The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-10
VIOLA ALIENS VIOLA LARGE AUDIENCE CHARMED BY
 YOUNG ACTRESS. Splendid Production of Twelfth Night" at the Montgomery
 Theatre Witnessed by Large
 and Cultured Audience.

If the goodiy disposed but rashly unap- preeiative makeup editor overlooked our weil-oonsidered reflection prepared Tues day evening anent the stage production of Twelfth Night" by Miss Viola Allen.
 we cannot do more than give our helated
 ideas to the public herewith. to wit: Mss Viola Allen as the disguised Viola in Twelfth Night at the Montgomery
 Theatre last night, gave a delightful por-
 trayal of saucy youth. neither man nor
 boy, but the memory of Dolores possessed of love, womaniy and tender yet remains
 as her best, her most artistic achieve ment
 In "The Palace of the King" she had a role. sympathetic to her temperament and her talents. the woman whose love
 meant all to her and for whom there was no happiness nor misery outside of her love. In Twelfth Night' vtoia's little
 touches of tenderness. her marks of sur
 rendered affection most thrilled the audi ence.
 It is not to be supposed for a moment
 that Miss Aliens conception of Viola was
 lacking In artistic perception or in artis- tic expression. Miss Allen revealed in it possibilities that other players had missed and she added to its graees that other
 presentations had lacked. The subtle hl-
 nor that she put in was true and refresh- ing.
 But the predominant note of her por-
 trayal, its most striking characteristic
 was It's boyish iImpudence. In his sauci- neas. in his iInpetuosity the boy of M ss Allen rang true. It was a neat little swaE- ger that the boy assumed and his ways
 were the ways of youthful imitation of
 manliuess.
 Miss Aliens work Is always illuminated
 with intelligence and made convincing ixxxfA Araa~ E.,a
 The close attention to detail. the unex- pected gesture, the intelligent appreciation 0s the minor stage business are charae- teristic of Miss Allen and they are duaii- ties that belong only to great players. But the mobile, strong face, the golden voice, that can ring out & passion or muFrnur tenderly and softly are things that have
 set Mss Allen above her fellows. The resemblance between Miss Allen
 disguised as a boy and James Young as Sebastian her brother was startling. The
 likeness was So close that until the char
 acter spoke the hearers were not sure
 whether Viola or Sebastian was on the
 stage The role of Sebastian gave Mir. Young but few opportunities but what he
 did he did excellently, The Maria of Miss TiIbury was beyond
 criticism. It was one of the most de-
 ltghtful, feminine pieces of comedy ever HEGiA Ot tAA6 tbCAt btABE. 1aSE AAuHn Wh8 spontaneous and ringing and she carried
 her audience through every stage of fun. There were actually times when Mics Tithury seemed an incarnato spirit of
 laughter.
 The effectiveness of a shakesperean comedy depends upon the intelligence, the effectiveness of the presenting company No star, not even one of Miss Aliens great lustre, can with supporting players, I IN~E1- E.~.- -a.-AA ! of the great dramatist and who mouth the difficult lines, adequately present q comedy of Shakespeare. A requisite for | a competent player of Shakesperean roles
 Is an intelligence that embraces more | than lis lines. that comprehends that
 there is more to his part than the printed | words.
 The written comedy of Shakespeare with | It's play upon words too often obsolete its eccentric. disjointed reasoning was probably funny in the days of Queen Bess
 hut It's humSr of itself makes no strong
 appeal to a twentieth century audience
 But the comedy may be rendered in | freshness and in true humor. Tn delicate
 by-play, in the indescrihable details of stage business in avoidance of buffoonery, | and in the recognition of the natural hn-
 nor of a situation. the comedy of the
 Bard of Avon can be made to ring true.
 and in tones that reach the disabilities of
 any audience of any century. .t .4et The players of Miss Allen's company
 met each of these requirements. The | company was competent and adequate.
 Perhaps with Miss Aliens pre-eminent | ability out of consideration, no company
 ever presented on the locat stage 1 Shakesperian play more intelligentiy or
 effectively There were no weak msm-
 bers of the company to arouse tnvidious comparisons
 The memory of the side-spllttjng scene
 in the servants quarters of Olivia'E pal | ace played out by subordinate characters
 will live long in the memory of the audi
 euee. The players made it as funny as any situation in modern comedy. It is difficult to particularize. in the company's general merit individual play | CTS of special merit. Clarence Handy
 side as Sir Toby Belch and Frank Cur
 Tier as Sir Andrew Aguesheek showed
 themselves character players of the drst