New-York tribune., 1901-04-22
LONDON DRAMA.
A ROMANCE OF LOVE AFTER MARRrAcp
CHARM WITHOUT POWER IN
STAGE WRITING.
London. April Is.

tnan power on the stage. The remark has been
appiieu usually 10 actresses. Their technioue
might De good they might have beauty of face
ngure and voice. but If they lacked charm thew
would fail to attract audiences wh.rova
manager-actor has decided that an actres.
| whatever might be her other oual,fcat,on. ,or
the art Of acting was without charm he basre,
dered the final verdict. from which there could
be no appeal From actresses the test Of charm
has now been carried to plays. unless all signs
fail. A play may may not have power bu,
il 1t have charm. the box office will be conten,
and settle down for long, prosperous season
Some Of the crusty critics may enter a feeble
protest. They too. have their stock phrase
When they assert with soemnity that a plav
is mot convincing" they say their last word
and consider that there can be appeal from
it, The public. however. has strange habit
of patronzing plays which are condemned bv
critics as "unconvincing-" The wise critics who
do not care to condemn a play likely to have a
prosperous run, adjust their own and the actor
managers phrases. and announce with judicial
impartiality that while drama may not be
wholly convincing it has charm and cannot fail
to please the public.
Mr. H. V. Esmond's play at the ST
James's Theatre without doubt pleased the first
night audience, and the secret of the fascination
was neither power in motive, nor ingenuity in
construction, but brightness and charm in the
characters and dialogue. The first act intro
duced Mabel Vaughan. aged eighteen. flirting
with a penniless admirer. Jack Kennerley. in a
fashionable Bond-st. tea room and explaining
In a businesslike way what excellent man
ager her mother is and how sensible it is for
her TO marry a middle aged wealthy baronet
Sir Harry Mlanor. Her mother has told her
that the baronet is the best possible catch, and
she Is bent upon taking him after having
final fling with her real lover in Bond
ST. and at the Aquarium Strauss waltzes
are played by string band: mattresses hover
about the tables and fashionable people come
in for tea and mullins. Mabel Vaughan Is
warned by Of them that she is without a
chaperon. and is thrown into futter by the
unexpected entrance of Sir Harry Milanor
With presence of mind she audaciously saves
the situation by claiming the acquaintance Of
sleepy dowager at the adjoining table. and
meets the baronet under semblance of chap
eronage. The lover is jauntily dismissed with
a whispered word about the appointment for
the Aquarium. and the baronet receives SYM
pathetic consolation when he talks about escape
from the fashionable wilderness into retired
haunt OF his childhood. where he can breathe
pure air and dream about fairies
The second act contains similar revelation Of
| fascinating charm without dramatic power The
baronet has found "a lodge in some vast
wilderness" where he can talk unaffectedly 10
prosaic stock jobbing Uncle Joe about the beau
ties OF nature and overlook the pastime OF
pair Of children who have brought into the
woods dried haddock and a few bones as dain-
| ties for fairies Mabel, who under the clever
management of the matchmaking mother has
\ followed the baronet into the country, keeps
tryst in this fairy lair with lover. Jack Ken
nerley. and virtually asks him TO marry her
| after he has kissed her. He declines because
neither he nor she has an assured income;
and she dismisses him with contempt. The
sentimental baronet finds her in melting
mood and falls into her arms when
she confesses her interest in fairies. and avows
| that she would marry him if he were penniless.
She Is without love for him. but puts the busi-
ness through with practical talent. although not
| with sufficient dispatch 10 avoid hysterical re-
gret for her fibbing: and the children come In TO
] see II the fairies have carried off the dry had
| dock and bones. There is nothing exceptionally
| ingenious in the construction of this act, and
/ the stern dramatic critics right In wagging
| their heads over what is uncOnvineing in the
| innocence of the rich barOnet but the acting is
| excellent. and while the motive OF the story IS
| not clear. the audience has been charmed with
| bright passages OF dialogue and CLEANS OF char
acter
\ The third act presupposes an interval OF sew
| eral months. during which Sir Harry and Mabel
have found themselves we'll mated ana happlIy
| married. The girl has married for money in the
| most sordid way. but she has discovered what
real love is and adores her husband When her
former lover returns from the wars and seeks
! to renew his endearments she orders him out or
| the house. When he produces a letter written 10
him when she coolly setting her cap for the
rich baronet she determines TO tell the truth
unmoved by the entreaties and expOstulations
of her worldly minded mother. who would
| leave we'll enough alone. Before she can
| make confession the husband has picked
up and read with agony of mind the incriminat-
ing letter with its plain statement that she was
marrying for money. for love The stock
! jobbing Uncle Joe tries TO quiet him with COM
| monplace moralizing. but the husband. who Is
an idealist without reproach, takes all the blame
upon himself. curses himself for darkening the
life of sympathetic and unselhsh young
| woman. and makes preparations for leaving the
house and relieving her of his uncongenial pres
ence. In the nick of time the wife makes the
| long deferred confession Sat she had married
him for his money, and instead of repenting at
leisure and solacing herself with Irritation with
former admirers had fallen deeply in love with
him. When each is bent upon leaving the
| other for loves sake it is not diff-
| cult TO effect compromise; and so the
curtain comes down after husband and wife have
| wept together and finally embraced each other.
| 1t is perhaps sorry commentary upon the NOR
ais of the time that this eminently pure and do
mestic ending of the play should have the effect
| of novelty. II not of startling surprise The final
scene of the third act is pronounced highly dra-
tionai spectators of the first night tears; yet
l contained nothing ma rLxab