New-York tribune., 1902-02-14
LONDON NOTES.
,,ru PLAYS FOR THE CORONATION SEA.
COMA WOMEN'S ART SHOW OF
INFERIOR QUALITY
London. February /.

y. brisk
- and ends neatly, but drags in the second and
.h,r5 acts Four Dolly dialogues when strung
,ose;her do not make a play. even if the talk be
.nsrkling and the repartee keen The story is
hin and the thread is welnigh lost in the inter
.aiste acts The characters are not sbarp1v
sssned and the situations are essentially arti-
sdal and theatrical. albeit diverting As a
comedy Of political manners the play lacks
prbtness Of touch and refinement Of method
Fxaggeration is carried close to the edge of
burlesque. The dainty and fragrant flower of
sentiment does not grow naturally in the third
art out Of the heavy subsoil OF satire. There is
8 serious motive. but it is exhibited clumsiIv
AZ the close when the audience is surfeited With
amusing talk.
The play is satire on political tuft hunting
and jobbery. Joshua Pilkerton millionaire
merchant and large employer of labor. aspires
10 the social distinction of a peerage and nc 10
has useful friends in Parliament in the Church
and in the City, and the Prime Minister is
Aexible and compasant taking advice from a
private secretary at every turn he seems tn he
In the way Of getting what he wants He is
aided by a scheming widow. whom his son ad-
mires, and also by his daughter, with whom he
all powerful private secretary falls desperately
in love. The private secretary however. is a
political purist, who cannot be convinced thai
the millionaire has earned the peerage. Official
scruples have 10 be gradually overcome Pill
ksrton, not 70 be thwarted. separates the lovers
and seeks election to Parliament as an opponent
Of the government when the ministerial major
hy is slight \ compromise is effected bv the
Prime Minister; the mlionaire's son stands for
the vacant seat as a supporter of the govern
ment; the lovers are united: and Pi!kerton re-
oeTes his peerage. The satire is unnecessarily
scrid, Traffic in Deerage and bopnr. 49,. So,
known in Vanity Fair but it is based on poIjtf-
cal services and contributions TO camnafgn
funds and is never either as vulgar or as sordid
as il is represented in this comedy The play-
wright knows Downing Street and is a thorough
man Of the world. but somehow his cynicism
while amusing, is either misdirected or misses
fire
MIS-. Ryley's comedy at the Lyric Theatre
Nice and Men" is quaint and charming
Staged for Hampstead in the eighteenth CEN
tury, IL is old fashioned, yet wholesome and
clean The theme is the disappointment of a
guardian OF mature a.e, who has reserved for
his declining years the charming and graceful
country girl destined to give her heart to a
young rival Wycherley and Moliere had their !
method Of dealing with senIe infatuation and |
It was adapted TO a generation of playgoers not |
remarkable for refinement Mrs Ryley produces !
delicate idyll without suggestion of coarse /
ness. Youth triumphs, but old age is ennobled /
hy sef-sacrifice and sweetened by the pathos /
Of loneliness. Mark Embury a scholarly re- |
cuse, who had been Tilted in early life, selected
dOeie girl from a founding hospital and /
trained her with painstaking care as his future |
Wife The best laid schemes O mice an men |
gang aft a-gey." The guardians scapegrace /
nephew. Captain Lowell, who had been flirting
WIN vain cOquette. fell in love with the
Nelg ward and she with him. There were mis-
ahoerstandings caused by the jealousy Of the /
married coquette. who endeavored TO win back !
her admirers affections but eventually every /
thing was explained and the guardian was
enabled TO make a sacrifice when the truth was /
forced upon him that the young people loved !
each other. Putting them in possession of the /
new house which he had been building for him /
taL he retired 10 his own place among his /
BOOKS IN the old library. 1t is a fragile plot for /
play Of four acts, but the scenes are charm /
hgy written and delightfully."- enacted Mr. /
fOfbes Robertson impersonates the middle aged /
scholar with refinement Of tenderness. and Miss /
Sertrude Elliott displays unsuspected variety /
thd charm as the founding ward whose awk-
"sfoness was gradually reduced TO archness /
aho grace. Mice and Men" IS the prettiest
lOgA now on the London stage. and is certain /
70 command a large measure of metropolitan
support
Another delightful comedy is MI Haddon
Ohambers's The Tyranny Of Tears" which has
Oeeh revived at Wyndham's Theatre with only
We missing link in the original cast II is a
pay with only six characters for four acts, but
" animated is the dialogue so distinct are the
ehsracters and natural are the situations
'Aat mere Is adequate entertainment for the
nOst capricious playgoer Miss Mary Moore as
NJ tea nj ,sFe &c ba
pOssiole advantage. If she has never done any
'nlng better. Mr.. Charles Wyndham is also well
sA'eo for the impersonation OF the strong
minded Mr.. Parbury with his amiable weakness
s"1 tenderness In cOndoning his wfes silly
a'3hS M. Frederick Kerr. as the champagne
fHNe irend Of the bachelor period and Miss
11ue Mlllett, as the efficient secretary who
- escaped from the frugal board Of the over
-. "'eu parsonage, also Tlay with sureness Of
1Sh and true instinct The Tyranny of !
eals is a well constructed play with charac-
's drawn from life and with unforced humor
N"l genuine comic spirit. With the single ex-
,.puon OF "A Pair of Spectacles." in which
~. John Hare continues to delight playgoers.
The most satisfactory and workmanIike
N"eoy now running in London
me society Of Women Artists is under rovaI
seuonage. and never fails to fill the series of
-, es WIN a varied assortment of work
~ year the exhibits larger than usual
ie are two rooms with nearly three hun
- water colors by women. The central
- contains almost many works in Oil
~ ihe vestbue and south rooms there are
~hy examples Of woman's skill in various
-, and white handicrafts. The catalogue dis
= VICE range Of activity in artistic work
a., Ae really successful designers and painters
49, women are not represented in these ex-
4, They prefer to stand on terms of equal