Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-10
The Foreign Stage.

Special Correspondence Of the Star.
LONDON. February 2s.-If there is ono
person in the British Isles who has reason
to be indignant it is the author of 'Tomor-
row." romantic play which was put on
in the provinces by Edward Compton some
three years ago, and which scored so en-
phatically that its original producer has
played it on tour ever since.
II has been Compton's intention right
along to give 1t a London production, and
If he had done it is likely enough that
the piece would have caught on here ana
that the American rights would have been
snapped up. That, needless to say, wouId
lave been extremely good business Tor the
author but II seems that every time tnat
Compton was ready to give tomorrow IN
London. some difficulty or other prevented
him from getting hold of theater Now
IL is too late, for. oddly enough, the really
good idea that underlies the plot OF 10
morrow" has recently been USED py W.
other dramatists on different sides OF ING
Atlantic According to all indications. TOO,
both Of the resulting plays have proved
successes, and even had they not IL Is hkeiy
that the prominence they have been given
would make Tomorrow" seem too much
like an old story to be successful, even IL
produced now either in London or the
United States.
The two other pieces in question are The
Road to Yesterday" which Minnie Dupree
has been giving in the United states, and
when knights Were Bold, which James
Welch has just produced with large success
at Wyndhams London. Over the question
OF priority in inspiration, the authors OF
these pieces and the playwright responsiple
for Tomorrow may dispute among them
selves but certain It is that in each OF
these pieces a modern character falls asleep
in the first act and in the following one
finds himself back in the middle ages.
Most of THE Message From Mars was
dream, It will be remembered, ana. OF
course the idea OF moral Lesson being
learned in sleep is hackneyed enough not
only on the stage, but In fiction. But IL 10
singular that in each of three plays which,
! likely enough may all have been written
| at the same time, the action should have
| been popped back into the middle ages
| after beginning at the present tlme. VI
! the three Tomorrow and The Road to
Yesterday" apparently are most alike ooth
| being semi-serious or romantic. but 'When
Knights Were Bold is pure farce. In IL
| Sir Guy de We're DANES Welch) takes
stiff horn of punch TO cure cold. He
dozes, and on waking finds himself among
his ancestors of the twelfth century. whose
bluff methods teach him quite lot. One
of the things he learns is how to court a
coy lady and how. incidentally, to deal
with lusty rival and in act the formerly
mandy -pamby little man puts his newly &C.
quired knowledge into practice with emf
nently satisfactory results.
Harriet jay. who wrote when Knights
Were Bold" IL an authoress who has been
silent for many years after having at the
outset made a success that one really can
describe as phenomenal Her first novel,
which she published anonymously at TWEEN
ty, was. in fact, attributed to Charles
Reade who did not consider this dis
grace, and thereafter Miss jay published
several successful books. 1t is likely
enough, too, that her new farce will sue
L., H. IF,~gt AI CrnsA n,.n ftn
London, 1t being funny that American
playgoers would overlook the resemblance
of its general scheme to that of The Road
to Yesterday"
For Tomorrow however. fears
there is little chance either in London or
| the United States. so If its author is not
very angry, indeed. with Compton for de-
laying his promised London production 80
long, then that author must be decidedly
forbearing person. Presumably the next
| time he gets hold of as good idea as
that underlying Tomorrow he will not
! suffer three years to pass before il is util-
| lied to the best advantage.
1t is proposed to start a public subscrip-
| ton in France for the purchase and pres
| ervation of the old house in Rouen i'm which
| Corneille lived and where he composed
most of his plays. 1t is now in the mar
| ket and the price asked for ii is 5000
Toward that amount the CofneiIe Society
has raised $1.400. Though most OF the
houses around IL nave Deen feouilt. II re-
| mains in practically the same condition as
when II sheltered Frances most famous
playwright. The two rooms on the ground
floor are still used drink shop. as they
were in the time Of Pierce and Thomas
Corneille. The brothers were both 'avo-
CATS at the Norman parliament and had
married two sisters. Pierre. IL is said,
wrote most of his plays in the room ad-
joining the bar, and actually found an IN
spiration in the reyels OF the upsy roys-
terers.
During the last hundred years many at
tempts have been made to secure the house
for the state. but though FrencAmen are in
tensely proud of Comedies fame-many of
them rating him above Shakespeare some
how they could never be persuaded to sub
scribe money enough to turn the resort of
gay tipplers into a sober and staid museum.
The great Napoleon himself took a interest
in one of these projects and urged the
mayor of the city to find the means to
acquire the property. The mayor was un-
able to do 1t, and the task has since proved