Los Angeles herald., 1907-11-26
DRAMA
STRONG PLAY
"THE LION AND THE MOUSE" is
HIT AT MASON
FINANCES AND POLITICS ARE
BASIS OF PLOT
Miss Dorothy DonneIIy Gives Powerful
and Convincing Portrayal Of
Exactne RoIe-Support
Is Excellent
ny @. NJ. EMERY

Somewhere In that book of all DOCKS
there is promise which has to 90 WITH
the moving of mountains by taltn' Else
where there is a quotation glorifying the
purifying power of a good woman seil-
sacrificing love. Around these TWO great
truths Charles Klein wrot. great play
when ne wrote "rhe Lion and the
Mouse presented at the Mason lass
evening by as complete and well balanced
an oreanization as | have ever seen In
that theater.
The play is q great play in two partlcu-
lars, If in no others; 1t tells the story
convincingly and it points great truth
appealingly its story is the story OF
nersopal greed and money lust drowning
and stiding ev,ry other impulse IN
mans heart-the heart of the powermau
captain of industry. Il
The whole truth about himself. told to
his face by the daughter of man deemed
a necessary sacrifice to the successful
progress OF this financial juggernaut, ana
her remuneration of her personal happi-
ness In a sublime self-sacrificing love Tor
her father, awakens the sleeping good
ness of the man and chains him captive.
The moral is obvious Goodness ior
goodness sake, that's all.
The lesson is simple: Right makes
might.
There are but two figures in this drama
of modern finance and politics, the Jug
gernaut and his conqueror. Other isufes
come and go in the action of the play,
but the financial Lion" and the Mouse
who wins him from himself, are the
really essential ones.
Miss Dorothy Donne.ly, the mouse, did
some wonderful acting throughout the
riay, but the magnificent heights to
" hich she arose in the crucial third act
of the play were little short OF sublime
True, her methods were not always those
OF the finished actress. There were mo-
ments when another woman would have
substituted more polished mechanics to
have accompanied her forceful reading,
but the strength of her emotions and the
CONTINGENCIES of them were sufficient
to make one forget the minor points and
only marvel at the general result.
Through all the play Miss Donnelly held
her audience enthralled. More could not
be said.
Paul Everton was no whit behind her
ir his lion, John Burkett Ryder. the
man who never knew defeat until forced
to admit 1t at the hands of the mouse
Mr.. EYertons Financial king is In man
ner a combination of the mannerisms
commonly ascribed to Pierpont Nor.
gan. coupled with the bruskness of Ed
ward II. Hartman. The Characterization
was mastery.
James Cooley deserves praise for his
careful handling of Jefferson Ryder, the
financier's idolized son. His work Is wei
shaded and, If not quite as strong a!
that of others in the cast fits In to maxi
the perfect atmosphere necessary to thu
success of the play.
| There Is not poor actor or actress II
| the long cast, but detailed mention o
| them alt is manifestly impossible. Eacl
| Individual seems to have been selecte'
| with view to looking the part assignee
end the naturalness of the appearance
resulting commends the procedure highly
| highly.
The English secretary of Richard Lam
bart is as consistently drawn piece o
| character work as has been offered 10
| cally in a long time.
| AL In all, the play is a decided sue
cess and merits much better patronag
| than was extended by the general publ
| for the opening performance.