The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-10-28

Lin II IL ten times the case with Setden.
Whenever LiIy most needs him. on he comes.
And whenever he comes on he looks the
situation over and believes the worst. BY
all the rules Of the game he ought either not
to appear or else to do something. But
Mrs. Wharton won't let him. and Lily Is In
the plight OF the lady waiting at the church.
That is a comic plight. and in the end Setden's
repeated utilities become an argument to
laughter.
In a single instance Mrs. Wharton and
Mr.. Fitch have recognized the necessities
! OF the playhouse. Originally the final act
had two scenes, the first ending with the
draught OF chlorl and the second showing
SeLden's arrival al the door OF the hall bed
| room in which Lily lies dead. This final
deed Of futility proved too much for the
disabilities of the audience on which the
play was tried, 40 that it became necessary
to cut it. As the play now ends, Lily takes
the drug and sinks into her final sleep in
the milliner's shop. II was perhaps not
intended to give the impression that she
wills her death, but this is the effect. And
the result is that for once Miss Fay Davis
creates an impression in proportion 10 the
intelligence and strength Of her intention.
As was the case of another protagonist OF
futility nothing so becomes her life as the
y way she ends It.
Mrs. Wharton's interest in the theatre
has been earnest and sustained. some
years ago she wrote little one act plays
| full OF her incisive touch in character draw
ing and sparkling with the most brilliant
dialogue. One Of them, The Twilight OF
the Gods, as acted by Mr.. Sargent's dramatio
pupils, proved admirably stageworthy,
| and served TO reveal the powers Of a young
actress who has since fulfilled a brilliant
promise-Miss Doris Keane, now playing
the leading part in -The Hypocrites." II 1
am not mistaken, Mrs. Wharton once made
a stage version of the story Of "Manon Les
caut, and Jared rather badly with the theat-
rical profession, which proved OF the most
divertingly Rembrandtesque chiaroscuro-
being addicted on the stage to sweetness
and light, even in the ending Of AZ unhappy
a heroine as Mdnoa, and of it to ways that
are dark. Hence, no doubt, her determine
ton not to let the fate of Lily Bart be tam
pered with. Her willingness to dramatize
the book az all Is perhaps the result Of a
desire for practical eXperience-to guide
her in writing simon pure plays in the future.
II il to be hoped so. Our theatre has need
for such as she; and, "a Mr.. Moody has just
shown in "The Great Divide it has n place
for them. One could wish that her expert
ment might nave been happier; but this
much is certain, that, like the heroine OF
another popular song she now has ex-
pe-ri-ence.
To revive a neglected play Of Shakespeare
Is by the superstitious accounted a rite OF
virtue. IL it is so, Miss Viola Aliens produc-
ton OF -Cymbeline" at the Aston is its own
reward. And it is almost its only reward,
The simple fact is that this play might be
called the limit, IL Shakespeare himself
had not written worse. The violence end
distastefulness Of its central theme-n
braggart husband who makes a bet on his
wife's chastity and allows it to be put to
the test--as well as the stacy artifi ciality
with which it is developed, long persuaded
apologize commentators to set it down
as q sin Of the great dramatist's youth
but the single contemporary reference TO il
az well as the tests Of versification and
style, place it in its authors advancing
maturity. Its principal theatric value is a
brisk and complicated narrative, ably il
mechanically manipulated. One other rec,
o~mmendation il has, at least in the
printed page, and that is that it's heroine
is the l~oveiest ideal of wifehood in literature
and is made the occasion now and again Of
lines which Shakespeare himself seldom oil
never surpassed.
The melodramatic element in the story
comes out clearly enough in the present
performance. There is a vast deal Of cut
ting. hut few will lament it. and many
applaud. The scenic mounting is admirably
.g--I- Nk-.,akA,N and aNNnafipnAa WoalI Tx
beautiful. Miss Aliens Imoqen lacks subtletJ
Of texture and consistency Of fibre. The
minor lights and shadows are mostly blurred
and it is without saliency in the genera
composition. On the dead levels, iii shot
and there is where it mostly is-it is par
ticularly dead and particularly level. 1t
best quality il a sweet il rather obvious
w~omanhood, and In occasional momentl
of heightened feeling this rises to a genuine
emotional appeal.
The vital defect Of the performance is
lack OF effectiveness in the lines. This de
feet has been almost universally laid at TIN
door Of Miss Allen and her company. Il i
true that the language Of Shakespear
, seems jumhled and mumbled. BIT in man
c1ses il seems jumbled because il is junbleo
Prof. Barrett Wendell cites a critic who re
' marked InaL IL TeAOS a5 II TOWnln ma
written it. That is going a little far afelc
. for though it often seems unintelligible
. It can usually be deciphered when one find
. the necessary cryptogrammatic key. N
power on earth, however, could make
uniformly lucid on the stage.
: The fault Of Miss Allen and her compan
/, is that they mumbled what was alread
jumbled. Long stretches Of blank vers
I sounded like an uncouth foreign tongu,
0 Sad enough in any case, when IL was a que'
ton OF the few lines of consummate beaut!
: like IGchimo's description Of the sleepin
= Imooen and the requiem which the sol
Of CymbcIine speak over her suppose
. corpse, such ~mumbling becomes an artist
s crime. Why any n should provide soeI
= cry and costumes-but, no; the reason
9 plain. The revival Of such a play is a supe
stitious rite, and this is the necessary hocu
a poous, the appropriate mumbo-jumbo.
l., JOHN CoRBIH.
, AN EXPENSIVE LUNCHEON.
Hr.taad M M Francs II Really Cost 40. OO