The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-09-06

"4E
of modern society. Mr.. SOthern's gait,
with its three-step skip. a No. inn
itatiOn of any kind OF walking then or
ever done in real life. tt was a boId
fabrication. and nowadays we would
deem it too a%bsurdly impossible to be
taken even in fun. Mr.. Huntlev's
shambling stride, with his elbows and
knees in excessive action. and his head
dropping unsteadily from his swaying
body, is a true-to-life study of gen
tlemanly awkwardness. His lack Of
huency is not due to an impeachment Of
speech, but is a wonderful achievement
In draw, hesitancy and ultra-fashion-
able pronunciation. Mr.. HUntley is on
the scene a great deal of the time, and
If he were not steadily amusing the
success of the play would be consider
ably less than il is. Paul Rubens. who
wrote the piece prose, verse and music,
has provided the wit and humor. but
MI. Huntley, in my opinion, delivers
his share of the matter in a way to
raise a new standard for actors Of
London swells.
The earlier new plays Of the open
ing season are sexual faTces i'm strik-
ing contrast Both present a young
woman pursued by men, but n piece
is clean and the other nasty. AS they
are alike in getting the attention Of
polite people i'm Broadway theatres of
the first grade. It must be that solicit
tude for the purity Of the drama is not
felt generally by those who pay admis-
sion fees. In matter these plays are Of
the twenty-minute vaudeville sketch
quality and in each a man n woman
from the variety shows lead in the fun.
John &. Rice had his wife. Sally Cohen.
as his team partner, instead Of Hattie
Williams. but L. NJ. Royie and Seleua
Fetter Royle are still together, eve as
they were years ago when they quit
the legitimate stage to which
they now return. 'Vivian's Papas"
glitters along its way with gilded sin.
while the path Of My Wife's Hus-
bands is as innocent as d children's
playground.
Leo Ditrichstein is accused of deriv-
ing "Vivian's Papas" from the French.
but it gets no nearer to the gay bOul-
evards Of the City of Pleasure than
New York's TenderIoin. And why
should he have bothered to steal from
any single play a plot that has served
in several hundred since Forbidden
Fruit seemed too wicked TO discuss.
The first act prepares US for what we
need no preparation. We all know that
the two sportive old men. supposed to
AA NHGA N6hAAD VA HANN- LNNN AAAEEN AkNAA
prCmisingly i'm Vivian's Cat, that the
innocent young husband viii appear to
his wife as "A sinner. and that an eX-
Citable Frenchman viii lead the other
characters 4 chase through numerous
doors 10 make a lively second act cur
tain. Through this maze of complica-
tons, SO familiar that il has ceased TO
be mystifying, Oddity is scattered here
and there. Where "Vivian's Papas''
is peculiar among wicked farCes is in
fashes Of realism. incidents almost
Ibsenish in revolving facts. Vivian's
"papas." elderly inc respected citizens,
telephone to the e~xtravagant chorus
girl and, Immediately on hearing her
voice, change theirs to tones of cooling
idioCy. and smile in sheepish lecheTy,
as men do when they are old enough to
know better. And then. when Vivian is
revealed i'm her sUmptuOus fla. it is Mr..
DitriChstein's idea of fun. or slavish
faithfulness to sordid fact, that the
chorus woman's maid is a negro, and
one who "winks" at anything and
sometimes more than winks! When
helping one Of the "papas'' with his
oveTcOat. she digs him i'm the rib in
playful sympathy with his gay intent.
And so. i'm flashes. Mr.. Ditrichstein
treats the depravity as Norway's grim
realist might, or as Russia's Gorky
would had he studied it as faithfully
as he has the slums of Moscow.