The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-04-29
AT THE THEATERs
Observation-Disclosures Adams in "The Lit.
tie Minister"

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Adams IN The Lit.
tie Minister"
The art of Maude Adams acting is Of
THAT self-concealing kind that battles an
alysis. One loves the Lady Barbara and
/ all her ways-but one cannot say why. Is
it the charm of fresh young girlhood, like
no other charm in all the wide world, that
she is able to simulate SO well? Is it the
el1n Witchery of the Egyptian with her
quaint little face, SO plain in repose and SO
| radiant in action? Is it the power to
touch the sympathies that lies in voice
oddly resonant for so slight a person and
nicely attunsd to express so many lights
and shades of feeling? Is it the saving
sense Of hurnor that touches every scene
lightly with laughter and hecks with its
golden light every character with whom
Babbie comes in contact? Is it the real
wonaniness that underles the bantering
couuetry of the .masquerading maiden?
All of these qualities, we may be sure, and
yet others that cannot be put in words,
go to make up an impersonation that for
spontaneity and charm has seldom been
equaled on the stage. The wonder Of
this sp0ntaneity grows when it is conSid-
cred that Miss Adams has appeared in the
role unnumbered times, tho she now re-
wives it after long period devoted to
other characterizations.
In no less degree is gratitude due to
that keen chronicler Of Thrums, that sym
pathetic student of human nature as it is
made evident in a Scotch weaving towE-
| J. M. Barrie. For to him we owe this rich
| ly humorous comedy of character, quite
| unique in stage literature And while it
| is rightly described as comedy of char
acter. it is too comedy Of action-action
| that halts a bit at times. but still action
| that has a cumulative interest. Mr.. Bar
| rie's success in thus combining action with
| his illuminative studies III Scotch char
acter stamps him a genius to whom the
| play is medium quite, as effective as the
/ book
i Much Of the success of 1.-THE Little Min
ister' as a play depends upon the fidelity
with which Mr. Barrie's variant charac-
/ tiers are reproduced Tho Babbie domn-
ates the play in an important way, there
| is scarcely role that does not call for
high-class acting to differentiate it prop
erly from the others. Take the four
elders for instance, and consider how the
authors whimsical treatment of their, in
! dividualties would suffer in less compe-
/ tent hands than those of G. Harrison
Hunter, who plays the stern chief elder
/ capitally, and Messrs. Bunny, Pityman and
Henderson. who furnish three as distinct
types of the truly "releegious'' Scotch
man as could be ina gined. There is
quaint old Mamie Webster whose femin-
4 inc foibles and kindly. heart, are made real
for us in a wonderful way by Mrs. w. G..
Jones. And how well Joseph Francoeur
reveals to us the passions that struggled
| for mastery in the breast of the convert,
Bob Dow!s The glimpse that Thomas
| Valentine is permitted to give Of Cruick-
shank, the atheist. and his uncomfortably
searching comments on his fellows is
piquant. Not the least effective bit Of
acting is that furnished by Margaret Cor
don as the French maid whose airy CO.
| quetry and insincerity contrast admirably
with the Lady Barbara's innocent mis-
/ chief. Eugene Jepson's Lord Rintoul and
/ George Iriving's Captain Halliwell are well
conceived and executed.
| Henry Ainley plays the little minister
with the devoted asceticisnn the role re-
quires. He does not fail in bringing out
the unconscious humor with which the
lvagaries of the man in love without know
ling it are revealed If he fails at all, it
! is in expressing the fire that burned within
the little man and made him so doninat-
| ing a factor in Thrums In the two crises
/ of his career-when he discovers who Bah
| bic really is, and when it dawns upon him
that she is really his wife--this Gavin Dis
hart of Mr.. Ainleys does not rise to the
occasion He turns his face from the aud
lIience. instead of allowing to appear
thereon evidence of the strong emotions
he is feeling and the effort at sef-controI
he is making. 1t only remains to bestow
la word Of commentator on the Micah Of
/ Violet Rand and the Jean of May Gayler,
both Of which were worthy of their COM
pany.
The audience that welcomed Miss
i Adams on her first stellar appearance here
was as numerous and brilliant as the oc-
casion demanded and its appreciative APP
plause went to the unprecedented length
/ of recall after the final curtain.
/ w. 3, Chamberlain