The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-28
THEATRES
s0rhe Lion and the Mouse,"

"The Lion and the Mouse IS John D. Rockefeller and the Money PoWer dramatized. But 1t was splendidliy
 The The plag may be preachmeut against the cruelty and the power ot what MT. Bryan calls "aggrandi@e,al wealth and what President Roose cit calls "swollen fortunes" But played as 1t was played last night 1t was a capital and compelling drama, stage story that gripped. tight the thou4st and the interest of the audience. To Montgomerians the names on the pro gram were unfamiliar. but the Eeizas bethlans had a proverb whtch said the same as saying that merit Is its own recommendation and needs no ar fidavit. As strong as the play was, the company was able to met it's every requirement.. The combination gave one of the finest dramatic treats. that will be spread during the entire season.
 The figure of John D. Rockefeller IS so thinly disguised as John Burkett Ryder. that even a blind man coHlo CTS it. That the Senator Roberts of the play is the stage counterpart of Sen ator Nelson W. Aldrich, of Rhode ls- land who is said by Thomas W: Law son to direct the operations in the tn- terest of the System cannot for mo- ment be doubted.
 In real life the daughter of Senator Aldrich was married to the son of John D. Rockefeller. On the stage the daughter of the stage Aldrlch was 10 have been married to the son of the Rockefeller. To make the play go for four acts the dramatis had to breaA up that arrangement.
 Rockefeller Is the lion of the play. The mouse is Shirley RossmoEe- She is Miss Ida Tarbell made young and beautiful Miss Tarbell, the magazine reader knows, was the first to inve 'ti gate and attack and expose the methods of the Standard Coil and she loosene ] the storm of denunciation and lgnt- hing of reform which has been ? aying about the System since the publication of her writings.
 To make her young and beautiful to make her loved anl 1nered by the son of John Burkt Ry1er, the Rock efeller of the play, N make her the daughter of a Supreme Court Judge the victim of the remorseless vengenance O. the System-what a chance for the dramatist. So the Mouse who was to save her judicial fathers honor from the cruel injustice of the money pow CTS wrath, the mouse, young, beautiful and brilliant, sets out to pit her feeble The story of the play is portrayal of their situation first and then of the successful campaign of the Mou c,
 It is a strong play, very strong of "The Treason of the Senate" And.
 by the way, the stage Rockefeller IS represented as sending orders to the United States Senate, But as strong as the play Is, 1t could be ruined by a company of ranters and scenery eaters. Those players Swith the unfamiliar
 names took hotd of 1t and wrought tt into an artistic work that would. no doubt, have greatly pleased Charles Klein, it's author, if he had seen it.
 The masterful, forceful figure of John Bu~kett Ryder was presented by Paul Everton. It was great piece Of char acter acting. Mir. Everton must be ar old stock actor, for they seem to be the only players who insist always on being thorough. He even had mas terful domineering jaw.
 The Mouse, otherwise Shirley Ross more very charming and BraceIui young woman, was done by Miss E1ea- nore Sheldon. When Miss Sheldon first came on the stage the suspicion was horn that she was merely pretty, but the suspicion was Plost unjust Miss Sheldon is an actress. and If she ism a great actress now she will De No finer bit of acting has been seen In
 many days on that stage than her de-
 nuucfation at the close of the third
 act of John Burkett Ryder. She quite carried away her audience. They were , weeping, some of them, and all or them were cheering when she had endea her passionate outburst.
 l lam who played Jefferson Ryder. He { is a good actor throuShot put HIS 1 work in comedy was especially fine. Nor is any better character F, aetins L1s son as Fitzroy Bagley. The audience | liked him immensely -.-., ,,,... ] The play was splendidiy staged. They
 do not put any finer stage settings on
 the local stage than the representation ! last night of Ryder's library ., l "The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast | comes tonight.