The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-02-13
AT THE THEATER

Modern stage realism could hardly
be carried to greater perfection than
in Mr.. Lewis Morrison's production of
Faust" as given yesterday at the
matinee and at night. From the opening
scene, where Faustus is discovered
meditating in a solitude that is in
vaded by the dramatic entrance of
Mephisto, to the closing vision of Mar
guerite borne to heaven on the wings
of angels, the stage effects were unique
and fine and contributed in no small
part to the success of the performance.
Mr.. Morrisons impersonation of Me-
phisto was finished and clever, and
it is not too much to say that he made
the devil a dangerously attractive
fellow. Such one as might have
been some explanation of Mary Nc
Lane of Butte, Montana.
Miss Frances Whitehouse made a
very attractive Marguerite. and the
Faust of Leander de Cordova, though
little stacy, was sufficiently good to
be interesting. The excellent support
given by the rest of the cast made the
lighter parts of the play delightful.
Miss Addie Farwell took the part of
Martha with no little skill and fine
humor that aroused laugh after laugh
for her clever acting rather than for
her amusing makeup.
The four students carried off their
scene before the tavern, in the first
act, with swing and spirit, Mr.. Jules
Cluzetti as Brander being especially
good, with the gift of making his
stage laugh most natural and conta-
gious. The others were George HUI
bert, Paul Masaens, and George Hen
shaw, and these four gave a quartette
that was so warmly applauded that
they had to respond more than once,
one of the encores being a delightful
tune to which was set the poetic ditty
of Peter Piper" One of the features
of the piece was the musical numbers.
There were two good feminine voices
in the cast, Miss Esther Benson, So
prano, and Miss Lorraine Dimond,
contralto, and these, with the four
men, made a very enjoyable sextette.
The scenic and electrical effects
reached their hight in the fourth act,
where Mephisto shows Faust the revels
of the demons and the vision of Mar
guerite in prison with the necklace of
burning jewels around her throat. The
curtain falls on a rain of fire.
From a literary point of view the
play was married by a constant in
accuracy in the use of the words
thou" and you which were made
interchangeable. To hear Mephisto
exlaim with his most wicked air "Dost
thou not belong to me? Have l not
bought your" or some similar remark,
was somewhat annoying and assured
ly weakened the effect of the lines.
Two of the largest audiences of the
season witnessed the performances.
The sale of seats for the Payton Sis
tiers Comedy Company engagement
The prices are 10, 20 and 30 cents.
The Columbia, Miss, Daily CONNER
cial had the following notice of the
Payton sisters, who appear all next
week at the Savannah Theater:
1.-THE Payton sisters closed a weeks
engagement at the Columbus opera
house, and all who witnessed their
performance are unanimous in the
opinion that it was one of the best and
most thoroughly competent companies
that ever appeared here. Miss Lucy
Payton, who plays the leading roles,
is, not only unusually pretty, but is an
excellent actress as well and her sis
ter, Miss Vina, who plays soubrettes
and ingenius, is the sweetest and
daintiest little creature imaginable.
She completely won her audience the
first night and held them, captive
throughout the entire engagement.
The comedy roles fell to Mr.. Senter
Payton, who plays them in manner
which thoroughly merits the liberal
applause which he always receives.
Mr. Ed Lawrence, the heavy man, is
an exceedingly clever actor, and made
a decided hit here, both in his regular
parts and in his specialties. Mr.. Rus
sci, the leading man, and Mr.. Thimp-
son, who plays juveniles, are both
clever actors and the remaining men,
bers of the cast are thoroughly ac-
ceptable'
The Hoyt Comedy Company will re-
sumo it's engagement to-day, present.
ing at the matinee and at night. Baby
Doris, the clever little vaudeville per-
former of the Hoyt company, will give
a reception to the children at the matt
nee tomorrow afternoon.
TO ENFORCE TAX ON