The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-02
IN THg INDIAN MELODRAHA.
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e. .am A., Rfrlv ssgs Broadway vhai
10 ..,..s 0Igat nat niftt NJ no 7 lrrty
u.,t.ltI novelty That ht h. latsrer
d. .e,s w. rur1ld Wnotafer'a THE
r,.r.a.r ..t rFhly PICTORIAL tnd oat"naiu'y
,..... r.r r.nrr. me- entire dr1mHii1
....rn n riHrh are ]tndirra. " hra np
a HUIp .irr aeears ~ vllIing Ffrhlnif
HI+fIv tfna irtr order, fhs costumes
s,I ..-.u.rimorfH urp Ha accurate loo W..
,Hrsn rIrf.irc ~ Frpi Remington, Tho
N,,H,rt,i musio Ia y arrira ~ wHiri th.
,rFIpnI airs arranged f1f Tho orchestra
f. fbst amateur VI sbohrInality Arthur
trrv,lL. and the rnst a pumpos"d ~ q band
90 r,,l eIlur pins somp moro ~ Ices real
f,ri n tian ms ~ f0' Tho poor indian
nr..Iur1.
A. tp ruI ~ Tho second act the hpusH
wont will particularly I'm 'he cutlery. Af'er
Int tuo iutcfeet fell ~ bat thcre can 10
l.uo Ilul. thai the play will Fin ont a
trc,raa mainly ON tho score ~ N. arlnOIance
cf novelty
Tho novelty vts, In fact, mpre In seeming
than In truth. The real rodyIUu we about
T. prominent IL the affair uR the hand ni
f.luN suJTu4 that crO1ohed in the back
ground. doing what liiilo they q TO do %
ryr-rien'iou-ly a. u band " nay foot straw
foot recruits. yet with J1st enough OF tho
I.nl hing about them 10 throw into rellei
tIo glaring artihciaIity II tho whole. The
pace H., In fact, it, superficial appeal not
v~TfhstandinP the most appalling hodge,
lodge that has lately leen dished up on the
broadway Of hvdgo-pOdges.
lhe central scene Of the third act is
frankly medieval a trial by personal
combat between the innocent hero and
tns accusing villain. Many Of the scenes
are as frankly tli2abethau. Now the
hrroine has a scene with her nurse, Tor
All the world like J%uLIeis. Again she chooses
among her suitors like POrfid Of Belmont.
Throughout, the play Is written in halting
blank verse Of an undeniably Shakespearian
east. Language, imagery, moral code,
everything is about as different from that
OF the abOrIglne as can well he imagined.
Sometimes, as when the heroine enters
under a canopy and attended, by hand
maidenS, the effect Is Fast Indian. NAgain,
Us when MIR. Tyrone Power poses as a mighty
chief, the effect il Cigar indian. Not for
u moment Is the real redskin In the fore
Over all these essential absurd tiles is
cast the glamour Of a production in the
manner of Belasco, There are no vel
kNfIlt tutCJE- vi tNhlllllp a "hI VI
about the hero tied to the stake, in which
for once the Sioux let themselves loose
with real effect. and n b~ackdrop, on which
at the end the Indian Charon paddles up
hhimmering river for the soul of The heroine,
and ferries it way to join her dead lover
H. the happy hunting ground.
The story, too, at once heroic, ira gic and
absurdly false to the life depicted and to
human nature, is an echo Of The Darling
of the Gods For all its superficial novelty
the thing is essentially .pdstche, and not
particularly good P%dstche, though popu-
arly effective.
One quality the author has, and it is to
this that his success, SO far as 1t is legiti-
mate, is due. Assure as are his plot, mis-
scenes, his characters and his literary
style, he takes them seriously and pre-
sents them with vigorous melodramatic
effect. His story has, in fact. asubstratum
of epic and dramatic force.
1t is the theme of l. Cid OF Corneille.
Tho hero's father has been killed, acct
dentally it is true, by the heroine's father;
and from this arises the obstacle that
death. 1t is the creates. OF pities that
such a theme could not have had n hand
ling as original, experienced and intellI-
gent as it is earnest.
For such acting as the play requires there
is really no adequate criterion. As the
aged and death stricken chief Tyrone
Power was forcible and picturesque, in
spite of a certain woodenness that reminded
one OF a cigar shop sign. AZ the lover
Edwin Arden was crude and voloanical lily
rassional by turns, As the heroine, the
chiefs daughter, Katherine Grey was
more consistently charming and winsome
than she has often been and as a squaw
who besieges the hero with illicit love
Bijou Fernandez was strikingly melo-
dramatic. On the whole the performance
was undeniably spirited and effective.
Mr.. Brady showed his realization of the
fact that the second Of the four acts was
the strongest by appearing at the end Of
1t for O curtain speech. He was plainly
unnerved, but alphabetically appealing,
He said that the play VISA a n American
play, by an American boy, and was pro-
duCed in an American theatre What he
meant by this last was not clear, some one
suggested that he thought he was in the
American Theatre, next door, where the
piece really belonged, But tina was I'M
kind. Mr.. Brady added that he and his
actors had worked very hard, because
they felt that they were doing something.
They We're, They We're doing almost
everything. 81 hope" he added, "thaty you
are all on the level, and that | won't wake
up tomorrow with tho same old sickeniug
thud." There Is little danger Of that.
Mr., Maclaren was then pushed on, and
after several attempts to escape behind the
curtain, said that Mr.. Brady wouldn't let
linn off until he had said something. SO he
said Thank you and escaped.
In short, it was an interesting and rather
charming occasion. The tomahawkI of
this indian play Enthusiastically hit Broad
way between the eyes. If il did not strike
deeper, the fact cannot be urged against
1t until the eyistanCe of the organ of thought
il demonstrated