The daily sentinel., 1907-01-15
A POWERFUL PLAY
Great Audience Delighted with the
Work Of Florence Roberts in
''Ths Strength Of the
Weak Last
Night.

In one Of the most powerful mod
ern plays presented on the local stage
in several seasons Florence Roberts
was seen last night at the Park opera
house.
Two great lessons are unfolded in
this absorbing and Interesting play
written by Alice NJ. Smith and Char
lotte Thompson. there is clear dem
onstration Of the awful fact that the
sins OF the father are visited upon
the children" and the struggle OF the
weaker sex in the face Of obstacles
that never surround the stronger sex
is portrayed. 1t IS one of those re-
markable problem plays whose cen
trail figure Is a young woman who
through no fault OF her own has
committed the one objectionable sin.
and her useless struggle against fate
brings forth the whole story of THE
Strength OF the Weak Her noble eff
forts to rise above the past made hOr-
rible by the fact that her trusted
guardian betrayed her when she was
only a young girl, her struggles to
combat the love Of a noble young man
feeling herself unworthy, her final
surrender to his love. the success Of
her strange book written under nom
de- plume, in which her own life story
is unfolded and plea IS made for
the woman who has sinned but who
seeks to be pure again, the pathetic
side Of her college life among a bevy
Of sweet girls who worship her, her
final confession 70 her lover and his
forgiveness, her horror when she
finds that her old guardian is her low
er's father. the final great struggle
between duty and love and the pow
erful announcement. make the char
acter of Pauline Darcy a mighty one
and makes The Strength of the
Weak" a splendid piece Of dramatic
work.
Florence Roberts as Pauline Oar
cey shines forth a truly great emot-
ional actress. Her Interpretation OF
the character is well nigh perfect,
the part was made for her and she
rises to its every possibility. She was
weak In not one OF the extended ser
les Of dramatic situations, she was
just as capable in her handling Of
the lighter lines when the mask OF
happiness and pleasure hid her sor-
rows. Florence Roberts charmed her
audience last night
while the Strength of the Weak"
is really a one character play. all the
other numerous characters being
made subservient to Pauline Darcy,
NntlE were 0pppI NuhlAltS AbA HDAlAt Z
clever work on the part of other
members of the company.
Miss Roberts surrounds herself
with a very capable support. The half
a dozen young ladies who were Paul /.
ines college chums We're delightful
in their work. II was an ideal crowd
of college girls. Ruth Allen, as
Jack" Newton, the athletic girl, /
won many a storm of applause and .
she certainly deserved 1t.
Her strong masculine ways coupl- /
ed with her keen wit and pretty face. I
goes a long way toward keeping back .
The morbid shadows of the dark .
in four acts. Ade-
laIde Manola was beautiful and sat
isfactory kitty c. Jay Williams
dy lines were most acceptable
The men In the play are not allow |
ed to show up very strongly. in fact
they are pretty weak. Thurlow Ber-
gen was as satisfactory as the limited
part of Richard Adams would allow
him to be. Charles Kent. as the eld-
er Adams known as Mr.. Abbott. the |
guardian, was very poor indeed. A
bad cold placed him at a disadvant- /.
age. There were eight of ten other
characters which are capably pre-
seuteu.
The settings for the four acts were
Mr.. Cort having mount
ed the production most resplendantly.
The setting of the house party
scene in the third act was one of the
prettiest ever presented here. The
others were almost equal in their
beauty. II being a modern play the
young ladies had opportunities to
wear some beautiful gowns and many
of the creations were slmly stunning
The light and shadows of the plays
are cleverly arranged so that the nat
ural morbldness If the story is some
what kept from being so harsh or
of the creations We're simply stunning
over-powering. 1t is truly a wonder
full stage story.
The attraction ranks among the
seasons best. The audience com-
pletely filled the opera house