The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-02-02

EMelodranla at Blot Comes Very
Near to Being Real
i$@ Tragedy
BRIDGE BREAKS TOO SOON
Horses, Coach, Leading Lady
and All ii q Terrible Con
fus deTanglc Oh Stage, I

Realism beyond tho widest expectations
tof the audience, was witnessed at the
8Biiou last night In the third act of the
amelodrama, .For His Brothers. Crime.
In c tho great bridge scene in
whtcl, coach, drawn by two horses,
( with three passengers IN the vehicle,
dnshcs across the structure, the plat.
form gave way before the modern Her.
cules had taken UP his position under 1t,
and horses, the leading lady, two of5tfe.
actors tho coach, and tho bridge fell TO
the stage with n crash and there was as
pretty wreck as one could lmngino,
There was d scene Of wild confusion on
i the stage, Sbut before the audience real
lied that this wonderfully realistic effect
+ wasn't a. part Of the piece, the curtain
B had been runE down. and Mr.. Mont
4 gomcry irving the strong lnnn who IS
starring III the play, was engaged N
doing tho heaviest work Of the evening,
that Of dragging out tho struggling
horses from the debris When everything
and everybody finally became extricated
from the tangle, It was found that the
Leading lady, Miss Bardine, had escaped
\ with a torn skirt; that Mr., Edward slEnip'
son had received a painful. kick from one
Softthe horses. and that Major, one Of the
two white stceds used In the piece had
(. badly bruised leg. The horse was sent
To the stable to be examined bySa 5yeter-
marian. Mr.. Simpson was provided with q
/. stfrnulant: the ruffled feelings OF the
leading lady we're soothed, and then tho
curtain was r,1nE up again, and the scene
was presented minus tho horses and the
coach. The players took the safer nethoo
OF crossing the bridge OH foot, the vi.
lians ha mrriered the structure un I'll 8leil
from It's / supports. and the nero. mo
strong man, rushed under the brioge, ana :,
ike n Hercules, bore It's weight until al
had passed in safety to the opposl.e sta..
The incident caused more excltem en- eht on
the stage than t::did4among the audience,
naturally enough, too, for ti.e players
were most concerned III, $
a SENSATIONAL sALELODR ANA ANA
,rha 3nlay. FOR His Brothers Crime
a. a Inelodrama OF! the sensational type
and its climaxes aroused the greatest
enthusiasm. There is nothing new IN
the manner ia in which every scene rs
treated. and the motives OF the villain
are the same OIL motives that nave We
stood him In good stead these many
years. But who wants anything new Y !! =
a J lodrama, outside of the scenic ei
fects. and surely the bridg scene IS
sufficiently realistic for any o1ler-espe-
| clally as It was presented last ~ ght.s
Incidental to the piece ara introduced
the Herbert Brothers, acrobats; who did
som.e very fine work The two. children
4 lin, the cast Celia Rosewood and X Claire
schads, were III t,lI cree1Sssr. Nj. Mont
g;omery Irving IS a. splendid specimen Of
|5..the perfect man. and his 3, feats Of
1 strength compared weI with soma Of.
4 those of 3andow. Miss Mabel Bardine,
as Rose Barclay, was acceptable. Mr..
Harry Lawrence. as 4 4 tckey. and Mr..
Harry Fielding, as Dennis furnished the
comedy element. MI. Joseph Troxler
! was the usual polished villain
That little thing like the accident
to the stage coach should not prove OF
4 serious injury to any OF the players Is.
not remarkable, when 1t Is remembered
| that in play five Of the characters
! are hurled from the window Of a three
| story building, and are able to appear
in the next scene with no more Distress
ing wounds than sprained wrists and
wrenched ankles. In a play that adj
! mits OF sucn a miraculous escape rs that,
how can ne expect that tho fall of,a
! stage coach and pairfof horses will even
MAIN any OF the occupants. In order
to do any real damage to these people, 1t
would seem that some skyscraper acct
dent would be needed. Slight falls like
that from a third story window are to
them only like the knocks a baby re-
ceives when learning to walk.