The Indianapolis journal., 1903-11-15

men and women clothed picturesquely and
maneuvering pictorially in scenes of daz-
zling magnificence. Money could hardly
buy more than is crowded into this repre-
sentaticn.
There are actors famously good after the
opening night, but notoriously bad on that
important occasion. Thomas Q. Seabrooke
Is one of them, and at the introduction of
RED Feather he passed through an or
deal that was as amusing to the callous
FOUNDERS as it must have been painful to
himself. AS always when facing an as
semblage of first-nighters he forgot the
words of his role. although he had been in
the cast few days cut of town; and, of
course, he was funny for his failure only
as he was quite unable to utilize any of his
own or the authors ideas for comic de-
meanor as q political conspirator who
serves his cause by becoming the head
waiter at an inn. He was so aimless in
his efforts that the prompter could not
guide him. and he led his companions
astray by emitting cues. He had to read
the verses Of one of his songs from a bill
of fare which his part permitted him to
carry. Some cynics said that night that
poor Seabrooke was drunk, but he was not;
and some critics said next day that the
fault was in his role, but that was another
error. 1t was merely a case of that stage
fright which here and there an actor suf-
fers at every appearance in new char
acter. The cleverest of them are subject
to It, No doubt Seabrooke will be worth
next week the 500 which L suppose he gets.
he ha at hat
amount of damage.
One of the new plays. Lights of Home"
calls for description because Lottie Blair
Parker wrote it and for no other reason.
Mrs. Parker was simple, natural, idyllic
with WAY Down East" and again with
Under Southern Skies.'' but when she
came from the country into big city she
threw away originality and plunged into
the most conventional and mechanical of
meIodrama. Probably she took an order
for the Job with rigid specifications, and
had to turn out cut-art play for cut-price
theaters. But all the same it is pity and
don't believe 1t Is a necessity. Why ad-
here any longer to the English model for
pieces to please the multitude? Why not
discard it in favor of something ingenious
ly American? A good young man Is de-
frauded of his estate by his bad brother; he
is falsely accused of forgery by his en-
ployer; he runs away from arrest and
leaves his girl-wife to be beset by the
brother; his little boy is kidnapped by q
ruffian in that same brcther's employ; and
on the return of the fugitive as a sailor
his steamer chances upon a rowboat from
which the child has just been murderous-
ly thrown, so that there may be a sensa-
tional scene OF rescue. But wait a bit
Those are not all the repetitions of what
has been put into these cheap plays these
twenty years with hardly any variation.
There is stolen will to be discovered; a
subvillain, unshaven and inebriate, black
lain: and a second subvillain the cringing
coward who commits forgeries under du-
rance. admit that Mrs. Parker is better
in diction than most OF the authors of this
low grade of theatrical fiction, and that she
blends some new little bits of incident into
the mass of stale old matter. But she is
capable of good originality, and those who
induced her to produce trash should be
convinced. by the plenty Of positive proof,
the populace likes real dramatic merit If
only it be plain and clear for easy compre-
hension.
The audiences at these decadent plays are
There Is no interest OF suspense in the sto-