The San Francisco call., 1905-08-22
DU MAUR|ER JR.
TAKES STEP Up
Actor Son of the Author
of Trilby Succeeds Cyril
Maude at the Haymarket
is NOT COMING HERE
J. NJ. Barrie, Whose Plays
Will Be Seen in America,
Decides to Stay at Home
Special Dispatch to The Call

Special Dispatch to The Call
LONDON, Aug. 21-Gerald du Maurier's
at the Haymarket is another feather in
the cap of this comparatively young
actor, who is notable exception to the
rule that the son of a great man must
needs be a mediocrity. OF course young
Du Maurier owed his first engagement,
which was by Beerbohm Tree, chiefly to
the fact that his father was the famous
cartoonist and author of "Trilby" but
from the first the son showed that he
was able Ito stand on his own legs APP
propriately enough. his debut with Tree
was made as Little Billee, and his sue
cessful work soon led to his engag cement
by Charles Frohman, with whom he is
now parting.
Du Maurier made distinct hit in 1.-THE
Admirable Crichton'' as the young aris-
tocrat whose head had to be frequently
immersed in a pail of water, and i'm
proved his reputation still more by really
exceptional acting as the son In Little
Mary" In fact, ]. NJ. Barrie wanted
young Du Maurier's services right along,
and he played the pirate chief in Peter
Pam" which Maud Adams is to give in
the United States next season, and has
recently been playing in "Pantaloon, the
little curtaln-ralSer winch Barrie wrote
for his play "Aice Sit-by-the- Fire, 4"
which Ethel Barrymore is to have at
home Du Maurier and his wife. who was
Muriel Beaumont one of the prettiest
girls on the London stage, left town a
few daps ago for Dieppe, the French sea-
side resort where they are going to pass
the dog days. At the Haymarket Du
Maurier will be seen first in 'The Love
PATH" the new American comedy by C.
| f,J 10 hos ernt fn "a cO
great a man that almost every one has
forgotten that he is his fathers son.
WILL STAY AT HOME.
Apropos of J.. M. Barrie. Here's the
playwright's own authority for the state
ment that the report was mistaken which
affirmed that he was about to visit the
United States. In reply to a written in
uuiry-Barrie objects to interviews-the
author replies briefly: II am not going to
America this year, though l once thought
of doing So
That distinguished poet, John David
son, harbors a rather uncommon griev-
ance against theatrical managers. He
Is sore over being regarded by the pub
lie as an unsuccessful playwright-or
at best as a "one-play man"-notwith-
standing the fact that none of the sew
eral original plays of which he is the
author ever has been produced. 1t will
be remembered that Davidson made the
English adaptation of Pour la Cou-
ronne," which Forbes Robertson gave
over here and which was also per-
formed in the United States.
THE success of this play" says Da-
wilson, attracted the attention OF man
ayers to the adapter. and various pro-
posals for versions were made, but no
one has yet thought of giving me a
commission for an original play; an
adaptation OF mine had succeeded for
seemed to succeed, therefore. / was to
be an adapter. So began again upon
a French play with considerable license
of adaptation, but this license 1 over
stepped and the matter fell through.
PLAY UNSUITABLE.
II then wrote a play of my own and
read 1t in succession to three man
ayers who listened politely. I after
ward published this play. Again made
a play of my own, this time upon COM
mission, for the theatcr is gallant and
likes perseverance. but the actor-man-
ager for whom / wrote it deemed it un
suitable and again l published. Being
now once more Modified, not by sue
cess, / accepted commissions for adap-
tations and in due course made ver
sions of several foreign dramatic pieces,
besides at my own urgency. two orig
inal plays"
Davidson does not specify, but one
recognizes one of these as the adapta-
tion of "Ruy Bias which Lewis Wal
ler produced at the Imperial. 1t was
not a success, and evidently the other
adaptations mentioned had the same
fate.
This" says Davidson, "is an unusu-
al record and the comedy of it lies here
not one of these adaptations was in
any degree of my own initiation, nor,
although I prepared all of them faith
fully, and some of them con amore
would 1 have chosen any Of them; yet
it is by them my ability as a play
wright has been tested, and it is upon
their failure I have been condemned:
while my own plays. "Goldfrida,' Sells
the Man. and The Knight of the May
pole, remain unproduced."
DAvIDsON'S POEMS.
DaviGson's best known book of poems
is, of course, his Fleet Street Eclogues,"
while one of the best of his shorter
works is THE Testament of an Empire
Builder"
William Shakespeare is to be given an
other chance in London next fall. Arthur
Bourchier, who must have made bar
rel of money out of THE Walls of
Jericho" is going to risk losing some of
1t by putting on a revival of THE Mer-
chant of Venice in which he and his
wife, Violet Vanbrugh, will play the prin-
cipal parts. There are few more capable
actors than Bourchier on the stage at
present, and his Jew should be a strik-
ing figure, but it takes a really sensa-
tional production of any of Shakespeare's
plays to draw the London public nova
days.
London is at present the abiding place
of monkey who has the distinction of
having once assaulted the Sultan of Tur-
key. This Is Fasolin, an Italian-trained
ape, who is now appearing at one of
the London halls" Two years ago,
when at Constantinople, Fasolin's man
ager, Signor Volpi, received command
to perform at Yildiz Kiosk. During the
performance Fasolin became frightened
and, instead of leaDing from one of his
trapezes to the other, he swung to one