The San Francisco call., 1906-05-14
AMERICAN DRAMAT|sT
MEETING WITH GREAT
SUCCESS IN BRITAIN

SUCCESS IN BRITAIN.
Michael Morton 10 Likely to Have Three
Productions Going at the
Same Time.
His Fareea "The Little stranoer~ I.
very Likely to Last Out the
Present Season.
hero and Heroine Of "Man and Super
man" Unexpectedly 90 Of and
Quietly Gett Married. ~
LONDON. May 1s.-rt.s tradihona1ly
an Ill wind that blows nobody good.
and the decidedly iukewarm reception
given to THE Bond Of Ninon." with
Wnlcn Lena AshwelI opened her sea-
son at the Savoy this week. makes II
probable that we shall soon have still
another play by that lucky American
dramatist. Michael Morton. This Is
Birds OF Passage" the adaptation Of
the French success Of the same name
which Morton made for Miss AshweIl
whi!e she was appearing under the
Frohman management in Leah
hlescnna. and which II has been an
nounced from the>firs would be put on
at the savoy In case the costume oonn-
edy by Clotilde Graves, with which the
actress started operations, failed to
catch on. Being q story OF anarchists
and their troubles Birds of Passage
should give Miss Ashweu an incompar-
ably better chance than she has at
present and incidentally the piece will
attract still more attention to it's au.
thor, who already 10 much TO the fore
IN theatrical matters On this eide Of
the water.
His farce. THE LAttle Stranger.
which was done for the hundredth time
at the Criterion recently. is still going
and likely to last the season out an
meanwhile, besides arranging for It's
production In the United States, Nor
ton has given Herr Schontau, who Ia
really big gun In the German dra-
natio world. permission to make :. q
German adaptation of the piece, which
VIII be given In Berlin next October.
Still another win be seen IN Budapest,
and In the meantime Beerhohm Troe Is
busy choosing the cast and otherwise
arranging for the production Of Nor
toms version Of 'The .Newccmes,"
which II IL now definitely decided will
be seen In London some time during
the present season. -.
So It seems there 10 more than. a
chance that before long this Aneri-
lean playwright win be represented by
no less than three London productions
al at the same time, which In q record
which no one except Shakespeare has
eQuaied UP to the present, although
Barrie came near 1t q while ago. This,
however. does not complete the tale of
Michael Morton's luck, for stin another
adaptation which he finished quite re-
Gently has been accepted by London
manager and will be-, given In the
metropolis In the course Of q few
months. This Will be called Daisy"
and. is the story Of race course pick
pocket. who. however at the end Of
the play rises to rather O. heroic height
In Paris the piece ran for two whole
seasons and made no end Of money
for its author. Tristan Bernard. ~The
Daisy Of the title. by the by, La not a
girl. but the old English song. which
is used as a password by the welch-
ing fraternity Of the xrece track, who
hum Il Ct the approach Of the police
As for "The Bond Of Nfncn" at the
Savoy, here Is a rather witty piece,
written by q talented woman who has
done much good literary work, but
spotted By haclnc9ed and rather
eilfy plot. II Is, in fact, a queer mix
ture Of the elder and tia younger Du-
mas as Represented by 'The Three
Mus1etecrs" and ~csmflle,s and even
an expensive cast. which included
Henry Atnsley and n. v. Esnond, and
realty luxurious mounting. could not
save Il from vigorous ~booing~ at the
end from combined pit and gallery
The "Ninon" Is the historical ssNinon
de rEncfos,- whttewashed, however,
for stage purposes and her bond Is
rather fociishfy written promise to
'1ove the bearer given by her to q
youthful lover who doubts her fidel-
ity. But, like I'VE out Of every six
pieces produced In this unfucky sea-
son, The Bond Of Ninon," has too
few chances of success TO call for
lengthy description. and Miss Asl1well.
who Is purely an emotional actress
and not ccmedienne-despfte her
conviction TO the contrary-wfi1 do well
to abandon Il forthwith and turn to
her Arnerfcan-rnade anarchist play
AZ last the author of 'eRaffies" is to
see his own rfs1 after apparently
about every one IN ths Unfted States
has seen It. There havc been plans
afoot on several occasions to produce
the play IN England, but believe one
reason why they have not come to
HIIy lIfili6 nrIStulOf9 WN5 tIl0 desire OF
Kyrfe Befew to hevs the English pro-
duction held Of unff ne .ooufd come
over and star La II But the complete
and deserved failure OF J, N. Barrfe,s
"Josephfne" brings .Rsffies" to the /
front with trnp to I'll the gap. If
will be presented here withs Gerald de
du Maurier IN the part Of Rafnes, the
gentleman 6ursfar. TIE rest OF the
cast 10 also notaSia. tncfudfng Jessie
1sssznan as do hsrsepA Dion Ponoi-
eeuft % ne Asee0<1yN LAurencs frv4ns
a. tho iow-dorr th4sf and orahaxne
Brown % Funny Hcfn4ns h maxi
fng . gzsst many clfsngsa IA the play
a. producsd IN ths United stateS Il
Z dess arywnsss @ neg ., wsn In nns-
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dsauAf4snksan e{ Rorntnss ssHn9A-
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uss wss @ Aast.aiien .sqShseAFN
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