The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-10
LOVE LETTER"
MISS HIRNED CONES BACK INTO
MN Own ~ LIGHT COMEDY.

The old and Hest sardOu Of ''DtVOrcOns''
and ''Pattes de MOuche'' Very CleNerly
Made P~resentabIe by Ferdinand GOtt.
Y schaIk -COurtenay n Ferguson Score.
The clever and delightful folk who have
200 ,Itan Of late wandered far afeld, came
baoE into their own last night at the Lyric,
~ .he manifest delight Of the audience.
The Love Letter" Ia a rehandling. and 4
srrnr.ingly fresh one, Of the materials
which Sardou exploited in his earliest and
bast period in -Pattes de Mouche' and
-Diyorcons,' and it gives Miss Virginia
Harred occasion to quit the field Of hectic
and hysterical e~motionalism, in which. at
best, she was only a copy Of those who did
a bad thing better.
and T. shine again in the fieldof light comedy
hinged with touch and go sentiment, which
Distinguished her in Anthony Hopes little
romantic comedy. The Adventure OF Lady
Ursula, at the old Lyceum. What melo-
drama lost. the less snowy and better kind
Of play more than gained.
Much Of the u~ndoubted success Of the
occasion was due to the clever adaptation
of Ferdinand Gottschalk. Out Of an i'm
po,s,hle original he has made a play which
10 all outward seeming il unexceptionable.
Those who wish will easily be able to read
in in the place Of Mr.. Gottschalk's alleged
Irritation an ENHANCEMENT Of a very differ
ent nature.
The jealousy of the ~avengin8 husband,
in fact, requires a basis of damaging fact
10 make il at all plausible excessive az a
Partisan may be supposed to prove. on
such occasions. On the ground OF rigid
common sense the entire fabric OF aocusa-
ton and evasion falls to the ground. But
the whole thing il tinged with farce, both in
the writing and the acting and IL would be
gratuitous to swing the yardstick OF serious
criticism.
The love letter is again, as in "A Scrap
of Paper" an discriminating document which
has long lain hidden and is made the occa-
sion of minute and prolonged agitation.
The marital right and left is different
from that OF -Divorcons' in that it il an &C
complished fact withthe rising Of the curtain.
The question upon which the action turns
is whether the damaging document relates
TO FLorence's first marriage or her second.
But the result Of it, now as then, is to throw
into deliciously comic relief the characters
and sensations Of the su ccessive husbands.
And before Florence 70 n clear the skirts
Of her second bridal own she involves
herself and the entire cast, with the excep-
ton Of her husband Of single minded jeal-
ousy, into a network of lies and evasions.
To detail the complicated and ever fresh
development OF NJ. Sardou's intrigue would
be "a i'll advised al impossible. Artificial
no doubt, it is on the whole, but with an
artiice that is highly vitalized marvel
lousy sustained. The astute Frenchman's
mechanism is an admirable gas engine
with the carburettor running just the
proper mixture Of redolence and hot air
and his sparkling plug never misses. Par
ticularly successful is this matter OF spark
ing. Darracq could not have devised
better honk machine or Wagner driven II
more nearly to its capacity.
MiaI Harnad haa navQF bapn Younger
slenderer or more attractive and though
she reveals at ines the traces OF her recent
exaggerations in manner she IL prevai1nglJ
simple, natural and sympathetically hui
morous. The scenery Is in dangel
and the disabilities of the udien are OTTER
successfully assailed.
The entire cast, in fact, is surprisingly
excellent. At times II overworked the
accent Of farce. There was some noist
and some mugging. Often one thought
with regret Of the greater restraint OF tht
Partisan manner But quite as often the
wonder was that Broadway could pro-
duce effects at once so salient and so fine.
William Courtenay has never revealed
more striking abilities than In the part Of
the jealous young husband and has never
been half as funny. AS the discarded
husband W. j. Ferguson gave a portrait
Of a vain yet waywise and keenly humorous
old rake 20 deeply subtle and true as u
seem at times like a comedy version o
NhdHNllClu > CHNtFh Nhs NpNNA VI 49,
has his intelligent technique and his in
oisive grasp of character been more in evi
dence and less marred by exagReration,
The last act, in the garden Of a country
inn, was married by the introduction OF
band Of happy villagers in the well wori
manner OF musical comedy; but it CAV
occasion for an unnamed tenor, new to tn
metropolis and but lately dug from Tn
obscurity Of Indiana, to reveal a voice o
remarkable, il unframed. richness.
The Love Letter" is less original an
less amusing thar either OF it's predecessor
II is the work Of a mar past the exuberanc
Of his prime who is listening again to tn
voice Of his youth. But. as such pieces &c
it is notably amusing and is destined {
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