Evening star., 1902-09-02
Il
ADJUSTMENTS.

| cumstance which would be dismissed as
| trife after 1t has passed into the era Of stall
| wart maturity. The weather yesterday
evening would have been sufficient to dis
| courage enthusiasm. and the fact that a
| play without previous record or pedigree
was to be exploited by company of actors
| who, great as their present merits may be
! in several instances, have yet to command
| universal recognition, inspired a large first
| night audience with hope rather than con-
| fdence. Circumstances being considered,
| the interest which the audience manifested,
| not only by applause too spontaneous to
| be mistaken for mere friendly first night
| encouragement, but even more emphatically
| by remaining to follow the thread of the
| story to its conclusion, made the occasion
one for congratulations. The welcome to
| Laura Nelson Hall was highly enthusiastic,
| and conveyed the assurance that her re-
| cent work in this city will be approvingly
| remembered for long time.
"St. Ann is q foreboding title and the
| story Is somber though melodramatle
| There are some brisk bits of comedy, but
| the shadow of a sorrow hangs constantly
| over the scene. 1t is a study of tempta-
tion and regret; temptation Of the old ia
| miliar sort which seems at some times so
| pathetic and at others so garish, and re-
gret that playwrights should regard 1t as
| their eternal mission to exploit that old
scandal in the Garden of Eden with as
many embellishments as ingenuity can de-
| wise. st. Ann is not what would be cali
| cd a shocking play; the element of croft
| ciSm is not pronounced. 1t assumes to read
| the world lesson on the time-worn prop
osition that society is unjust in measuring
the culpabilty of women and men for the
| same offense The author must be credited
| with the courage of his convictions His
| hero after listening with excusable agta-
! tion to the heroine, who has confessed
AZ gallantly vindieates the authors
| theories on the subject by proposing mar
| rlage. 1t is a coura geous action; far more
convincing in its recklessness than leaping
In front of locomotive or going single
| handed into the outlaws lair for rescue
purposes. The audience was quick 70 ac-
| cord this chivalrous display of nerve it's
| full measure of applause. There was some
very good work during the performance by
| Miss Hall and Charles d. Waldron. Mr..
| Waldron lent the role Of the hero a re-
| fined dignity and a delicacy of tempera-
ment which through sheer force of per-
| sonality made the character something
| better than a study in Quixotic emotional
| ism Robert McWade was excellent as a
| comedy art critic, and of Eugene FraZier's
| competence as the villain there can be
! doubt, since he was roundly hissed by the
| indignant gallery.
There are two reasons of existence possible
Tor drama; instruction diversion. If
diversion, it should be considerably
| strengthened in its cimaxes and other mel
| odramatic devices. If 1t is presented with
view to morally or artisticaly elevating
the masses, its case is diScouraging. It's
subject is one which does not need the
elaborate eluctdation the author under
takes to give it. Right or wrong, society
| has made up its mind. The play has no
| especial force in it's lines. The time-worn
| appeal. Don't say that is used no less
| than four times. A Don't -say-that less
| play would be relief. And yet 1t might
| be an enterprise even more hazardous than
that of matrimonially idealzing the woman
with a past. There some traditions
that cannot be tampered with. ''St. Ann
| is supposed by her career of charity and
| self-denial to atone for her folly, but the
explanations Of
inadequate. Granted that the subject is
| legitimate theme for art, it presents so
many difficulties, so many points where
| reason and sentiment be reconciled
| only by the most delicate adjustment that
| 1t should be reserved for genius, and genius
| of the highest order.
| THE EMPIRE.-The Empire Family The
ater, thoroughly renovated and redecorated,
has thrown open Its doors for the season
of 19O2-19O3, and judging from present In
dcations the ensuing year will be the most
prosperous that this little Playhouse has
experienced during its entire exist ence The
Stranger in New York" was given Satur-
day evening, when the house filed to
capacity. Correspondngly large audiences
were present yesterday afternoon and
evening, ladies and children composing a
large part of the attendance at all three
presentations.
The declaration of the management that
the Empire would be strictly family the
ater has been carried out to the letter. and
Manager Schlesinger and Proprietor Wege-
farth should be congratulated on their eff
forts to bring the house up to a standard
which 1t has not known in years. The or
chestra seats have been reupholstered with
red plush, while costly carpets have been
laid as part of the ornamentation of the
floors. Large electric fans have also been
hung in numerous places about the theater
These fans were greatly appreciated last
evening.
The play is based on illustrations of the
adventures
York. 1t is one of Hoyt's happiest hits
and furnishes a great abundance Of laugh
ing material. The company is made up Of
thoroughly competent performers, all of
whom do their best to give the moneys
worth" Jack Campbell portrayed the
Stranger with vivacious drollery His
Mr.. Dooley' song won him five encores
William X. Mack played the part Of I.
| Collier Downe, the mistrusted hubby, and
played 1t well, while Frank E. Beamish
was notably good Baron Sands, lnem-
Der of the "Old Guard" Sylvia Starr
whose stateliness made her conspicuous ac-
quilted herself most creditably as Hattie,
the leader of the ball room girls. The EN-
pire has put new scale of prices in effect
which are within the reach Of every one
"A Stranger in New York. will be pro-
duced today and tomorrow and on Thurs
day, Friday and Saturday Hoyt's "a Trip
| to Chinatown will be given the boards
The evening prices are 10, 70, 80 and so
matinees are 10 and 20 cents. This is
Washington's first experiment In extreme
popular prices and the indications are ttat
it meets a long felt want.
ACADEMY OF MUsIC-"The Great
White Diamond a stirring melodrama In
four acts, was presented before two large
audiences at the Academy Of Music yes
terday. The story told is an interesting
one, and while not free from the little in
consistencies that invariably to be
found in productions of this class,t Is inter-
preted IN a manner that is distinctly above
the average. Charles Booth, young
miner and the hero of the occasion, is
quiet. yet torcefu and was ably assisted
by Florence Huntley in the part of the
heroine, down on the bills as Lola Brace,
otherwise known "the kid" The wan
derings of a diamond of great size, from
its rightful cwner to the villain and back
again, form the main thread of the mar
ratve. The villain in THE Great White
Diamond differs from the stereotyped
creature of crime usual to standard melo-
drama in that he is given weird and un-
canny touch by making him a nyctalops-
that is to say, a person afflicted with day
blindness; while totally without sight in
the light, he can see perfectly in darkness
C,ueljem Ricpa rda in Of