The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-25
MRS, FISKE IN A NEW PART.
.DOLCE," A ONE ACT ROMANTIC
couEDY BY JOHN LUTHER LONG.

Performance OF Great Vlvacity and
Charm-John Mason as n Romantic
and Faithful LOyer-TwO Other Short
pInls seen Here Before Are Revived
Yesterday afternoon at the Manhattan
Nr. Fl-ke added a very vivacious ano
charming figure to the gallery Of her theatric
,or-rojfs- Dolce in a one act comedy" OF
that name by John Luther Long. The play
s in fact, a romance as we'll as a comedy
rnr il tells the story Of a poor artist and a
cnud model who met and acknowledged
thar mutual love after a separation Of many
years. .
Dolcf was a street singer Of twelve whom
sbo,dou found in the Italian quarter OF
Philadelphia, who stood for her portrait
in street rags, cooked for him and grew
10 love him and to be loved by him. Then
she disappeared. The scene of the little
nlayl s IN Florence fifteen years later. Shan
don had met, the night before, a brilliant
Italian ~gentlewoman, Contessd di Cdseoli,
who reminded him Of Dolce, and who was
interested in the story Of his youth. She
is in fact the selfsame Dolce, who had been
Eddnap ped and taken to America, and
whose vanishment out Of Shdndon's life
was caused by her recapture and return to
her family in Florence. But she did not
tell him this.
Instead she comes to his studio, as the
plav opens. tests his affection for her by
irving to buy his portrait of her, questions
him to find if he is married, II he ever loved
her and if he still does. 1t is a delicious
little comedy of the romantic affections
all the frankness and s~pontaneity Of true
love at war with all it's mosques su~bterfuges
and evasions.
That Shdndon, who has loved so long and
20 very constantly, should not at on oe dis
cover his Dolce of IL in the Countess Of Fl
il possible; but that he should remain blind
through all her shifts to make him remem-
Der and declare his love is scarcely cred
ible. Perhaps he made the discovery
earlier than he admitted, for he is a poor
artist, very proud, and jealous lest this
splendid woman Of the world bring his
ancient love into ridicule. But IL this was
TO the audience, to the great advantage of
the effect of comedy. The defect Of the
play. intact. is its la ok of a precise and well
ordered development Of the affectinate
duel toward the close. 1t is a minor defect,
however, the general impression being
Ol ltIlllt ihNCllNAoht Vi Nv
dialogue and - granting the somewhat
romantic texture of the story-of humorous
life likeness.
Mrs. Fiske was in all respects at her most
charming. The IL cious self command
of the lady of the great world she denoted
with unerring skill, great subtlety and
variety, HerAbroken English, i~nterspersed
with snatches of American slang, was
piauant in the extreme. The underlying
tenderness and warmth Of the character
she conveyed very sympathetically. though
al times this was married by her tempera-
mental restlessness. Perhaps the less
fortunate effect was due also to the very
rakish hat she wore. slanting from her
eyebrows ONE yards backward and be-
yond.
In the artist Shandon John Mason had a
sympathetic part that gave play to his
very considerable abilities without in the
least overtax king them. To suggest the
Economically faithful lover, however, he
might we'll have been a little moro hollow
eyed and gaunt.
To complete the afternoons bill Mrs.
Fiske revived two of the three one act plays
Of last year. In The Eyes of the Heart
George Arliss again gave his marveIously
able and sympathetic portrayal of the blind
grandfather. and in "A Light from st.
Agnes" Fernando Eliscu again appeared,
The three plays will be given again this
afternoon and tomorrow afternoon.