The Minneapolis journal., 1903-02-10
THE MINNEAPOLIS JOURNAL.

one of esteem. 1t is, in truth, a far bet
ter piece Of work than usually issues from
the workshop where popular novels are
turned into plays while you wait. In
stead of attempting to arrange the story
arbitrarily in the ordinary acts of play,
the adapter has chosen to tell the tale in
eight scenes which fall naturally into
three periods. The unity of the story is
remarkably preserved by concentrating
the attention on the rescue Of the ward
OF Turenne and the winning of her hand
by the rescuer. The action lags at times
but for the most part proceeds swiftly
and unerringly.
Castor in Mr. Bellows hands becomes a
striking and dignified figure, touched with
melancholy that yields to nothing but
the smile of his lady, fraught with the
1neffable grace that denotes birth and
breeding. He has none Of that merry
Gascon humor that marks our D'Artag-
nan, nor much of the Musketeers happy
faculty of extracting himself from diff
cult situations by his ready wit. Gaston's
resource is to fight his way out. He can
be gentle and tender where a woman is
concerned, but a pretty woman's whims
the sunshine and showers Of her April
temper-these are quite beyond his ken.
He is absurdly and masculinely helpless in
such an, emergency. Impressive as the
BelleW CASTOR is, one cannot but recall
the contagious bonhomie of Salvini's s
D'Artagnan and wish this brave Hugenot
could be touched with some of it's saving
grace.
I But Bellows sword play-ah, there's a
theme to set the blood a-tingle! Much
has been written of the great fight on the
staircase, where Castor and his ubiqui-
tous sword vanquish half a dozen stout
adversaries who close in upon him. It is
one thing to describe such a scene in a
book and quite another to enact it sue
cessfully on the stage. Mr. BelleW has
arranged and carries out night after
night stage fight which for swift real
| ism is quite unparalleled. From the
| moment when the first assailant rolls
| lifeless down the long staircase until the
| final duel, in which the last man falls to
| that flashing sword, the audience is held
| in breathless thrall. After the tame and
| spiritless stage conbats to which we have
| grown accustomed, this marvellous con
hict brings the thrill Of reality.
The lady about whom revolves the plot is
played by Gretchen Lyons with excellent
| effect, despite the shortcomings Of voice
that sounds shrewish in the outbursts OF
| temper. Miss Lyons indeed succeeds bet
! ter in the lighter touches. 1t must be
said, too, that she hardly realizes ones
| ideal of the Huguenot beauty over whom
the factions fought. To her maid falls a
| large share of the com edy-making and
| Louise Closer, who plays the part rather
overdoes it. Herbert Fortier plays Henry
of Navarro with the adroit humor, char
acteristic Of that monarch Frederick
/ Book, an old time Minneapolis, favorite
impersonates Turenne. with impressive
dignity and Walter Hitchcock graces~ the
role Of Baron de Rosny. M. de Bruhl
whose Vaccinations are foiled by CASTOR
is satisfactorily presented by Frank Land
er, while Fresnoy, his tool, is a clean Gu
piece of work by Oscar Eagle. One of thu
best bits is Gaston's man, contributed b.
Henry Stockbridge, who without over
acting gives the character a fine color
ing. Miss Janet Ford plays the cour
jester with almost too much dash and as
, surance. .s'.
The piece is unstintingly staged an,
with a company large enough to give tn
court scenes brilliancy. e>eF-,-
/ w. B. Chamberlain