrs. LIE Moyne will be at the Metro
politan for the remainder of the week
a matinee will be given Saturday aft
ernoon.