The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-18
IAN EYE FOR AN EYE"
MISS KIDDER's NEW PLAY AT
 THE THEATRE.
Large Audiences at Matinee and Night Enjoyed Sermon on Single Standard of Morals
 for the Lexes.

"An Eye For an Eye.' the younger Dumas play. in which Miss Kathryn Kidder was seen at the Montgomery Theater yesterday after noon and evening. is an unwholesome If in teresting sermon in three acts.
 The play appeals throughout for a single standard of morals for the sexes, but the de- nouement-and here is the moral-shows the folly of the motif. The woman, usual, is repaid by unhappy tears and throws herself back into the arms of her husband, glad that after all she is just woman.
 Briefly reviewed this is the story: The young Comte de Riverelles is a clubman, who, al- though loving his wife and young son is. after the manner of Frenchmen, something of a rake. He is wilful and scoffs at the sugges- tion of the Comtesse that he should negieot his wife and child for the society of other women. Then the Comtesse declares to him that if he will not mend his ways she will seek the society of other men and will bring dishonor to his name. Women have much right she says to be wicked as have men.
 The Comte, of her nobility of oharac- ter. laughs at her. but is outraged when the next day the wife bandly tells him that she has dishonored him. Moreover, she tells his friends with inconceivable candor of her wrongdoing. She masks a woman who has sinned throughout two acts and the mask is torn from her duplicity at the end by a clever woman friends who sees through the sham. This woman friend, Baronne Smith, tells her that the man who has dishonored her-the man who did not exist-has boasted of her surren- der to him.
 He lies! he liesr' cries the Comtesse, in re- vulsion of her position and the woman friend quite naturally laughs gleefully at the trap into which she had led the designing wife.
 It is at this juncture that the erring hus- band enters and his Comtesse by inference promises to forgive and forget.
 This Is simplicity superlative, but it makes really interesting play.
 The action takes place within twenty-four hours and the play pretends merely to pre- sent an incident in the lives of a party of French people in the Paris of to-day.
 There is no change of scene, the three acts transpiring in the apartments of the Comte de Riveralles. Without the necessity of hur- ried changes the stage carpenters are able to make this scene beautiful to look upon and the play was presented with Jules Murry's usual lavish investiture
 Barring the raspIng voice of Miss Blade, the Baronne Smith of the cast. the company sup- porting Miss Kdder is adequate. which is to say that 1t filled every requirement..
 Miss Ktdder herself is not entirely adapted to the part of the Comtesse de Riveraales She is emotional actress and she appears to be laboring under repression in this role. In deed she actually acclaimed some of the fine lines of the play. thereby marring their beauty and effectiveness.
 But the entertainment as whole was a great success. The play appeals singularly to women and the large matinee audience was especially enthusiastic.
 The fine audience at the theater last night also gave abundant evidence of its apprecia- tior.
 costly gowns. declared by more than one wo- man who witnessed the production to have been the most exquisite ever seen on the Montgomery stage.