Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1903-01-01

:
With the advent Of the New Year 1t
would be well to level our telescopes at
the dramatic horizon and view at closer
range the meteors that have risen and
the stars that have fallen during the
past twelve-month. A few theatrical COM
plan sky. but for moment, only to dis
appear and be lost forever In the eternal
blackness Of things dead and forgotten.
a few lesser satellites have twinkled and
gone out, and what promised to be a
starlit heaven has now only few lights
to illurnins 1t, and the dramatic wan
derer must be guided by those fixed
planets, whose brightness and ehuIgence
might almost seem to be perennial.
In short. it requires no fanfare OF
trumpets or soaring pyrotechnics to sig
nalize the dramatic triumphs of the year
just past
But one must needs dwell In the re-
Prospect, as uninviting as it may seem.
in order to determine just what advances
and what retrogrades the stage has made.
Since Paul Potter set to work to put
Du Maurier's Trilby into dramatic shape.
which, owing to the widespread popularf-
ty of the book, and the clever conceit
Of the playwright, attained unqualified
success in the metropolis and the pro-
vinces, embryo dramatic jugglers, and.
indeed. some playwrights of renoWn,
have fallen over one another to give the
stage q glimpse of the locale and person
ages portrayed in the foIios Of Morocco
bound novels and novelettes- Consequently
there has been an over-production of SO
called book plays that, for a time. and
In fact even now. threaten to deluge the
efforts of more ambitious writers of
things dramatic. Simpering Janice Mere
dith,, absurd Captain Jinks,' impossi-
BILE ITO Have and to Hold and the two
widely -trumpeted gold bricks, Audrey"
and "The- Eternal City are only a few
of the many puerile dramatic attempts
that have met with the condemnation OF
the critics, and. in the main. TIE disap-
prevail of the public. who. after all. are
those who give up their hard-earned
shekels, and are consequently the ap-
pellate Judges.
So much for the book piaywriters- What
have the other dramatists been doing in
the meanwhile? The unusually prolific
Gillette has fallen as 1t were. into state
of inocuous desuetude, and seems to be
content with the money that has poured
into the box-offices to see his Sherlock
Holmes" Then. too, he has several other
plays in which he achieved distinction.
and which are still drawing good royal
ties, due to the material they furnish
for stock organizations,
Augustus Thomas. who started out so
bravely with Alabama" followed by
ARIZONA, and who threatened to name
play for each star on the flag. has done
nothing during the past year.
The indefatigabe Clyde Fitch. who
grinds out play between the courses Of
his dinner. has been as energetic as OF
yore, and while his name emblazons the
three sheets in almost every one-nfght
stand and water-tank in the country,
yet he has given the stage, SO hungry for
good food. nothing to appease its appetite.
.Pinero, from across the sea. has sent
us Iris" which has aroused more COM
ment on account OF it's n1oralisttc atmos-
phere and repulsive theme than any clev-
erness Of construction or brightness OF its
lines.
Richard Mansfield has scored another
triumph in New York in his magnificent
spectacular production of Julius Caesar.
but after all it was Sir Henry Irving who
originally made and used the scenic out
fit in "Coriolanus' In London. and &C.
centric Dicky put the whole outfit on
the bargain counter. Leslie Carter has
anything new.
Mrs F'iske has scored an artistic. II not
a popular triumph. In MARY Of Magda-
Ia" but, the play has been condensed
on account OF it's seacrilegious bearing
Mrs. Pat Campbell. Madam Duse. Mar
tin Harvey. ard Mrs. Langtry are again
on this side of the pond. but the Italian
actress is perhaps the only one OF
the quartette who has achieved anything
bordering upon success.
Winson,e Maude Adams has been de-
layed. on account Of Illness. from giving
"Rosalind." and Henrietta Cro.srnan has
failed to find anything so remunerative
or artistic for her purposes as Nell
Gwynn."
The old-timers. Jefferson. Crane. Rob-
son. Sothern. Modjeska. and the rest are
going right on in beaten paths. and We
have rip ''Dav-.4 Harun.. The Two