The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-01-25

mysteries OF the supernatural more vivid
than Imagination can paint them.
Though such wonders have already been
accomplished, ii is true that this new art.
this poetry of light is in its infancy. Fifty
years hence will see complete revolution.
All the miracles that electricity has
wrought, all that it may yet achieve, will
be seized upon by the dramatist. Let him
have only soul and imagination; electrical
science will step in and paint his pictures
for him. Sunsets, drifting clouds. sand
storms, flowing rivers-these and more
have been reproduced to the life. If so
much can be done with electricity in its
comparatively undeveloped state, who shall
say to what ends this marvellous force may
not be carried i'm its uses on the stage
Painted scenery as we know it to-day may
become thing of the past. The whole
stage picture may be a light picture and
the scenic artist may yet be required to do
with the lights all that to-day he does with
brushes and paints
Clyde Fitch might take for the title of
new play, 1.-The Lord and the Lily" The
phrase certainly has Fitchian sound.
Lord Rossyn, the young English nobleman
who has turned dramatic critic, has been
spending most of his time during Mrs.
Langtrys New York engagement in
writing scathing reviews about the actress
and her play. A representative of the New
York Sun interviewed the Jersey Lily
the other day concerning the matter, ard
this was his account of the heart-to-heart
talk:
"Oh, pardon me- laughed Mrs. Langtry.
You mean Lord Rosslyn, the dramatic
critic. 'Junius,' don't you know, in one
of the morning papers. oh, yes. that is he.
And didn't he roast me. Let me tell you
a story. Lord Rosslyn, when / met him
in England, was very anxious to go on the
stage, so I gave him his first start. stood
his very bad acting for sixteen weeks and
paid him a good salary. In fact, If / do
say it myself 1 have frequently gone out
of my way to do kindness to that young
man. Well eventually 'Crossways' was
written and reached the Garrick Theater
here. When 1 came on the stage the first
night, TO my amaZement almost the first
face 1 recognized in front was Lord Ross
lyns. The humor of the situation struck
me quite keenly. / had quiet little laugh
all to myself about it. Later in the even
ing friend of mine came behind the scenes
and said TO me: Have you heard the
news? Rosslyn having failed here as an
actor, Is now going to try and be
dramatic critic. He is here for one of the
big morning papers, and you are to be the
first lamb led to his mint sauce / thought
that my friend was joking, but next morn
ing when l read an extraordinary on
slaught on poor me and my play signed
'Junius,' / realized that my friend had
spoken truth. Coming from an Englishman
and a man whom l had befriended. |
thought it particularly brutal If he had
wished to cover his tracks, Lord Rosslyn
was not at all clever. He gave himself
away, you say in America. completely
in one paragraph, in which he spoke of
the Duchesss drawing room. and then he
threw himself into a great state of MIND
about the improper use of the title. That
seems to be rather hobby of his. for ! see
since that, in another of his letters of
Junius,' he rebuked Miss Tyree for making
the same mistake | am greatly afraid that
poor Lord Rosslyn is doomed to be an
amateur all his life. Personally / don't think
he is one bit better as a critic than he was
as an actor. But ii was rather a funny CO.
incidence that the first play he should be
sent to crticise should be one in which
appeared. wasn't it?''