The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-01-15
STAGE TOPICS OF INTEREST,
ruE spANJsH COMEDY or 1.-TWO
mons IN THE FIRE"
,,,ce johnson and Jessaline Rogers Re-
ouired to Initiate Aimee n Re)ane
I'm This weeks Re,i,ais OF NAM
.,elle" and madame Sans Gene

inst nights novelty at the Irving race
1bea,re. Two Irons in the Fire is a
,ra,s,ation OF "Zwei Essen In Feuer, which
.uo,,bre pobre Todo Estrazas' was called
,,hen 4, received it's first American pro-
dnction. Calderon was its author, M
friedrich Adler had translated II. The
.cane was laid In Madrid and the story,
divided into three acts. was very I've
tlonal. II was another case OF two men
closely resembling each other and thus
causing endless silly il not quite impossible
p,is,akas. The old fiction has varied In
no wav. situations that have served in half
Tho comic operas OF the last century being
rsed as main Incidents. Even in the must
cal farces they are given second places.
hu, these MISUNDERSTANDING that the au-
dience was thoroughly prepared for were
depended upon TO cause surprise ana merri-
mcnt.
tot his benefit and acted the leading
ale eycellently. He was not particularly
Snanish. nor indeed were other actors sug-
gestive of ANYTHING more LATIN una a
ConTied has many good actors in his COM
pany. aud they do as well as the Murray
HIf and American players In learning
parts quickly and playing them adequately
hui II is an organization with distinct hni-
,aIious. brought forciblv TO mine when IL
tpie. TO- sppear in anything but a thoroughly
German drama. American and English
o,tors and the best of Germany suggest II
they do not actually embody foreign char
acters. but the Conried organization IN
yariably fails. Memories OF last springs
weiner w(irst Camille" were recalled by
last evenings Terrace Garden adaptation
Of Spain.
The leading actresses Of our two repertory
stock companies are transformed TINS
week into limitations OF Partisan comedi-
onnos. Alice johnson of the Murray Hill
changes her speech and manner neatly in
assuming the role that Jessop and Gill
wrote in -Mam'zeller for Aimee and in
which that saucy French woman, Miss
johnson. is felicitous in the hesitant and
mispronounced English, sacrificing none
Of the n~aturalness of her acting in the I'M
usual expression Of II. The play is like
the many French farces that have each a
new name, but the same old plot. Paris
Is still dclighting in the clandestlnely CAV
husband, the deceived wife and the other
persons who get giddy in the first act
whirl wildly in the second and come to a
stop in the third. But the middle one has
an oddly in a stage set for a risky singers
Speciality, which the vulgar manage an
uounces deliberately and which she gives
pleaslngly At the end OF IL violent up
piauSa comes from a box. There sits an
eNciahle Frenchman, who at intervals
tries TO climb to the stage and embrace
his wandering niece. and Ia prevented
by the manager, sometimes with violence.
The hubbub and surprise OF that excite.
meIt in the audience have not subsidized
when a man and a woman run down a side
aisle and enter a Dol opposite the French
man. The woman Is lou and the man
il irving To quiet her. She sees herfaithless
husband In the wings, and her companion
Is her brother. Her rage ends In a faint
IN her brothers arms, but not until she
has divided attention with the uncle, who
II still striving To get across the footlights.
Just az things begin to settle dow enough
for the actress TO sing again, a mar rises
In the middle OF the parquet and yells abuse
at her. He il the jealous lover. An usher
tries In vain u silence him and calls Tor a
policeman, who elects this disturber. and
'Mam'zelle' settles down 70 a conven-
tional last act.
The French part that Jessallne Rogers
Of the American Is required TO act Is one
that has been a stumbling block 10 ac-
tresses Of acknowledged genius. One could
hardly expect Miss Rogers 20 succeed
where Ellen Terry ana Ada Rehan have
failed But m does not take the same
standards for judgment Of a Greenwall
company production, hustled together In
Ave days. as one employs In measuring
the cXceilenos Of a performance by an
Irving or a DAILY company. the result Of
many months Of study and research Miss
Rogers fills the general requirements Of
Sans Gene admirably. suggesting her
coarse violence strongly. her absurdIty
rather f~arcially and her depth and vigor
with fine dramatic ~elOquence The Parlsi-
enne Ia never suggested. hut then illon
Terry and Ada h.han failed in uiat essential
phass ~ the c~tAractef There are o-raIu
parts In the French rep"rtory that ouly o.
French woman can really play Gabrielle
Rsians proved that when che -hosrd a. B
-aas GtHs that Hct a standard too hugh
for kehan, Terry of Agurs horma 4" reach
n has ha-n many tim"s brought o. ulud
ln p~arfounano-s 81 famtis. IA shlch tlt
LATIN temperament has horn some uurr
tho only lAck in o'her~ leo great iulpof-
sOnAtuin
The revival a. tho American 10 paulrl-
lahy good and worth -s-.ing Safd.Y q
UlaiedY L. technically faulty lu srk,Ial
says. Iauioulany ga tho lalh - UuntluuluH
IHngrrrs aud development iE stDfS and
ifamaur incidents Bot ~ De- lrtrflU'
.'ss . very Interesting play ~t-ll't' stt
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q a. ais1Hans period be- fr.u'h history
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