The Washington herald., 1907-02-03

- ROBABLY Mr.. Kyrle Bellew is
- more sharply alive to the short.
coming of his new play, "A Mar
riage of Reason" than almost
any one else. But no doubt he was not al
together at liberty TO follow his own best
judgment when he decided 10 appear in
it. Circumstances and the chance Of hay
ing the valuable financial if not artistic
aid Of Miss Fanny Ward perhaps domi-
mated the choice Of the play Mr.. Bellew
selected 10 succeed "Brigadier Gerard. %
which the general public didn't care for.
Miss Fanny Ward, it should be said, is
in private life Mrs Lewis. wife Of a
miner repUted to have immensely valu-
able properties in South Africa and Mex
leo. Miss Ward. We are told, is a decided
favorite on the English stage. She is
anxious, no doubt. to make herself known
to the theater patrons Of her own coun-
try, which she left shortly after she
began her stage career, going to
live in England She and her friends
doubtless believe that when she is known
here she viii become as mulch of a favor
tie as she is said 10 be in England Her
tour with Mr.. Bellew is. therefore, not a
mere money-making venture. On the con-
trary, it is probable the wealthy actress
would not. so FAR as she is personally con-
eerned. be greatly disturbed if it ended in
a considerable loss provided she made
good friends among our theatergoing
public. But for Mr.. Bellows sake his
Washington friends viii hope he viii be
able to make the Manners comedy enough
of all kinds Of "a success TO warrant his
keeping it in circulation until warm
weather comes. His friends would be
sorry to see him score two failures in one
season. But the vitality Of the Manners
play is open 10 very serious doubt
True. the Washington audiences that
saw it the past week appeared 10 find in il
enough OF interest and amusement TO keep
them moderately entertained through the
evenings But Washington audiences are
very kindly disposed toward Mr.. BelIew.
They are apt To find good in anything he
chooses TO appear in. If "Brigadier Ge-
raTd" had been as wen received In other
cities as il was here. Air BeueW would
table To- Till out The season with il. "A
Marriage Of Reason" went fairly well in
Washington. despite its obvious defects.
because Kyrle Beuew had the leading
part in IT, But it may not go so well in
oJher cities, where the appreciation Of Mr.
Bellows polished acting and agreeable
personality is not So keen. Il is certain
the Manners play possesses elements Of
popular appeal that We're lacking in the
Doyle play although JLe latter was by
far the better piece Of playwriting. in
watching the Manners play one can az
least always feel reasonably sure OF
knowing what the author is trying TO do
even il be doesn't succeed at all well in
doing it,
.ir- Hartley Manners. Tor instance
sought 60 show how good and kind an
American girl could be when he repre-
scented Lady Delcombe as welcoming with
loving warmth 70 her home the divorced
wife of Lord Delcombe. What Nh. Manners
really showed was that he did not under
stand the elementals of human nature.
He showed that he did not understand
how essential and salutary an instinct
Jealousy is, and what a role it may play
in the protection of conventional morality.
Il might be proper and Christian for
woman TO receive as "a guest in her house
the divorced wife of her husband under
the circumstances represented in a Mar
riage OF Reason But she ought 10 do
it coldly, with the windows wide open.
IS it were; and. of course. that's the way
she would do it if she were d normal
woman with regard either for her own
wifely interests or the prophecies. MI.
Manners makes his heroine a poor thing.
mentally, morally. and otherwise She is
almost a lay figure, a puppet, without "a
character even sketched in outline. There
have been American girls like her. mol
doubt, because the commonplace IS almost
infinite in its duh and undistinguished
variety But why such an American girl
should be put into play only Mr. Man
ners can explain And why Miss Ward
should want 10 appear in the character Is J
much more Of a mystery unless IL is for !
the purpose of wearing stunning dresses. /
Miss Ward viii never be able TO demon /
strate in the part whether or not she
possesses the qualities as an actress her
friends claim for her. Frederic de /
Belleville is also wasted in the STUPID /
role Of the beefy and Jealous officer whose
marital troubles mOnopoIize so much of /
the second and third acts of the play. /
although they have absolutely nothing 10 4
do with the essential action. 1t has be- 4
come quite plain at the end Of the second /
act that Lord and Lady DelCombe are in /
lflr-a r-fft
live happily ever after Their trouble
being over, the author. Of course, had 20 /
drag in their neighbors troubles to keep
something doing on the stage for the
other two acts.
The hearts bowed down with weight OF
woe because of the dark outlook for the
American drama can shed 5heir gloomy
lethargy and cheer up. The future of the
native drama, so far at least as quantity
is concerned, seems broadly stgated with
deep zones of mulu-colored hope. For
the present the danger of a plly-famine
has been averted. Semi-OfflciaI returns of
"A census of this seasons crop Of new
playWrights disClOses this comforting and
Ieassuring fact The new playwrIghts.
who have become entitled to the designa-
ton because OF their success in getting
works of theirs produced since the season
opened number no less than twenty-seven 1
This means that the available domestic
sources Of play-supply have more than
doubled in year. Managers can reason
ably look forward to the beginning Of the
next season with the complacent con-
seriousness that instead Of a famine there
viii be glut of new plays on the mar
ket. For it is 10 be assumed that every
dramatist who got hearing and made
even the most moderate sort of a success