The sun., 1903-11-29

cised again; at first, blush. NJ: ,biigonrs
picturesque assumption justified it,, but
dramatically it was mere russ. Ana are
rot all plays Of this character decoyss
! Do they not 20 fishing for the applause OF
the mheeding? You start out with your
battle one third In your favor, tof you
catch the sympathy of the house WIN
mock heroisn, mock sentiment, mock
patriotism All what. courageous ?, men ,;,,
Ibsen. They avoided the appeal popular,
preferring to throw down the challenge
TO their audiences. wa9ng war WIN 'hem
from curtain to curtain.
| Mr.. Mapes can no more help making
the appeal fictitious than his contemporar-
les. He Is sworn adherent to the romantic
drama. 1 am sure he honestly believes
-Cyrano de Bergerac' to be greater,
more human drama than "kosmersholm..
| All his training has been Gallo! He stuciieo
the French stage at first hand ana iee.s
the authority Of It's fschri'ue But ne was
story Of the Revolution would be more
acceptable to his public than a rehashihs hs
Of the. wearisome Triangle: The plot ne ne
! has woven is credible one; about as cred,o.e
as most historic plots, Washington mus,
dinner with that old sorr-beled Iory
! Casper Moufton Let tina. 60, Something
should be conceded the dramatist me
aneodote is capital one; It's treatment
and development are the main pGinius iu, 10
| The third act, stuffed as It is with rem
iniscent freplaces, mysterious clalho'ee;;;,
windows, doors, ceilings over when nv
| gigantic silhouettes, drunken soldiers VIM
dictive persons speaking IN foreign progueHs' gaes
girls. gallant young fellows, cries, yelIs
explosions, dscoveres-the list is long ano
the day exhausting, Mr.. Mapes' But you
have got them all Gagged In that act, ana
the strange part Of 1t is that they mingle,
fruc,ify into life and action. Some,hihe
happens, happens with a bang, aad the
audience is fuge.y excited, hugely salls'ieu'
Miss Elizabeth's Prisoner" at the Cri-
terion. served to bring back Hilda Spong
and William Faversham They were more
welcome then the piece, which is the joint
work Of +. Lyall Swete and Robert Nelson
stephens. Conetruclively the play OF these
Young playwrighta is very weak, IL con-
tans several elective scenes, but they are 20
clogsed by tn, general muddiness of what
gees before end cones after that they
count for little. Mr.. Faversham has had
little to do-what he has he does well, in
the true Favers ham style Miss Spong
has the richest OF all tho roles; as Eh-d-
brth Nha works wonders with her INES
eepecially in acts II. and III She Is
realistic as she has seldom been before
possibly she feels she must make the most
of the situation and speak daggers as well
as use them At all cvepts if Miss Eliza
beths Prisoner" e ever remembered IN me
years to perhaps months would be
better tarm--it will be because or tlida
Spong's spirited acting.
Another girl hear you say. Yes. but
this one has Discarded the curl, the pussy
cat smile and does the dsshing Di Vernon
business She is none the less Southern,
though she halls from Yonkels. The story
is Revolutionary again--the American cap
so a. to escape from the British. She dis
covers his baseness and takes her revenge:
but playing with fire, as do both man ana
woman, they are burnt-and SO MAKE up
for good after SCI les OF incredible eiIls odes
placed before us in An incredible manner
The ending is theatric and Eal Sc. but
what maywe not expect from the American
Revolution? 1t has given us rank crop
of bad poems. pictures, novels ana Plays
thus far, and. unless the hint OF the Iat-
ge.t IA taken, this same stirring theme
will continue To Inspire patriotic albeit
misguided youths to the perpetfation OF
more queer Revolutionary stun. An, Malt,
Walt you put queer bees into young mems
these States" Before the song, the singer;
and the singer. whether he be lylic or dra;
matte poet, must learn how TO sing-and
rot sing out where Shakespeare tear TO
tread. We can't all be Wait "htmahs
and defy the trammels of verse. For, as
John Jay Chapman said Of this Bard: he
patiently lived upon cold pie and tramped
the earth III triumph
Mrs. Crailie makes an excellent point
in a recent Academy as to the reason why,
with all its gloom and seriousness. the
tragedy in verse seldom makes profound
impression upon an audience nowadays
that is, anything more profound thah
boredom II believe" remarks Mrs.
Craicie. "that the reason for the disappoint-
ment all round is TO be found IN TINS TACT:
The CONSEQUENCES of any action are no
louger regarded as eternal or even IRE
mediable; they may be serfous-they cannot
be everlasting; they may be hard-they
| cannot be beyond some alleviation' me
| new view of existence is not exactly cynical
system, at least, of thought or philosophy;
but it is fippant Nothing is supposed to
| matter very much; the weak may perish;
| the strong must buck up" :.
The writer then goes on to COMPARE tire
| English and Italian conceptions Of Fran
cosca, the Francesca da Rimini of Dante
| and d t'Annunzio The pity and terror of
| her tale appeals less to us than its sweet
romance, Her taking off seems Inelo-
! dramatic to us because such bloody
souls eternaly driven in the stormy blasts
| of hell, if not exactly lost upon the Anplo-
! Saxon, is nttenuated. The Sardo,. play
proved this Here was one of tire greatest
poets of all times lifted from is niche,
| carelessiy daubed in glaring Gallo hGes
and set stalking before us, thing to make
one weep at the sheer mockery of 1t all.
| But English audiences took it as a matter
Of course and the Inferno is become tie
memory of a flaming spectacle in the minds
of the many. Mrs Craigie did not instance
| the Sardou play.
Crossing over TO the contemporary drama,
she acutely writes that as a rule we are
more interested in the secondary charao-
ters than in the principals, Fulgarity is
not a desirable quality. But vulgarity
has a positive. imperishabe charm; il is
sham nobility that is revolving. And sham
| nobility s the disease of our heroes and
heroine in serious drama or fiction. They
cry, they faint, they moan, they justify
themselves at length thcy. are artfully
driven by heir author into dilemmas which
funny character would get out of w wthout
a single TRADE or an attitude.-f less
curtain But the need of nobility ia their
wires; they must be by some means noble;
they must excite pity and terror for their
fate-a fate which, given 10 'theIsecondary
lovers, would provoke exhilarating amuse-
ment.'
There is sound sense in this Why is it,
too. that authors put such tail" tall, into