The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-16
LADY Beri,thia'. secret"

Mrs. lie Moyne seems TO be strangely I'M
fortunate I'm the selection of her plays.
Last season she appeared in a piece by
Glen McDonoush called Among Those
Present" and while she scored a personal
success In IL. the piece itself was a failure.
This season she Is e~nacting a play by STAN
islaus STANCE. who has written several sue
cessful comic opera nbrettos. and her new
vehicle is such poor one that her ability
as a coincidence cannot make up for it's
shortcomings. The new piece. Lady Ber-
Initials Secret" was seen for the first
time in indianapolis last night by a small
audience at English's. Obviously thrown
together for the express purpose of exploit
ing the personality OF the star. with no
other purpose in view than 20 keep an audi
encc entertained for two hours and a half,
the play falls short OF even this humble
ambition.
Nj. STANCE terms his piece a comedy. 1t
II really Q farce of the old-time sort, with
al Of the theatrical hustle and confusion
ancient complications n misundsrstand-
tngS and ell the old "asides" to the audi
snoe. The author has taken for his plot
TO be gay and coquettish in order to stir
up the sta love Of a husband who
hes become absorbed In his own pleasures
oao k8otAfhccs 1Iio RiOt lido Detu uS6Q III
farcss since the erection of the first the
alter on earth. and Mr.. STANCE has not man
aged to inject anything that Is new into It.
den two hundred years ago, and the cos
t0mee OF the men and women are attract
I've. while the stage settings are quite elab-
doubtsdly one of frivolity and easy living,
bat II u hard to believe hat all the people
Of that day were such brainless idiots as
the characters in Mr.. Stanges play.
The four acts Of the piece are made Of
trivial 4irtations. meaningless chatter and
much ado about nothing at all. A number
dozen picturesque but hopelessly foolish
men rush on and of the stage necessarily.
talking about their loves" and their
not intended for them and. of course, the
usual faroicsl difficulties arise The COM
plioattons that come up one moment are
episode anai and there is a lack of log
tcal coherency even TO these episodes.
Nothing particular happens from beginning
her ownership of a vast fortune. She falls
heir 70 this great wealth without the
kncwledse OF her husband. and. refusing
proceeds 10 spend 1t lavishly on clothes,
social functions and In having a good time
generally. The sluggish husband becomes
jealous. makes love to her all over again.
and that's all there is to 1t.
Mrs. Le Moyne il too good an actress 10
waste her time with such a senseless play.
49, 1AhA aeaAl via Sic
can do. and she has many admirers
throughout this country who are DESTROYS
OF seeing her in a really worthy produce
ton. At times last night she seemed like
her old self and gave bits Of acting that
were interesting and appealing. But for
the most part she seemed uneasy and
lacked spontaneity. As for her support
ing players. IL is hardly fair to Judge them
through their efforts in this poorly pre-
pared play. Everybody who follows the
atrical matters knows that w. j. Fergus
IS really a good actor. He played the role
Of q London fop last night and made as
much as was possible out Of the part.
Harold Russell was a boisterous Sir John
Manners, but he doubtless played the char
acter a. the author wrote IL. Frances
Stevens was as pleasing as might be In the
role OF Clarfssa Huntleigh. and the other
people OF the cast were but commonplace
owing to the c~olorless nature OF their char
scters- Like Mrs lie Moyne herself many
OF the PLAYERS seemed completely out of
their element.
Lady Berinthia's Secret" in it's present
form. can hardly prove satisfactory. even
10 the careless play-goer. Ii will be given
its last performance in Indianapolis to-
night.