The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-03-03

only the nrat few audiences saw Karl
IN az tho adventures which the author
OF Mr.. Barnes OF Now York; and mir.
r l,, or Tcxns" hnd devised for him.
field play, was changed from, n stirring
molodrnmn Into u sentimental comedy.
N1nnsncld's experience Wns unlike
IrVings at tho outset. Irving spent
mnny years ignoby In travelling COM
pnnles before he stepped forth notably
on tho London stngo Mansfield served
only q season or two inconspicuo,fsly
IN comic oporn bcforo no got attention
IN New York with "Baron Chovrinl. pn ana
money wna Mt Ills Immediate command
for ventures on his own account. sure
~ nndinot very slowly lie ACQUIRED
vogue q. , or brains eGualcd In this
Ing. up literary plays: nlso vogue of
fashion. tho like Of which Is enjoyed
only by Mnudc Adams, and which ,nny
BIO duo to fashionable caprice; besides
n vogue OF professionalism. by which
mean tho high esteem OF theatrical
experts, based upon such mastery
OF the craft OF tic stage rs was al
most unknown, except with Irving.
up to ten or fifteen years ago.
Grip" Over Again.
All OF Mansflclds various vogue, ns-
aociated with the rcnown or Isbcn.
wns necessary to assemble such n nrat
audience as New York gave to Peer
Gynt," md, after n theatre so big as
the New Amsterdam was oiled. to keep
1t SO during four hours. But for tho
names OF Mansfield and 1bsen, there
would nave been ridicnle OF tho plays
Obvious absurditlcs and disregard
Of its dubious symbolism. Peer Gynt.
ms n village nc'crdo-well, lying about
his hunting adventures, getting tipay
at rustic dance, and being driven
into the mountains by his tcrmngnnt
mother, was Rip Van Wnl<lo over
longed by Peers encounter with n
supernatural lot of people. his ABB
sencc from home for forty years, in
stead Of twenty and finally his re-
turn as an old man. whom none Of the
Villagers more than dimly remembered.
Instead OF q sleep between acts.
however. Peer hns experiences that All
out three OF the five long acts with
what look like Nightmares such as
nothing but lying on his back, after
eating some peculiarly sogsy Norwc-
gian kind OF Welsh rarebit, could give
rise to. They seem as wholly fanciful
as the predica1nents of Maude Adams
in Peter Pan Then come the scenes
Of Peer MS castaway on an African
seacoast. his alurcment by Sirens In
the desert and his shipwrecl1 in n
storm. 1bsen wrote in that fourth act
as an afterthought, and confessed
that 1t had naught to do with the
theme or scheme Of the play; and
Mansfield stages 1t for the sake OF in
Producing a beautiful ballet, and
wonderfully. realistic sea storm. which
makes the show resemble for while
Around the World in Eighty Days"
with the Kiralfy spectacles oblitcrated
by the newer stage nictorialism. Is 1t
any wonder that the audience dispcrses
bewildered as to what Ibsen meant
peer Gynt'' to be, but with no doubt
craft?
"In the Bishops Carriage"
Miriam Richardson's story, I'm the
Bishops Carriage" has been spread
too widely in the book and In the play
wrought from it by Charming Pollock.
to warrant summary here. 1t Is an
explicit direct and Electrically eff
fectual drama, of a kind with Leah
kleschna' in having a girl thief for
Its heroine. and In her rescue from
criminal career by worthy man who
loves her. Jessie Busley becomes a
star actress through a true. yet win
some. protrayal OF the bad girl, who
becomes good girl slowly and re-
luctantly
Con Parole"
what did Northern naidens do for
lovers and the like In the days Of the
Civil War? The production OF "On
Parole acquaints us once more with
the dramatically oft-repeated assertion
that Northern warriors supposedly
lighting for the preservation of the
Union, and celebrated in history for
so doing, were really pleasantly and
picturesquely employed in amorous adj
ventures with fair daughters of the
South. I have seen more dramas OF
the subject of our War of CT than I
| can recall to count, and l can remem-
! Der only one that did not have that
| martial variation Of the Montague and
!. Capulet theme for It's central plot. All
! are alike. but this latest is more so.
| Fortified by the financially affluent
| confidence of Dan Hanna. son of the
| late Senator. and by the technically
| valuable belief of Henry Miller. one
| of the most experienced and resource
/ full stage managers of our time, Louis
! Evan Shipnlan has secured an advan-
i tageous hearing for his new drama
AS this play has been out on tour
| for a year, there seems to be no call
for me to write further about It.
FRANKLIN FYLEs.
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