The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-18
PAPER POPE IN GAINES PLAY.
1.-THE ETERNAL CITY" rs 4 VERY
CURIOUS Production.
There's . Telephone In One Scene-And
Caine Is Ralsed-t Isn't Meiodrama
-Its Turgid. Bombastie Mixture
Enduring for Three Weary Hours.

tho large audience felt duly relieved. I'm
less alb olutely lacking in humor. no mem
Der Of the Roman Catholic faith will take
umbrage at the unreal doings Of this paper
Pope. Indeed, Orangemen OF the good
old-fashioncd i2th-of-July brand will
he more apt TO dccry than admire Mr..
Gaines extraordinary ola podrida His
attitude is distinctly sympathetic to Mother
Church'-a phrase much affected by the
Manxman-and the entire Papal episodes
are unintentionay comical Upon the
question Of their taste il is not necessary
TO dilate at this time.
A Pope with long-lost son and a taste
for subterranean passageways * unques-
uonably curious person. Thus Mr..
Gaines chief claim TO originality and de
sire to raise a profitable issue fell to earth
with a huge hollow clat,cr, But why ex-
pand the nos,ril of disdain when the thrills
advance In hattalions?
II IL doubtful, however. if anything quite
~ remarkable a. The Eternal City" has
ever been seen east Of the sun and west Of
the moon. t. call il mclodrama would lie
10 elevate II TO the dignity Of art besides
doing that very antique and honorable form
an injustice. The novel upon which II is
based abourds i'll situations that recall the
youth. But the turgid. bombas,ic mixture
which rolls over the stage for three hours
ir,w shall one describe it withou, breaking
a commandment
The tale is told a half-dozen times by the
various characters; the past dug up, the
future peered into. During five acts and
tableaux, in which the thirty dramatic
situations are unmarked We are conducted,
no OF laky e.,
like tho nightmare Of one who has been
reading Mrs. Radclife's Castle Of Otran, o.
A bold. designing Minister Of State with a
tender ward she is hi. mistress in the
English version. but ANeRised fer America
revolutionist who l. ab~olut. L. daft, and
mob Of ecclesiastics, dipiou sts, mobiles,
soldiery. spies. servants, faithful and I'M
faithful, and conspirators ara boiled down
into melodramatic stew that contains,
ill-disested. a dozen clmaxes copied per
baps unconsciously from dozen sources
Now imitation is no crime: yet Sardou
would hardly consider Mr.. Gaines as the
sincerest fattery. Baron BonelR, the wicked
Minister Of State. is a diluted portrait Of
Baron Scdrpid in La Tosca" Formidable
as TO grih and voice. he is a genuine the
atric lath, not human being He does
not terrify with his cruel pronouncements.
and his death-ah. the potency Of Sarcou's
suRgestion!-is not tragic. Like the plot
OF the play. it il a struggle in the dark.
Viola Allen is to he condoled. As Donna
Roma |otonnu she does a number Of Pc
culiar things. Not even a Duse could sep
arate the cashng motives Of this charac-
ter. Abandoned when child she refuses
in the expurgated editior-to become
abandoned when she reaches the age of
>olition. beauty. a wit, a diplomat in
Ietticoats, an artist in clay-Georae
Meredith did not dover his Diana OF
the Crossings with such rich gifts. And
wthal she fails to convince us that she ia
human. has heart. brains lungs and breathe
with them.
Mr.. Caine attempts to depict her as an
ardent, truth loving creature. arch, i'm
none of these qualities And Miss Allen
does not alternate the monotony ofthe roe
She goes through the five acts making her
contralto moan and never for a moment in
repose. Possibly If Roma stood still an
instant she would have come apart, con-
structed as she Is OF wires. creaking pulleys
plaster and gorgeous gowns. II will i've
admitted by mere males that Miss Allen
garbs the heroine most picturesquely and
II may he doubted If Rome, the Eternal City,
contains another such a dressmaker as |
Miss Aliens. This actress il always a |
favorite and received many recalls
The supposed sympathetic character is |
f'dr'd Rossi, Roman Deputy, a socialistic |
agitator the insulter of Roma VoLonra in |
a set public speech: the humble lover of |
Romo the moment she exerts her fascina- |
tions upon him. OF course ne knew her |
under another name in childhood, Of course |
she knows this but does not admit il: and
OF course the audience realizes the situation |
almost before ii j. broached. Ths is indeed |
the art that conceals art ; not only conceals IL
but assists at its funeral. |
Mr.. Edward Morgan, who il ALWAYS a
manly actor. John S,orm-ed his wav
through the part. He is put upon by |
the wiles Of baron BoneUi and the WITNESSES
Of Roma that he becomes distraught Is |
II any wonder? To discover that the woman |
he loves has BETRAYED him shakes his faith |
and his reason In At ", in a clever
crescendo, Mr., Morgan. after killing the
Prime Minister, hurs himself into historical
madness. Last night the scene was con-
tagious, for the public also went mad II
is regettahle that the situation is such a
horritic paraphrass' ~ @TOsca
Mr.. Frederic dc Bolleville played Baron
BoneHh. tho character originated by Mr.
Beerbohm Tree at His Majesty's. London
IL IL not an exacting part and this expert
enced and finished actor made his points
with ease To the role Of Pope Plus K
Mr.. Game ,be il understood, places the action
Of the tragedy in the fulure!-that admir-
board consistency. He enacted its i'm
probable happenings with inevitable tact
and comported himself with true churchly
dignity. His first appearance seated in the
Pdpal chair, a r. plea of a certain painting,
was greeted warmly.
But TO Mr.. W h. bonney must bs awarded
the laurels Of popularity. As an utterly
impossible, though lovable, marble pointer
and revolutionst he won his audience With
his brawny sincerity and unfenced virlity,
His scene in the CASTILLO St. Angelo was
strong, though his lines are crudeiy melo-
dramatic. II is jus; hero that the drama
fist exhibits his wit and delcacy Bruno,
bereft Of wife and child, deceived by
friend and master-an altogether unpre-
pared situation oh. the credulhy Of these
simple, kindly stage sous!-staLs himself
and the gallery roars approval. And that
foredoomed chd-who could not predict
it's fate when first II prattled so artlesslyY
Mr., Henry Harmon must he credited with
&" satisfactory performance of police spy;
and there is a thin servant, Fe!ice, with |
spindle shanks and a sinister smile who |
sends shivers down the spines Of the i'm |
questionable when he announces Dunna |
Rummd' That excellent veteran actor, Mr.. |
Leslie Allen, IL thrown away in two feeble |
parts. There IL. too, very dramatic |
telephone in the cast,
As the story quite disengagcs ones at |
tention we are at ease in viewing THE
Eternal city" a. produ elton Therein
the management has gone to great pains
and expense. The Loa0ia in the first act
what An expository act!-is satisfactory.
~ H. Il.