Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-23
MAKES ZIRA
S7RONGR ROLE
FLORENCE ROBERTS PROVES
HER ART
GIVES A WONDERFULLY STRONG
CHARACTERIZATION
Play Is EpisodlcaI, but Player Makes
It a Treat Through the Ripe
Excellence of Her
Acting

impersonatiop of it's leading role-which
"Zira," as play. has little to COM
mend it. 1t is eplsodical to degree that
makes its proper understanding exceed
ingly difficult Its first act is pract-
cally a prologue, and the hiatus between
this act and that which follows cannot
be bridged easily, even by lively i'm
agination. The story is there only piece
meal; but throughout the four acts there
walks the commanding hgure of
woman, woman who never has known
happiness until she cheats fate into
kindness; whose deception searches her
out, but who, at last, finds peace in the
arms of the man she loves.
From her first appearance on the stage
Miss Roberts compelled closest atten-
ton through the quietness OF ner
method, the real, l,womanly quality of her
acting Here was no sob when tear
would serve the purpose; no striving for
effect, merely it's attaInmnet That first
brief colloquy with Zira 5 father showed
us what we might expect later ON and
we were, not disappointed.
Her Admirable Detail
Throughout the play it is in the little
things that Miss Roberts fine art mani
tests itself Her hesitation when the
idea of taking dead womans place in
life first occurs to her, her quick weigh
ing of the situation and her determina-
ton to embark upon the deceit-these
things are told and told Enthusiastically
before single word of the plan mas
been uttered, even though the stage is
in semi-darkness.
Then, in the second act, comes to Zira
the Joy of doing good to others; until, at
It's close, the woman she had thought
dead again walks into her life. Here is
amazement, stupefaction. The impos-
sibie has happened and without sound
Zira sinks to the floor in a faint. I'M
agine, If you can, how lesser artist
would work up" this scene, and con-
gratulate yourself anew that you saw 1t
played last night by woman as well
as by an actress
A Strong Scene
The third act, as matter OF course, Tor
s.Zira' is four-act play, brings us to
the big scene of the drama. Returning
after three months absence, Zira again
meets the woman she has wronged. she
offers to give up everything, to go away
and relinquish the place she has filled
through fraud; even to confess her deceit
and she pleads to be allowed to make that
confession In her own way. holding moth
ms back but trying to make 1t easier for
those who she loves and who have come
to love her.
The woman is obdurate. She insists
upon immediate exposure. She would
have the interloper driven from the house
with whips. Then Zira rebels, and In a
scene that will not be easily forgotten by
those who see it she defies the other TO
make good her threat. Here Miss Roberts
trembles from head to foot in an excess
of emotion. Her voice takes on a
hoarsened note of defiance begot of des-
peration. She is outraged, keyed to con-
summation of her lie, but not vindictive
when the other retires beaten in the con-
test, truth proves toe strong for It's yio-
lator. Zira confesses.
Strong at first her voice wavers and
breaks in the telling of her pitiful story
She falters, hurries on again, sinks slowly
to her knees under the weight OF her
shame and self abasement and finally
completes her confession prone upon the
floor, the embodiment of mental and
physical anguish.
The Usual Ending
That which comes after is a concession
to the public taste that demands happy
ending for all its best loved stage stories.
Zira seeks to make her escape at night
and undetected from the home she had
invaded under another's name. She is
intercepted however, by the nephew OF
the house, a young clergyman under
whose direction she has been working
in the London slums. There follows
brief scene In which he asks her to be
his wife only to be refused; in which he
demands to know If she does not love
him, only to be denied. Their Wills war
aar an a a.
man succumbs. When the curtain falls
she is at rest in his arms. The last scene
Is played In midstage, directly under the
light of a shaded chandelier. the rest of
the stage being In darkness. 1t is trick
of course, but trick that finds Its justi-
fication in the commercial necessity for
that last act.
Support Is Competent
On the whole, Miss Roberts is well sup
ported. Mr. Thurlow Bergen plays the
rector effectively and Mr.. Orlando DAILY
gives us q clever characterization of the
British officer whose besetting vice comes
in bottles Charles Macdonald is good as
the surgeon. In the Bishop of Mapping
G. Jay Williams has most disagreeable
role which he probably makes as nearly
like human being as the authors have
perpitted this particular bishop to be.
s'Zira" Will continue until Thursday
night. when SHAM" a new society COM
edy by Geraldine Bonner and Elmer b.
Harris, will have its first production on
any stage. The audience last might was
of fair size but not what 1t should have
been. Miss Roberts ought to pack the
Los Angeles every night this week, or,
which is better to the point, theatergoers
ought to pack the theater each night to
see her and ought to thank the theatrical
syndicate for giving them the opportunity
Frank Pixley, one of the best known
of American comic opera librettists, Is at
the Alexandria hotel. Mr.. Pixley wrote
the books of 'The Burgomaster," The
Prince of Pilsen" Woodland" and
numerous other successes He is no
stranger in Southern California. having
passed the winter In Pasadena two years
ago. He is accompanied by his wife
.sThey're orr will be the cry at the
Auditorium tonight. when the horses
line up for the big race in THE Prodigal
Daughter" and there is every indication
that the fhnning will be fast, as the
track is fine, the weather perfect and the
odds long. The plan for the race scene
is entirely new, and will give spectators