Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-07
The Foreign Stage.
Special Correspondence of The Star.

Cpecldl correspondence VI 1ue StdF.
LONDON. June 25. 1907.
II you have any likely melodramas on
hand in America now is the time to send
them to London. Surely the shade Of the
late William Terriss would exut could it
revisit the West End for transporting
plays of the old Adelphi pattern are again
in high favor here. And as surely would
the wrath of Sir Henry Irving be cha
griped could 1t make a similar excursion,
since the first important London playhouse
to be devoted to out-and-out "thrillers" Is
the historic Lyceum, the scene Of the
knights greatest triumphs, as well as his
eventual vicissitudes.
The new watchword with London man
ayers, in fact, seems to be produce melo-
drama If you would turn a hoodoo house
into a profitable one and certainly the
example of the famous Lyceum affords no
little justification for such recipe 1t
will be remembered that after Irving had
assured himself that Shakespeare spells
ruin in London unless garnished with "ef-
fects' to the last degree, the Lyceum was
turned into a music hall and run on the
''two-shows-a might principle by wealthy
manager from the provinces. Stark failure
was the result. however. and for months
afterward the theater stood untenanted, "a
melancholy object.
Then it was that pair of comparatively
youthful managers, whose efforts previously
had been confined to the east coster,
end of London, took over the ancient temple
of Shakespeare and announced that pop
ular melodrama' would be produced there
at popular prices" The latter range
believe, from 10 cents to about ST. ana
the first production by the new manage
ment-a lurid piece called Her Love
Against the World'-proved the biggest
success known in London in recent years
1t has been promptly followed, moreover.
by second production, The Midnight
Wedding" which is as emphatic hit as
the first, and the ferpor with which the
hero and heroine at the Lyceum are APP
plauded nightly and the villain hisse
of Terriss and Jessie Miifward as well as
of the famous Surrey: across the river
g.. - r. .@s7
~
It may be said, too, that melodrama of
a sort@importedI from America-has
given new life to another London play
house that has been "hoodoo" for
years. Terry's Theater having come into
its own again with Mrs. Wigs of the
Cabbage Patch" after a history of had
luck as perhaps no other London theater
can match. 1t is evident moreover, that
the tip" is being taken, for the latest
news is that the old Princess in Oxford
street, which has stood empty for several
years. is now to be reopened-and with
feature in connection with the venture is
the fact that one of the parties inter-
ested is no other than Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle, who tells that among the fu-
ture productions will be drama tization
OF one of his novels. Which one sir Ar
thur declined to state, but perhaps 1T may
be The Hound of the Baskervilles" an
unauthorized stage version of which al
ready has been done in Germany.
That he can write a popular play-even
without the assistance of William Gillette
Doctor Doyle already has proved. for his
dramatization of his own "Brigadier
Gerard produced by Lewis Waller last
season. was huge success. and still is
at the Princess will be associated two
veteran makers of melodrama-in the per-
sons of George r. Sims and Arthur Shir-
ley-and as l hear that about 100000 will
forming the old theater into an up-to- date
home of melodrama." it is likely enough
that the success of the Lyceum experiment
will be duplicated there. The Princess, by
the way, is the London theater that B. F.
Keith acquired several years ago. with the
intention of turning 1t into Continuous
house." and why this intention was not car
ried out remains mystery in theatrical
circles here.
A further instance Of the tendency in
London toward entertainment Of the older
sort is to be found in the experience of
Martin Harvey with The Corsican Broth
ers'' For his present season at the Adel-
phi this actor selected four plays. "The
Breed of the Treshams." THE Only Way"
THE Corsican Brothers and Great Pos
sessions" the German biblical play. Of
which mention was made in this column
| did not come up to expectations. 1t was
diffuse, long winded and actionless and fail