The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-12-07

desperate. Dumas altered the names of
his plays and assigned their authorship to
the popular Scribe, the Clyde Fitch of the
French drama. Thus Anthony became
'LAmbitieux' The authorities passed them;
the performance took place and the drama
was applauded heartily. the critics being
exuberant in their praise. All of which
proves said Dumas maliciously, the great
advantage which my friend Scribe derives
from his reputation as a moral author
and his fellowship with the critics. Mr..
Came however, has not hid behind any
body's back and his play has succeeded in
spite of a furious personal TRADE; but,
like Dumas, he has the laugh on his de-
tractors"
In discussing the dramatization of novels,
and particularly the play made from Mary
Johnston's Audrey the dramatic critic
for the New York Sun. James Huneker.
says:
Then obsessed by the idea that novel
may be dumped the boards with few
costumes, some gaudy scenery, plenty of
dialogue and pretty situations. the enter
prising playwright ships. pastes, bois
down and labels the immature work OF an
enthusiastic girl whose knowledge of life
is confined to the reading of Ouida Marie
Corelli and few others. To Dumas she goes
for her adventures. for style to Corelli.
The compound is a pleasing one. 1t sells.
Money is made. And then the lure
of the footlights. This or something anala-
gous to this is the case of Audrey. which
was produced at the Madison-quare last
week
1--WE have not read the original. We con-
| fess to having missed the Johnston books
| altogether. And perhaps this is well. for
surely they must be better than the plays
They could be hardly worse. Miss Johnston
has her grievance. too. So has Eleanor
Robson. This young actress, whose person
| atty is so sympathetic. has little to do but
regard the auditorium wistfully and move
and speak with hypnotic speech and ges-
lures Her support is excellent But every
thing goes for naught. There is no skele-
ton. and without skeleton no structure. be
1t ever so gracefully decorated, will endure
! After much bullying and sagging in the
| first four fundamentally that title is a
concession on the part of the librettists-
| the affair collapses to earth. The church
scene does the trick. We hear that the SER
mon was written in by Harriet Ford. Miss
| Johnston must feel now that the darkest
| CIlllClSm has Il silver lining. AL
least she not the author of that I'M
fortunate and futile address.
| However, let il be said to those who do
not take their theater seriously that 'Au-
drey' is pretty, is full of pretty speeches,
costumes, bonbon miseries a comic preach
er and dime-novel halfbreed. Mr.. George
| Woodward. who plays the preacher, Gideon
Darden, deserves praise for his careful
/ realism There iS 20
PRESERVATION. YOU believe in his thirst"
The same writer gave this opinion last
week of Mr.. Pineros Iris" in which Miss
Harmed has begun a tour of the country:
'' Iris has but one week more at the Cri-
terion. Not to have seen this masterpiece
of Pinero's is to have missed great, vital
play. Pinero is a dramatic stylist After
studying his work the other fellows seem
| amateurish. Construction, psychology lit
erary style are all present in this powerful
piece"
The French Comedian, Coquelin. has
been winning success in a play by Paul
Anthelme called Nos Deux Consciences -
The two contrasting characters are priest
who is willing to go to the guillotine rather
than betray the confidence of the confess
sional. and a free-thinker, who compeIs
his wife TO proclaim her shame and his own
rather than permit an innocent man to
suffer. The object of the play is to prove
that the free-thinker is as rigid in his
morality the priest himself. CoqueIin
is the priest and his son the agnostic.
Mr.. Phillips has been talking TO London
reporter on the subject of the new play
which he has written for E. S. willard
who will produce II in this country next
spring He says that. being a keen stu
dent of the war which cost Charles / his
throne and his life. he happened recently
on a story. buried in some chronicles, to
which he had private access, OF one of the
great warwickshre families which played
an important part in the famous struggle
The story. in broad outline. is that of a
young soldier, by birth belonging to the
Cavalier party. who. for conscience sake.
espoused the Puritan cause, and who sub
sequently rose with startling swiftness to
the highest military rank. An object of
general envy. all the more bitter because
of his Cavalier antecedents, his downfall
was attempted from all sides, and quite
innoceLtly accomplished in the end by a
woman. 1t Is with this episode and the
hero's recovery OF his position that the
play Immediately deals. The piece is in