The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-04-16

New York. April 14-Old English
comedy was revived for MS last week
in London Assurance" and will be
next week in she Stops to Con-
quer." But Richard Mansfield this
week reaches still further back and
brings forward the French classic of
Moliere, THE Misanthrope" So we
theatrical sharps have. reminded our
! selves that MOliere's name entire was
Jean Baptiste Coque1in Moliere; that
| he was the originator of the kind of
! comedy which founded the Franchise
| and which CongTeVe and WycherIy.
Goldsmith and Sheridan initiated in
English; that this particular play has
been rated as the best of the French
mans writings. and that never before
has 1T been performed i'm America in
our language. Having thus brought
ourselves into an appTeciative condi-
ton. we go TO the theatre where Mans
held holds forth, try to look wiser
than we are. and really get a satisfac-
tory gratncatlon of our curiosity. No
actor on earth has a more intellectual
( following than Mansfield: none has a
vogue that coins itself into more cash:
fashion affects him quite as much as
culture commends him; yet the de-
mand for "JekyIl and HYDE is so in
sistent that he repeats it usually once
week, though he doesn't like it. and
would gladly use 'Rodion the Student
/ instead, but his public won't let him.
However. he is the one and only Amer
lean player with sufficient authority
TO present The Misanthrope" TO a sure
acceptance, and with sufficient popu-
larity TO do IL with no risk of losing
money We find il more instructive
than entertaining, and we ought to be
grateful.
MOliere was the first actor of Al
ceSte, the morbid hater of mankind i'll
The Misanthrope": his wife was the
first actress of CelimOne. the cOquette
who caused most of Alceste's nissan
! thrOpy. and there is a tradition that
! the real quarrels of the Molieres in
spired the grim comedy. which is made
up largely Of the sour mans acidulous
contempt for humanity as he viewed
it, The play is an example of such in
activity the great Shakespeare of
afOretime did not practice in the pro-
duction of stage fiction, and which the
! smaller yet srIil skillful dramadsts of
today despise. Alceste complains To-
| quaciously and very hatefully of his
/ fellow Parisians in general. Of his Oh
pOnent in a lawsuit in particular, and
! still more especially of the siren who
EeXeS him beyond aught else. OF SuS-
pense situation or climax there is none.
The eight characters occupy an I'M
changed room throughout. and they sit
down, get up. walk around, go out,
come back and-talk talk. talk. The
composition is literature. of course,
but it isn't actabe in the technical
meaning of the word. Nevertheless,
! Mansfield vitalizes Alceste with distinct
Characterization, making him resemble
in person and speech as much as can
be done with the available information,
Moliere himself, because he believes
that the authOr-actOr put his own per-
sonaliJy, temperament and experience
into the role.
As many miles away from MoIiere
as it is years is The Heir to the
Hoorah," for this is a modern piece
of violence. A rough westerner returns
from a honeymoon with an eastern
girl. with love in his heart and a book
| of etiquette in his hand. jealous of her
former suitOrs. while she is displeased
by his bOoTishness. SO they part.
| Time passes. A baby comes TO the
wife-with most of the details elabo-
rateIy illustrated Meanwhile the
rough-diamond husband has been pol
ished by trip abroad. so that his man
nerS are as smooth aS the SILK hat
which is his only clue to the man who
has visited his wife. He cOrralS the
two men in town who wear high hats.
picks one Of them to shoot as the Gull
prit if he doesn't get away before day
! light, and wildly quotes the prOVerb
about Caesars wife being above SuS-
picion-which he thinks his own is
not. The author evidently deems this
a strong scene. To me il seems rank,
and it leaves the play pointed for fail
ure. But it takes a turn towards sue
cess instead, and may be set down as
sure of popularity. It is easier to tell
of its faults than of its merits, although
the latter are abundant. a lot of Un-
kempt miners keep the movement quick
and comic with pranks bad in taste
but good in jollity. The funniest of
them puts on gloves wrong side to.
falls over a piano and is all sorts of
| a knockabout clown For timely APP
peal there is some jiu-jitSu wrestling by
a Japanese valet and an English but
Ter But there is a saving amount Of
| homely, native wit, and a hearty, grip
ping thoroughly human sentiment.
! This play win whOop itself into indis-
eliminate favor.
Paul Armstrong, the author, provid-
| ed an ex+Sa element of farce on the
/ opening niNht. He leaned SO far over
/ the fOotlights that his balance was en-
| dangered and delivered an grafton.
| les. indeed ii was OrdtOry or the now
] eriest kind. and the elOquence was
/ imbued with an eXhiliratiOn which
| amounted to hilarity- Mr. Armstrong
! told US that love and laughter are
| the greatest two things in the world"
| that they cannot be bought and
| that he means to give them to us Off
/ hand and free. That seemed to prom
! Use an abolition of admission fees. But
! Mr.. Armstrong was in a peculiarly op-
} timistic mood.
! More plays are written for MaUde
! Adams than for any other actress save
| Sarah Bernhardt. Charles Frohman
| had James NJ. Barrie make Little
! Mary for Miss Adams, but decided
| that il wouldn't do. and tested his
/ Judgment by trying it with Jessie
! Busley Arthur Wing PinerO came
nearer to an acceptance with Lefty,
! which has pulled through with Carlot-
! ia Nelson in the title part Thomas
| BACKWARDS Sunday" was almost as
! signed to Miss Adams. but not quite.