Omaha daily bee., 1903-02-21
CLUB IN THE CRITIC
Successful Amateur Performance at the
Creighton University Auditorium.
SOCIETY APPLAUDs EXCELLENT ACTING
carefully Prepared and Well Pre-
sented Scenes win Much Kindly
Communication from the
Large Audience.

II the chief function Of comedy is to
create laughter. the presentation Of THE
Critic by the Omaha Comedy club at
Creighton university hall last night
achieved the full purpose for which It was
intended. The youthful actors entered in
t~ellikently into the spirit with which
Richard Brinsley Sheridan sought to make
ridiculous the bewigged and silken-breeched
ultra-refned critics and gentlemen -dramat-
lists of his day. They succeeded in paint
ing on the humor without daubing II and
by subdued and legitimate methods kept
a breeze Of smiles and chuckles and loud
outlaws abroad in the large audience all
the time. And the merriment was not at
the expense OF the actors, but was ac-
credited properly to the roles they played
and the funny things the play-people did
and the awkward gestures they made.
The announcement that II was to be the
chief society event OF the kind Of the
season was no false prophecy. Society filled
the auditorium to the last seat, to the total
exclusion Of almost everything else. II
was kindly in its applause and generous Of
the, appreciation bestowed upon the first
real production" Of the Comedy club. The
organization has not been very long in
existence and its members are debutantes,
~ "ht aAoWbAo " htbuNdnlNb hulOuk lnb
members OF the sex that wear mustaches-
or viii: some day
Wise In Choice of Play.
Wisdom and good sense was shown by
the club in the selection Of Sheridan's THE
Critic" as an initial play. 1t is pure
comedy straight through. favored with
quiet but stinging satire directed to certain
efforts made to elevate or disintegrate the
afouo oa0A-gt,- A. -
THE Critic is almost good enough and
certainly is old enough to be a classic, and
is a play within a play, showing a re-
hearsal OF a heavy drama by Puff" a
well-meaning but short-sighted gentleman
author, and witnessed by "Dangle," a pa
tron Of that sort OF thing, and a gimlet-
eyed critic, Sheer" Inasmuch as the
actors have, by permission OF the author,
cut out such parts Of the play as they like,
the result is a 'ludicrous combination Of
nonsense, bombarded by the still more
funny of bangle and Sneer, as
they sit in a box, and the efforts of Puff
to, make the rehearsal a go"
Mr.. Harry Doorly, as Pun, had the lead
Ing male role, e~nacting it with far more
than ordinary skill. The part was hard to
do Just right, as it had to combine the
essence of g~entility and politeness that
4Nf AAoSAA VII III annoyance
OF the author who sees the child of his
brain carved to pieces by dull actors and
stupid friends. Mr.. Rex Moorehouse, as
Sheer, the critic, disdainful and burning
for the attenuated unattainable, was
cleverly dextrous with infection and man
nerisms. In the part OF bangle, Mr., Bob
Burns clearly showed that the former gen.
tleman felt perfectly able to weigh and
consider the drama, without In the least
knowing what 1t was all about.
Miss HitchcOck's Dual Role.
Miss Margaret Hitchcock, by the retire.
ment Of Miss Susan Holdredge on account
OF the dangerous sickness OF a relative,
played the part Of Mrs. bangle, as we'll as
that OF Confdant, for which she was cast.
In the FORMER her denunciation of her hus-
band for his interest in PLAYS, players and
critics, was neatly done. Whether she
looked the prettier in high, powdered
couture and stately gown as Mrs. bangle
or jim the simpler guise of Conhdant was
q question, but she exacted all there was
fon praise from both the roles, making
about as automatic a Conhdant as even the
inspired Pun in his most inspired moments
would have been.
Miss Gretchen Crounse in the heroic role
Of Tilburnia did skiIlful travestys that to
N N1AA<A Nh0 vi AdlNC luluk6
Of their kind out of Olympus, but which
the audience thought delightfully."- funny.
She wore beautiful gowns and was charm
ing. AS with all the other actors, what
she did was carefully removed from the
realm OF the oyerdone. In fact, the free
dom from rant and conscious effort and
slap-stick methods was one Of the most
satisfactory features.
what the Others Did.
Miss Bessie Towle was a petite maid
and Miss Anna Bourke and Miss Mary
Holdredge were dramatic as tho two nieces
who would murder poor Whiskerandos. The
latter was portrayed by Mr.. Lawrence
Brinker and was almost too funny to be
alive. His death was a horrible example
OF what awful things might happen on the
stage IL imagination is given free play and
allowed to forget the study Of human ma
ture. Mr.. Willard Barrows as Lord Bur-
leigh and as Beefester was heroically limp
and slaughtered Whiskerandoes with due
respect to the absence of the location OF
vital organs under the armpits. Mr.
George Mcintyre as Governor Tilbury Fort
WIS a man OF pensive gloom and grand
pathos. Mr., Vernon Chase as Sir Walter
Raleigh and Mr.. Tom Meshane as Sir
Christopher Hatton kept the desire Il
laugh at high ebb while they were upoI
the stage, while Mr.. Conrad Young al
Master of Horse and Mr., Paul Haskell a,
Prompter did all that was possible with
brief lines and sudden and short appear,
RnceS.
The play was given under the direction
OF Miss Arabel NJ. Kimball. who has evil