The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-04-01
ADJUSTMENTS
Viola Allen in s'In the Palace Of the
King" at the Metropolitan.

Viola Allen in GIN the Palace of the
King" at the Metropolitan.
'In the Palace of the King, frankly melo-
dramatic as it is, has the advantage of rich
historical setting. The period is that during
which Spain was at the apex Of its power and
wealth and glory. Her adventurous voyagars
were pouring into her lap the wealth of the
Indies and her soldiers were winning en-
pires and concentrating the power of the
world in the Iberian peninsula. Philip, dark,
cruel, superstitious and morose, ruled re-
morseessly. Among all his generals there
was none drawer reader or more successful
than his half-brother, Don John, who drove
out the Moors and beat back the Turks, only
to die at last while trying to reclaim for his
sovereign the rebelliCus Iowland countries
1t would be difficult to select more promis
ing background for melodrama than this
Life was not so complicated as now; passions
were primal and turbulent. The startling
contrasts that 1nelodrama feeds on flare up on
every hand as one contemplates the period
The work, which was prepared for the stage
by Lorimer Stoddard with +. Marion Craw-
fords novel its basis. is admirable
treatment of the subject. With a notable re-
version to the old Greek rule requiring unity
of time. action and place, Mr.. Stoddard has
presented rapid succession Of pictures with
cumulative interest properly suspended The
|
play is divided are preparatory They are
characterized by light comedy which does not,
however, still the forebodings of disaster in
the air. The climax Of the play comes in
the fourth scene, where the king, in sudden
gust of passion, stabs the cardinal who Is
thwarting his purpose. and then, with a das-
tardly cowardice which one may we'll believe
characteristic of that monarch forces Don
John to shoulder the crime. The situation in
/ ST Sha6n Hof a
bloody deed falls over the pretty love story
OF the soldier prince and his sweetheart. The
play moves to It's conclusion, the inevitable
triumph of the lovers over all opposition,
with greatly augmented power and interest.
Wide apart as are this play and THE
Christian" in which Viola ALLEN first at
tanned her great vogue, there has been point
ed out parallelism in the emotional devel-
opment of the two heroines. Dolores, like
Glory Quayle, is at first just happy, ingen-
uous maiden, whose girlish ways endear her
to every heart. Then comes the sudden and
eNigent stress which In an instant womanizes
her. While there may be some question as
to Miss Aliens talent for representation
her power to assume a character foreign to
her own nature-there can be none as to her
success in depicting the unfolding of the
Sweet righteousness Of girlhood into the
banded flower Of .womanhood And this play
without the sensationalism of The Chris
tian." or its hypocrisy, gives her a role in
which the character development while rap
id, is natural. In the lighter play of emo
tons OF the earlier scenes, she is thoroughly
sweet and unaffected, and especially is this
true in the beautiful love scene whose tender
romance lays hold upon every heart. But her
full power is revealed only when the life and
love of her prince are endangered by the
royal crime she has witnessed. The tense
strain Of the lninuet scene, when she fences
at words with her woman foe, Is relieved by
the splendid self-forgetfuI appeal she makes
to the courtiers when the king has gone. The
last scene in which she matches her woman's
wit against Philips subtlety gives the final
climacteric touch to a singularly effective
Characterization Miss Allen has been ac-
cused OF lack of magnetism and Of making her
appeal to the mind rather than to the emo
lions. Certainly her Dolores puts these accu-
sations to rout.s It pusates with warm blood
and tingles with real life.
The enthusiasm 5engendered by Miss Aliens
achievement is not in the least cooled by the
actors In her company, who fail at no point
In giving the characters they impersonate
their just value. w. r.. Bonney actualizes
the Philip we read of in history with singular,
success, emitting no touch in the portrait Of
that dark and sinister potentate. William
Pascoe, on the other hand, gives us a brave,
fearless Don John. with the decisive, OPEN.
hearted ways OF the soldier and the tender
ness Of an ideal lover The character of the
court Jester, new and igtnal treatment Of