The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-11-24
HELEPATHIC Mr.. THOMAS
THE wETCHTNG HOUR. or HOW
RRSEN INFLUENCED ME-"

$500
COn,pany-Is Improbable Hypnotic
Scene the chief Mot on the Texture,
IL would be far NnSier 70 write two pages
than two columns about Augustus Thomaa's
fascinating and cfrsctive new play. The
Witching Hour. " now visible at the Hackett
Theatre. with John Mason in tho leading
part. From no matter what point OF view
o survey his dTamR It. repaya you with
humor. or emotion, or subject for debate, or
patriotic pride. or wonder Rt Mr.. Thomas's
protean personality. or-ifYOu are a Pysohic
Researcher. a disciples JOY. IL was not
many weeIts ago that Mr.. Thomas exhibited
-The Ranger" at Wallack's Theatre, which,
II II IL remembered at all, will be- recalled
as a clumsy. trivial and Ineffective melO-
drama. devoid alike Of style and idea.
-The WitohinR Hour" on the other hand.
is instinct with dramatic style. and finely
and firmly wrought into it's texture, sus-
pended in every act and almost every
situation, is an idea
The two plays are az far apart as the
~poles-almost as far apart rs Ihsen and
Theodore Kremer. IL seems almost In
credible that the same man could have
written them at tho same period OF his
career. Perhaps he didn't. Perhaps The
Ranger" was a skeleton fshed UP from
that trunk all authors keep under their beds,
and its bones decked out TO Al, an order.
Which is another argument for keeping
the lid down. Certainly. however. the
Witching Hour" was written con am0re,
and represents on the whole the ripest
work Mr.. Thomas has yet put forth. It
represents FORK so ripe. indeed, that II
bears about it in every line traces Of tho
most modern influences; itS appeal 10 ever
primarily TO the intellect, though Its grip
on the mere theatrical story In firm and
sure; IL is a successful venture by the author
of Arizona into the drama Of ideas. With
the most humble apologies to MIR. Thomas,
whose pTeiudices OF the subject have been
expressed in print. we even venture TO say
1t is an example OF Ibssn in America.
There is something so slyly oomical In
that last idea that n is tempted TO pause
and daily with it, Unless a none too trust
worthy uaemory has entirely forsakeu us.
Mr.. Thomas has on more than one occasion
rspudiated any inter est in Ibsen; he has
scorned his subject matter and spelled
America large after the fashion Of speakers
full Of baked meats. Yet here he in writing
n drama where the ghost Of a woman in
fuenced n decision Of the Supreme Court
of the United States; where ~tslepathy and
~hypnOtism play leading roles; where the
mental attitude OF 500 900 excited Ken
tuckians influences a jury shut up in a room:
where. in short. the things which abide
below the threshold" Of human con-
sciousness. the dim. improved. disturbing
facts OF Iire-iR facts they be-ars the
RhAaNIwR AA0ka--rs.a - 49, H. ~.
Mr.. Thomas suppose he COULD have done
this II Ibsen had not shown him how. yes.
and shown the public how 70 understand
him2 Does he suppose--granting that he
could have written the play fifteen years
ago-the HAckett Theatre would Rave bsen
packed at every performance to see it3 n
he likes. let us just attribute the influence
to ~telepathy. Let Ills say he never saw an
Ibsen play performed. never read one. never
heard Of The Master Builder" Let US
conceive Of him as shut Up in New Rochelle.
far from the madding drama. where news
from the outer world does not penetrats.
But 100000 Of his fellow countrymen ave
been whipped into reluctant attendance on
the Ibsen drama. Inc there has dawned on
them a great light, on them and on certain
men who write plays for them. They have
become dissatisfied with the artificial. the
conventional. the old trite repetitions of
stage formula. They nave come to look
for a technique that should go below the
mere tricks Of climax and surprise, for a
picture OF life that should go deeper than
theatrical convention. for realism that
should De real and situations that should
call not alone for the easy laugh or tear.
but for those doubts and puzzles and search
ing speculations that make life at once SO
strange and so worth while. And the COM
bined thoughts about the drama OF these
500 900 did beat upon New Rochelle and
upon the brain Of Mr.. Thomas, and, lol he
did write Tho Witching Hour And
when he surveyed his work and Jaw that it
was good. did he parody Frank HdrdmHh
In Act III. and say. Il wonder how In hell
! did that? Or did he communicate at
once with Prof. Hyslop? Perhaps he sven
made the forty-fve minute trip to Broad
way and saw The Master Builder Who
knows2
Which brings us down to the serious
business Of the day. What is there in telep-
sthy? IL may be said at onoe that with the
theatrical effectiveness Of THE Witching
Hour" there is no quarrel. nor with the
acting Of it. AS the opper wire is in a
the first essential to the transmission
of a telephone message. so a well made.
vol told story is the first essential to the
transmission of such a message as Mr..
Thomas speaks in this play. And that
essential he has in the main admirably
filed and has beer uncommonly we'll aided
by his players. In spite Of the unusual
quality Of so many oauses-telepathy and
hypnotism-the effects arc handled with
quiet. truthful realism, the story pro-
crosses with the smoothness and precision
of machinery. there is no violence done
TO probabilities either OF incident or charac-
ter. excepting. Cor the time being. such
viOlenoes as may inhere in the tslspathio
and hypnotic premises. And even these
are SO handled that while tho play is in
action they carry you. however sceptic.
to a kind of mOmentary belief. Only the
final act OF Jack BroOkfeLd- his connivance
in the escape Of Hdrdmuth. a murderer.
quite consistent with his idea that In reality
he was in a sense guilty with him. since he
had thought Of the murder in Hardmuth's
presence (here VIC recall the Master BuiLdefD
lis unsatisfactory. And that is because you
are sure his act will be found out and an
unjust aftermath result. bringing I'M
happiness on all who should be happy.
Al i =.