The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-11-24
The Progress of the
Theatrical Slapstick
BY FRANKLIN EYLEs.

from the Orient and abandoned, loves
Sir Marcus from her first sight of him.
and is sure he loves her; she is naively
aware of the spell which her beauty
weaves over the old bachelor; yet she
is so ignorant of passion between the
sexes that he might take advantage of
her guileless confidence. Through it all
his morals render her safe with him,
and it is another man, bad one, who
turns her to evil account. This clever
play, by an Englishman, w. j. Locke,
isn't one of originality, and its story
wouldn't be interesting in an epitome.
More than a century ago, Mrs. Inch
bald's ITO Marry or Not to Marry had
an oldish bachelor recluse bewitched by
a runaway little maid, much the same
as in this new play. That isIa frequent
recourse of playwrights in creating
characters for star actors no longer
young enough for initiative lovers-such
as Willard in 1.-The Professors Love
story" Crane in THE Governor of
Kentucky" and Gillette in 'Clarice."
There is a new twist to it in THE Nor
ais of Marcus" though, as star DOM
nance il given to the girl instead of to
the man.
That turns out to be a happy variant,
because it enables Marie DorO to be
as selfish a coincidence as Lolita Crab
tree ever was. and pathetically emo
tional also. In the second act, she
dashes into Sir Marcus library in her
nightgOwn, barefoot and loose-haired,
to tell him there is a mouse in her bed,
and ask him to go back with her as
protector. That is an example of her
naivette. In the third act, deceived to
believe that Sir Marcus will be assas-
! sinated by her Syrian pUrsuers unless
she quits his house, she runs away with
scoundrel in a combination of elope-
ment and abduction; so that in the
! fourth act she may come back fOrlOrn,
! bedTaggled, still ill from months in a
| hospital, with wisdom learned from sOr-
row, to be taken in again by the old
/ bachelor, but to do it this time he be-
comes her husband.
| Augustus Thomas was very serious
about his latest drama, 1.-THE Witching
| Hour" and his speech on the first night
was totally devoid of that levity and
wit which are looked for of late years,
as part of every initial presentation Of
| his work. He told us, sOberly and even
rather dOggedly, that he believes
thought to be a dynamic force, and he
had believed it for twenty GEARS. "As
a dramatist," he felt it his duty to
state the fact" He had before this ex-
pressed his faith in osteopathy, and
used it in the underlying plot of Mrs.
| LeffingwelFs Boots That was a far
cical comedy, and succeeded as such IT.
respective of Thomas medical theory.
Now, to impress his belief in mental
telepathy upon the general mind, this
accomplished dramatist boldly makes
it the theme of a play that is tragic in
incident and consistently serious in
trend and purpose. The simplest way
is to describe what occurs. An even
ing party at the luxurious residence of
a gambler, of gentlemanly demeanoT
and artistic and intellectual taste, is
interrupted by the visit of an eminent
judge, who has reason to suppose that
his host may be induced to sell a COrot
that adOrns the wall
No says the judge, 81 could not
pay so much as $64,O 900 for it,
But the gambler has not mentioned
price he has thought of. Thus he
first discovers the power of his mind
upon others. This trend of the drama
is presently deserted for an incident of
half-drunken qUarrelling between two
young men of the party, in one of
whom the gambler is interested person
ally because he is the matrimonial
choice of his beloved niece. The boy
is hiding his face from a cats eye pin,
with which the other is pursuing him.
u don't like your face" his Keeling
tOrmentOr says
well, I don't like your pin; and you
can change your pin easier than 1 can
change my face" he retorts.
Thereupon, shifting the owner of the
cats-eye with the heavy end Of a paper
cutter, the boy kills him.
The second act is devoted to plans
for the defense of the young murderer;
and more particularly, to an insistence,
in extenuation Of his crime, on his her
editary aversion to cats eyes. This is
charged to no prenatal influence, but
to a popularity inherited from grand
mother, The third act is a bold expo
sition of-Thomas' theme. The gambler,
now confident of his power of will, con-
centrates his mind upon a single juror,
so that the boy may escape death by
the lack of a verdict. If one, why not
all? However, can he hope to influence
with his one mind those of twelve intel
Iigent men? Thereupon is introduced
the original and striking idea that will
cause discussion of 1.-THE Witching
Hour" The gambler knows the prose-
citing attorney to have been instrument
tai in the murder of a gOvernor-e1ect of
Kentucky; and he knows, too, that his
prosecution of this young, unintentional
murderer is melted by hate, because of
the culprit's success in winning the love
of the girl he himself has wooed, rather
than by an honest sense of duty. There
upon the gambler plays his trump card.
He has the murder case against the at
torney published in a Louisville news
paper. 1t will not reach the jury before
it retires to decide upon verdict. But
if thousands of people are thinking at
the same time that the prosecutor is
dishonest and a murderer, will not the
sweeping concurrence of thought reach
those twelve minds in the jury box and