The Washington herald., 1907-12-31
The BeIascO-"House OF N Thousand
Candles


Nr. George Middleton has succeeded
admirably in rob5ing Mr.. Meredith
NichOlsons popular novel. The House of
Thousand Candles. OF every bit OF its
literary quality and in making the book
into a bowling melodrama thai-save for
the fact that Mr.. +. NJ Holland has a
prominent place in the east-would fit
in very well in the popular-prieed thea
ters. Ii is a play OF striking improba-
bilities. impossible situations. absurd
strife without adequate motive. and with
out anything remotely resembling the
drawing of characters or the develop
ment OF u reasonable plot.
| The scene OF the play is supposed to be
in Indiana. but so far as any verisimili-
tude is concerned it might as we'll have
been placed in a suburb OF London or,
indeed, In any place but Indiana. The
story Of the play departs radically from
the story Mr.. Nicholson wrote. and right
| from the start the audience Is made 10
| see that John Marshall Glenarm, whose
demise all the fuss is about. is not
really dead. This is probably because
there is a stage TRADITION that an au-
dience must never be surprised by un-
usual developments in plot. Also. ii Is
plain 10 see that Bates, the mysterious
butler at Glenarm House. is not the VIII
lain that Jack Glenarm takes him 10 be.
and when al the end this "gentleman's
gentleman" turns out TO be a self-sacri-
hcing nero it is only what every one has
expected all along.
! Indeed, it seems pretty obvious that be-
fore the dramatist started to make a
play out Of Mr.. Nicholson's book Mr.. E.
III. Holland had been selected for a
/ prominent part in it-such things are done
| sOmetimes-and that Mr.. Middleton. the
dramatist. had come under The spell Of
Mr.. Hollands excellent work as Handy
in THE Social Highwayman." There. in
deed. Mr.. Hollands work showed 10 ad-
vantage. for he was in an artistic and
cleverly written play; in THE House OF
a Thousand Candles the excellence OF
his acting only served. unfortunately. to
accentuate the badness of the acting of
his confreres. and TO emphasize the bald
ness and barrenness Of the play
To say this is not TO say that the play
was not enjoyed. There was large
audience present last night. and at the
end Of each act there was much applause
Had the play been at the Majestic or the
Academy. there would have been much
more. for the populaI-price audience
loves nothing so much as to see a clerical
gentleman don his ministerial coat. grab
a hickory club. and threaten 20 crack the
first head that shows above the bannis-
ters.' Also there is a large popular ap-
| peal in having the heir 20 a landed estate
shot at while he is al dinner, even II the
bullet does miss him and smash a glass
| on the table at his elbow. The play Is
/ fun OF crudities and absurdities-some of
them from the book. where, hOweve~
/ treated in a literary way, they seemed
! more reasonable. For instance. one of the
clauses or the viii by which Jack Glen
arm gets the house is that he Is to live
! there alone with Bates for one year: also
| he is not 20 become engaged to Marion
! Devereux. Yet the villain OF the piece,
who wants TO get Jack Glenarm out of
| the way makes no objection to the fact
/ that Jack has his friend, Larry Donovan
( in to live with him. and only objects
when the young man becomes engaged
| 20 Marion. Then. too. the second act
| takes place in the early morning" II is
/ so early that Jack Glenarm is not yet
] dressed, and Bates IS carrying away his
boots 10 be cleaned. Yet az this hour
certainly not later than or S o'clock
J here come Marion Devereux and Gladys
/ Olivia Armstrong, the latter from a con-
vent both clad IN costly afternoon gowns
to make an inconsequential CALI
The whole play, with its shootngs, its
false mystery. its absurd characterize
| tions-whoever could mistake the open
faced lad. Larry Donovan. for a man Of
/ the world, or think Of the curly-haired
/ obvious Jack Glenarm as a man who had
suffered adventure-the whole thing: its
| tTap-dOOrs. its secret panels. its shoot
! ing. and its amOrial bearings painted on
the windows. is meretricious. false, and
tawdry.
| The acting. outside of the clever work
done by Mr.. Z. NJ. Holland. is distinctly
worthy Of the play. Mr.. Holland is
clever and "a conscientious actor. and he
almost makes the character OF Bates real.
but even he. with all his talent, cannot
quite do that. The other acting in the
piece was never above mediocrity Mr.
stephen Grattan neither looked nor acted
the part of Jack Glenarm, and-why does
he not have his hair cut? William Hazel
tine. as the villain, Pickering. was a joke.
and although E. II. Calvert. as Larry
Donovan, was jolly enough, one was
never allowed 10 doubt for a minute that
/ he was acting and was not really Irish
/ Miss Edna Conroy. as Sister Theresa, has
little to do. so little that If the part were
cut out Il would never be missed Mr.
| Frank +. Aiken, as the elder Glenarm,
was good in the little he had to do
! But although the company is not re
markable for its ability it is in every
respect good enough for the play: a fan
| tastic, weird creation, without any rela-
ton to real life or character II may
amuse, as a dime novel would amuse. but
about its appeal 20 the intelligence. the
less said the better
HECTOR FULLER.