The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-30
THEATRICAL LETTER
 FROM FRANKLIN FILES

FROM FRANKLIN FYLES New York. Dec. 28.--China has not yet auarreIed with the United States, although "A Marked Woman has been performed a week in Harlem. a week in Brooklyn, and is passing a week in the Bowery.
 After seeing "A Marked Woman" performed. stopped in at a Chinese restaurant, and, over a cup of tea and dish of chop suey. eyed a dozen China men for symptoms of patriotic agita- 'tion. They were as calm as the rice that they were mouthing with chop sticks. tried to make the keeper un- derstand that I was asking him if he wasn't indignant at the maligning of his Empress. but could get no other response than that the tea was the strongest possible. and the chop suey the best ever. However, I feel sure that the telegraph wires between Pekin and Washington are making the sea water sizz with official hot messages.
 This is why. The Dowager Empress of China is made a malevolent char acter in "A Marked Woman" She puts the American Ministers daughter, Lucille. under taboo for hobnobbing with leaders of the reform party in- stead of the reactionists; and on learn ing that the girl won't wed Chinese Prince, but betroths herself to Lieu tenant Dare, of the United States cruis- CT Alabama, gives her choice between dying and changing her mind. Lucille is whisked away to the Princes noun tain castle, and when Dare attempts a rescue, he is captured, too. By order of the Empress, the Lieutenant is seat ed on a red hot grill, but the Alabama's sailors yank him off So Dare, Lucille and the drama come out all right
 But think of the international ques- tion. The world has been told on Chi nese authority that the Dowager Elm press is a nice little old lady, a bit fussy, about our missionaries perhaps, but never a broiler of our naval off, cers. Now owen Davis, author of this play, portrays her as a big brulser of a virago, who pushes the face of the docile young Emperor, knocks out leader of the reform party, uses Lam guage of a most unladylilSe character and gets gleeful with the diversion of Kidnapping a daughter of, our diplomat and torturing one of our lientenants. Shouldn't a dreadful row between America and China como of "A Marked Woman"
 New dramas have been made by Will ton Lackaye and Beulah Poynter for themselves to act in. These player playwrignts put together their plays out of novels by Victor Hugo and Mary J. Holmes. Reasonably, the out come of the Poynter- Holmes conjunc- tion is of lesser interest than the Lackaye-Hugo; but 1t is noteworthy for showing that women can do boldly what men hardly dare do at all. Mrs. Holmes used to write southern love stories. In Lena Rivers" she told of a girl who went to live with Ken lucky relatives, and was abused by all the family except a Durwald Belmont, who loved her Lena's mother was never a wife, and her father became Durwald's stepfather. The secret father of Lena and open stepfather of Durwald, owing his show of interest in the girl was regarded by the com munity as her illicit lover. Do you follow the complication? The young man became furiously Jealous of his mothers husband on account of a girl who was his stepfather's daughter; and to further involve family anfair, the stepfathers second wife believed that his daughter was his mistress. Isn't 1t strange that an actress should pick out such a heroine to put into a play for her own use? Lena is a good girl, to be sure. but the points of consan- guinty, real and suggested, are insisted
 
 her role. with astounding plainness and pertinacity.
 Wilton Lackaye's enterprise is higher and wider in scope and purpose. Peril is in the undertaking of the "charac- ter actor" who becomes a star actor" His role Is hardly ever that of lover; so the straight and easy way to the regard of his audience is shut to him, and he can get there only by some roundabout and difficult course. Lack aye does it in "The Law and the Man by a powerful delineation of Victor Hugo's Jean Valjean, who rises from the degradation of a convict to the nobility of phIlanthropic mayor. yet never gets clear of anguishing sorrow.
 As often happens in an episodic play, the principal actor has to see a sub sidiary one overrated for a few min utes of not very difficult excellence. A week -brained peasant, mistakenly iden- tified as Valjean, has but few words 10 say while transiently' in the prison CTS box. An IF. Pollard" plays him with just the right kind and degree of pitifully dazed fright, and awoke next morning after the opening night to read praise of himself in every review. Yet there was gall in his honey. He had prepared himself assiduously for another yole-that of a benign bishop in the prologue, and his real name of Frederick Esmelton was printed op- posite that character in the program. | All foo painstakingly he expressed