The Indianapolis journal., 1904-05-01

their play in the situation of the moment
and to compose the whole with something
of the detached penetration, truth fsde-
tail and proportion of force of Ibsen him
self. Hers was a strangely effective por-
trayal and, whether one cared for the
play not one was bound TO give the
| actress her just dues. Miss Otis was in
| teresting as the intensely disagreeable
Hedda Gabler, but her means and methods
| of expression seemed 10 fall short al times
Blanche Walsh. a young actress who has
| only been awaiting the right opportunity
| to accomplish great things, furnished one
Of the most powerful performances or the
/ season in her poTtraiture of the unfOr-
| tunate Katusha MasiOva of Count TolstOi's
| Resurrection" Her achievement was the
| mastery image of gradual degradation un-
| der the blight of one great wrong. and
| then the gradual uplifting OF soul that
} was not dead to the good and the pure.
/ but only sleeping <slusgishly Miss Walsh S
| study was of sucn great artistic merit that
this actress will probably be the one TO APP
! pear in the English version OF Monna
| drama is a great work of art. primitive,
severe and direct in its treatment OF a
. noble theme II is built on classic lines
and its glorious figures OF speech are the
| grave imaginings of a passionate. medi-
| aeval people, who looked to the stars, the
! sun and the flowers for inspiration 1t is
| play in which only lofty and poetic treat
ment avail. 1t is thought that Blanche
! Walsh will make an ideal Monna Wanna.
| and those who have read the play be-
| lieVe that she will find in this character a
| role that will bring her forward even more
prominently than ever before. She is sure
| ly to be reckoned with as one OF Amer
I ica's great artists.
Sir Henry Irving appeared in Indian
| apolis in two of his best characterizations
Louis XI and Shylock. From year to
| year Sir Henry does not change in appear
| ance, is the splendor of his art dimmed
| by the passing of time. He continues to
| be the greatest Shylock of the day. and
there is only one other Engiish-speaklng
| actor who could impersonate Louis XI so
well he-Richard Mansfield. Trying
new play. Dante was not presented
here for, with the close of his Chicago en-
gagement, the distinguished Englishman
decided to put aside the Sardou drama,
which failed to impress his American au-
| diences His local engagement was very
| successful and came at a most opportune
time. for indianapolis had been, flooded
| with musical comedies and was ripe for
dramatic art.
f. H. Sothern provided one of the i'm
pressive dramatic offerings of the season.
| His production of Justin Huntley McCar
| thy's "The Proud Prince" was well
| worthy OF the attention it received, the
drama and it's Interpretation being stirring
and coherent. and making a strong ap
peal to the romantic imagination. Mr..
Sothern's acting revealed powers that had
never before been shown by him. but was
| not a truly great performance for the
reason that one could never forget that
| ii was Sothern who was appearing, first
| as the naughty, arrogant prince and later
as the ugly. misshapen fool. Sothern has
| allowed his mannerisms TO grow upon
| him to such an extent. that they have be-
| come like crop of weeds that cannot be
got rid of. He is a scholarly actor, "a pains
taking elocutionist and one of the very
best of stage managers, but he never sue
| ceeds in completely submerging his indi-
viduality in any of his stage characters.
Mr.. Sotherns wife, Virginia Harmed, ap-
peared here in the famous Pinero prob
lem play, Iris and much might be writ
| ten about this psychological study. As a
| verbalist and professor of eroticism in its
most offensive phases, Pinero leads where
none of his imitators can successfully fol-
| low. He is the peer of all modern dra-
matists in verbal fence. and the dazzle of
his lines blinds the eyes of many to the
grossness of suggestion the morbid disease
and the hopelessly rotten views of life
which are his stock in trade And yet
there is no gainsaying that fact-and, un-
pleasant though ii may be, it rivets the
attention: Miss Harmed gave a, good in
depreciation of the title part, but failed
to realize its possibilities 10 the full.
Clara Bloodgood, in The Girl with the
Green Green Eyes; presented a wonderfully
and demonstrated that she was an actress
of more ability than the Eastern critics
were willing to attribute TO her. Her i'm
| persOnatl0n OF jimmy in the queer Clyde
Fitch play was almost coldly criticised
in New York as the play itself, but to
the writer's mind 1t was fine perform
4
| delicacy and variety and genuine and
strong. Fay Davis, another clever ac-
tress, was unfortunate in her selection
| of a play, Lady Roses Daughter prov
| ing to be rather prosy affair, although
Miss Davis herself showed a depth of COM
prehension in her acting of the principal
les and play-gOers consider a great ac-
tress. was seen in a magnificent production
-Be!asco's 'Du Barry"-and her India N
| apOliS engagement was highly successful,
from the box office standpoint. Mrs Car
ter has attained eminence which
amounts to positive supremacy in certain
phases of emotional acting. but in her
quieter moments she impresses some
thoughtful play-goers painfully arti-
ficial Mrs. Langtry was a disappoint-
ment, as usual, in her new play. Somehow
SO much is always expected of Mrs. Lang
try and somehow these expectations are
never realized. Her new play was better
before, but that is not saying very much.
Besides Mrs. Langtry is not a real actress
and that's all there is about it.
| Eleanor Robson gave a charming imper-
sonation of the little London slavey i'm
Israel Zangwilrs Merely Mary Ann" and
her characterization met with approval
wherever it was seen. The play was de-
lightful, for the most part, though it had
story-paper ending that tended to make
its concluding moments too conventional.
But this one flaw was easily forgiven, SO
| sweet and dainty was the comedy a
, | whole. Ada Rehan and Otis Skinner were
| seen here in one performance, and they
, | PROVIDED an evening of much pleasure
when they appeared in Sheridans school
for Scandal" Miss Rehan was as artistic
! | as ever in the role of Lady Teazle, though
, | she showed her age considerably, and Mr.
| Skinner, always capital actor, made an
excellent Charles Surface. A pair of the
| old school actOrs-there are not many OF
the old school left nOw-turned up for a
brief stay when Frederick Warde and
: | Louis James gave a single performance
of "Othello." Their presentation of the
| sublime tragedy was intelligent if not in
| spired, and their reading of the beautiful
, lines good to hear But their support
ing company was inadequate, and, in some
instances, wretched.
OF the new plays that were not success
full Mr.. Crane in THE Spenders,'' Amelia
Bingham in Olympic and Mrs. lie Moyne
: in Lady Berinthia's Secret" were the
most conspicuous. THE Spenders" is az
excellent novel. but il made poor play
) and even the splendid acting OF Mr.. Crane
, could not raise ii above the mediocre Miss
Binghams play was good and bad in
! spots and the emotional heroine of it was
; too much for her. She is a comedienne
pure and simple. and seems wholly i'm.
capa BILE of playing a role that calls fol
powerful acting. And Mrs lie Moyne's
) | play?-oh, Lud, what a sad affair il was
, | and what a shame it did seem to see ar
actress of her ability trying with all hel
? might TO make il go" Indianapolis was
one of the first cities i'm which it was
seen-and one of the last Mrs lie Moyns