Omaha daily bee., 1903-05-30
At THE PLAYHOUStS

"The EItsr OF FrIsndship"' at the
BOYD.
Mr.. n. c. Goodwin and company in a
four-act comedy-drama by Madeleine
Lucette Ryley, The Altar of Friendship"
The cast.
Richard Arbuthnot.. ..........N c. Goodwin
Arnold Winnifrith. ............... Fred Ttden
Colonel Sartoris. ...............N etl OBrten
Joseph Primer: "..J r, Crawford
AH.vaUn4"." j. Darlington Yates
M MF; spsn Psscb 4iorton F.nk e Rasyytfeyr
Bishop OF Wereford. ...... George 8. Stevens
Gibson ID. Woodthorpc
Mariner ,...."..""."... Roy Clements
Sally Sartoris ................. Zehie Tillbury
Florence Arbuthnot. ............,. julia Dean
Lady Chalmers. Ingram
MaIy 5llannne / ,1t,, '''''''''' maS p pou
Right at the outset let there be regis
tered a protest against the taste OF the
authoress in choosing London as the. scene
of her very successful play. Incidents such
as the one on which its action are based
are not in any cline; people
quite as smart as any she presents might
be found on this side; men az weak as
Arnold winnifrith have been found by
other authors in New York mote the in
stance of Nick Van Alstyne and his singu-
larry suggestive prototype, both In name
and Character. Dick Van Buren,; and more
potent than any other reason, Mr.. Good
win would not have been forced to parade
his unduestionable Americanisms az the
utterances of an E~nglishman. Otherwise
the play well merits the attention that has
been given It. II IL an old theme, but IL
handled with much tact and in a manner
decidedly original. other authors have
found II convenient to remove by death or
some other means equally as effective the
main offender before relieving his scape-
goat OF the charge, but Miss Ryley boldly
sends the offended wife and the onending
husband out to face their wrecked honey
moon and to make an endeavor by patience
to patch up their love again. This might
not have been possible II the disclosures
had come after a few years Of welded
bliss. In other ways the theme is handled
with equal daring and with an sdroitness
that Is quite an acceptable substitute for
the efforts commonly made TO excuse or
Justify the conduct OF one or the other OF
the guilty ones. In this instance the man
simply admits that he is tired of his play
! thing and the girl accepts the condition
as a matter of course and goes out into
the world to look up a situation. The
dialogue sparkles in spots. with no APP
pearance Of an effort at epigrams and no
approach to homilies on any topic. 1t Is
mildly SatirlCal at times, out not enough
to give any flavor of acerbity to its smooth
flow OF all but unrestrained humor. In a
word. 1t is quite what might happen In
real life.
Mr.. Goodwin takes the part OF a brother
who temporarily allows himself to become
the victim of a mistake to shield his sis
ter's happiness, and who promptly rebels
when his own happiness comes into the
play. His main departure from the Good
win we have known in other plays is In the
fact that he is cuieter. more subdued, in
his methods. He doesn't make any noise,
isn't boisterous at any time, and still gives
to the quiet ending of the acts a strength
that is really impressive. And he absolutely
refuses to be serious, even when the action
of the play would not suffer by an exhibit
ton OF sobriety OF conduct.
Miss Tillbury. who is supporting Mr..
Goodwin on his present tour. is decidedly
clever. Her part Is a small one, but out
of II she makes a good deal and shows
evidence of ability that would easily take
care OF a much more e~xacting role than
her present one. Miss Dean is a charming
ingenue. and acquits herself with credit. If
anything is to be said of Miss Irwin's pres
entation of the part Of the girl who II,
toyed with and cast aside. IT must be that
she accepts the fate with a stolidity that
seems hardly natural. Fred Tiden gives
to the part OF a cad a degree too much OF
c~addishness. A little show of spirit at
times would relieve the situation, and prob
ably more nearly realize what the authoress
had In mind. Other members Of the cast
have been selected with care, and the COM
pany as a whole is we'll qualified to sup
port the star. The staging is adequate,
artistic and beautiful in ensemble and de-
tail, too.
TIL Boyd theater was very we'll filled
last night with a fashionable audience and
one that generously expressed its apprecia-
ton of the play and the players. THE
Altar Of Friendship" will be given at a mat
inee and evening performance today.