The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-05-09
uTRILBY" AGAIN TRIUMPHS.
TgN YEARS ROLL OFF IT LIKE
THE OTHER DAY.

A Rsn,enated Audience Rises 20 1.-THE
original cast All but Ihtact-A Mar
,clous SvenEail. and a Charming
speech Made ny wilton LackaYe.
Il was with no little inward misglvlpg
that the remnant Of the seasons fret
righters turned into the New Amst erdam
lsst evening 20 assist 40 Mr.. Brady's re-
yiyal Of "Thby." Ten years Is a tioklish
time ago 1t is possible to make Il seem
in retrospect like Just the other day; and
dt is 80 made, one is very grateful-for Il
% really ten years.
Last night Il was as nothing at all, and the
audience. rejuvenated in proportion, rose
N the actors time and again, drowned out
the orchestra and came near to raising the
roof-and might have done so, II Mr.. Lack
ave. still CHASTITY with SpeHgGiTs death
nallor. had not at last yielded 10 the racket
and 20 Miss Harneds graceful pleading In
psntomime and made speech.
Il was a graceful and finished little speech.
which tactfully refrained from the wit
for which the speaker is famous, and dwelt
on the real meaning Of the occasion
.Trilby' was the last Of the late Mr.. Pal
ner's successes, Mr.. Lackaye reminded
IA. and might we'll serve to mark that arts
no managers services TO our stage. No
where. he went on, are the milestones OF
the years 40 prone to appear like grave
stones Of buried past as in the theater.
lie said that the reception OF the play was
almost as enthusiastio as on the occasion
Of its first production, which seemed on the
whole a modest understatement, and, ad-
hitting that the piece was IN some respects
bizarre he remarked that It must still
possess striking theatrio values 70 wear 50
well. ,,
than theatrical history. II marks one Of the
few and rare stages 10 the progress OF our
public out OF the night of Victorian prudery'
What its heroine was, we all know and the
TACT that her character and story, unsenu-
mentsli1ed and mpretuhed, could be
made attractive TO our public marhs
triumph Of living human nature over dead
conventions Of Proprety.
The remark applies rather 10 the book
than TO the play, In which there Is mucn
strenuous sentimentality Of the order OF
Camille" but even on the boards II Is
sufficiently frank and unaffected len
years ago It was possible to dIamatlze
the heroine Of the altogether. We shall
probably not see another such epoch OF
advancement until-save the mark-some-
body ups and dramatizes that latest phase
and phrase Of once impossible speech race
With the exception Of Liule Billee, in
which William CouTtenay succeeds douglas
Fairbanks, and Gecko, played last night by
f. W. Morrison. the chief parts were taken
by the actors VINO created them over
such imperfoctions as there may have been
In the performance II II most gracious at
euch time TO pass lightly. Now, as tnen'
the salient triumph was the Srengdh.
Never has an actor more fully succeeded
IN living into the skin OF part. Admraoie
as Mr.. Gackaye Is in all he attempts his
power and authority are best felt In salient
character parts.
AZ the musical hypnotist he fairly Teeks
with garlic and plentiful lack OF bathing.
The race characteristics he denotes with
. spirit that very properly touches the
S SeneTat 2. Sng moment into caricature.
The pale. grimy, black whiskered face
the eve. glittering like steel with the pride
If intelligence and the greed OF ambition
the wasplike form 10y what logic did the
actor succeed in distributing his middleO
the spiderlike, prehensile arms and fingers
not detail Of the visual reali zauon Of the
character was lacking. There was the
Rleam Of wit in the countenance-a wis
that stabs with intelligence like knife
and following it the harsh, hollow, mirth-
less laughter of vain self-applause inten-
sifed by harsh note Of gloating triumph.
In the exertion Of hypnotic power Mr.,
Lackaye somehow managed TO denote at
once the exaltation Of diabolic power
and its racking exhaustion. The loath-
someness Of the extemals made your flesh
crawl, and the satanic malevolence and
greed of the soul within sent shivers down
the spine and horror into the heart.
The Td6U of Burr Mcintosh, II somewhat
unoouth, was admirably burly and simple
IN the denotement Of primitive masculine
feeling. John Glendinning endowed The
Laird with a full measure Of gruh and in
sinuating Celtic charm. William Courtenay
made what little is TO be made Of the eostatio
Little Billee Mr.. Morison's Gecko had a
moment Of striking meodramatic force,
and Leo Ditrichstein as Zou Zou was fin
ished in his methods, as he always is, and
abundantly amusing In his effects. The
Nine WIZARD OF Mathilde Cottrelly was
spiritedly Gallo.
The rolliclling scene Of Latin Quarter
oarousal over Trlby's betrothal was stage
managed with all OF Mr.. Brady's finished
skill There were moments in which one
really felt the atmosphere of Partisan stu
dent life, aud that is saying much for a
play the chief virtue Of which IL melo-
dramatic theatricism.