The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-11-03

fectly than this new play, IF I We're
King its that gracefully finished act
o.. As a literary work it is one of
which Mr.. Mccarthy may well be
proud. He is as fortunate to have it
played by MIR. Sothern as is the latter
70 have a vehicle which so absolutely
suits him. The plot is unconventional.
The audience does not have to yawn
through the first act, sit up through
tho second and be at last interested in
the third, to go home at the fall of the
curtain and wonder why it was all so
dull at first The interest is aroused
from the first. and to my mind one of
Mr. Sothern's most brilliant bits is his
description of his piece of folly of a day
or so before, when he fell in love and
as a reward was belabored by a court
dandy. The mixture of Vagabond in
difference, regret, true love, pathos and
daredevil humor was a revelation. Mr..
Soihern is at all times on the stage
romantic and manly appearing To me
there is no actor living who so wildly
recalls the loved Edwin Booth in his
stage appearance, walk and at times
his voice. Let Mr., Sothern studiously
cultivate these points of similarity, for
the mantle Of that great dead genius
has not fallen on any of those yet
shown to the world.
As Francois Villon we first see Mr.
Sothern in a tavern among his life as
sociates, males and females of the low
est order, in Paris. Coarseness of all
kinds and lack of moral restraint char.
acterlze them. To this resort comes
the king, Louis XII, in disguise, prompt
ed by a dream that help will come to
him from the cutters TO save France.
He hears ribald remarks about himself
and criticism of his management of af-
fairs He finds that the ringleader is
Villon, who, half drunk, recites a poem
called If Villon Were the King of
France" In it he sets forth how much
better everything would be under those
conditions. Later, melted by the re-
quest of a court lady who seeks him
there, knowing he has fallen in love
with her Villon in a picked quarrel
pinks the disguised first constable of
France. For this he is to be instantly
killed, when the visiting stranger
claims him. When asked who he is, he
horrifies all by removing his disguise,
revealing the king himself.
Nillon is taken in a drunken sleep,
bathed. shaved and placed in a COR
geous room in the palace, to awake to
find at his command regal pomp, vas
sails and honors BETTING a king. His
bewilderment is increased when he is
dressed in princely robes and asked for
his orders. He dismisses his attendants
with feigned imperiousness and, in real
distress, asks the chamberlain who he
is supposed to be. He is informed that
he is the new first constable of France.
Later the king comes, and Villon is
cruelty told that he is having his wish
to be as powerful as the king of France
and when stupefied by such favor is
told that it is for seven days only at
the end of which time he is to be hang
ed. This horrible news is sarcastically
modified by the stipulation that if he
win the Lady Katherine, one of the
courts proudest and wealthiest beau
ties, he will be spared.
At the end of the seven days of power
France is victorious over the Burgun-
dams, and many troubles of state are
Strengthened out through the manage
ment of Villon. His last official act is
to sentence himself as Villon to death.
None but the king and chamberlain
knows his identity. The Lady Kath-