Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-03-10
sDIVORCONS' PROVES
DELIGHTFUL PLAY

adapted from the French of Victorien Sar'
dou by Margaret Mayo; presented upon th'
stage of the Mason opera house by miss
Grace George and her company
THE CAST
N. Henri des PruneIles. il. Reeves smith
NJ. Adhemar de Gratignac. Douglas Gerard
NJ. Clavynac .....,.......... "A. H. stun SUM-
AZ Rafourdiu .. Charles Stanley
Bastien, servant to des Pruneiies.
Observation-Disclosures. Edward E1eidlns
Ioaenb .vaiter William Riceiardi
,Iamarot, officer ........,.. .hicharu "hsO"
Cyprienne, Nine. DIES Prunelles.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Grace George
Josepha, maid TO Cyprienne. Angela Ogden
Nine. de BriOnne, young widow
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. Laura Lhhihe'e
Mile. de LusIgnan. ..... Justine Cutting
AIme. de ValfOntaine. .......... -
's......... Evelyn Carter Darlington
BY SLDLE LAWRENCE
TN "Divorcons' Grace George stands
forth the vindication of one man
\ opinion. When William A: Brady
first made her a star New York laughed
and the rest of the country echoed
that derisive guffaw. Later, New
York. London and other cities laughed
again. but this time 1t was laugh
from which the derisive note had de-
parted.
saw Miss George at the outset of
her stage experience Likewise l saw
Mrs. Leslie Garter in her ugly Duck
ling days, and Mrs. Carter, even then,
was swanlike when compared with the
other. Her transformation, under the
BeIasco management, into an actress
of ability was quite as surprising as
the final scene in a Christmas panto-
mine. What then is to be said of Miss
Georges advancement? She has gone
farther and she has Jared better, for,
in my opinion, it is a finer thing to
make an audience laugh than to make
an audience cry, and at the Mason last
evening Miss GRACE George revealed
the finished art of comedy. One night
of her Cyprienne is worth a whole
cycle of the emotional drama.
Vital Human Quality
AS is always the case with any
stage portraiture worth while this
Cyprienne is charming because of its
vital human quality. y woman of i'm
pulse. of moods, of nerves, of delight
full insouciance; a woman endowed
with all the little feminine graces and
with the fascinating, ingenious appeal
of girlhood artistically subdued like
the minor theme of q mastery melody
this is Cyprienne DIES Prunelles as
Miss George interprets the character.
To examine into her art can serve no
good purpose. Doubtless even Bulge
was disillusioned after he had been
permitted to "Shee zee wheels go
wound" 1t is sufficient to say that
Miss George has become a coincidence
of such obvious excellence, such potent
charm, that admiration for her art
comes only as an afterthought. While
you are in the theater you are too
lost in enjoyment of her playing prop
.-l-v - tot f1aA I'LL 90 hal
player
AS for the comedy, Miss Margaret
Mayo has made rather a free adapta-
ton of the Sardou masterpiece, and
clever one. The play is essentially I'M
theatrical. There are no big scenes,
no climaXes. Recently it has come to
be accepted as a fetish to success that
the second act curtain of a three-act
play shall descend upon the big mo-
ment of that play. In this version of
'Divorcons" the curtain falls upon two
servants. who walk the stage, arm in
arm. 1t is boldly done and cleverly
done. because it is all so true to actu-
ality.
Story of the Comedy
The story of "Divorcons" is the story
of a woman who has lost a lover in a
husband and who regains her husband
for her lover. not through any efforts
of her own but through the ingenuity
of that husband himself who offers to
give her up and who then skillfully
kills her infatuation for his rival by
making the man appear ridiculous. |
Two brief speeches we'll epitomize the !
idea.
THE husband" says Des Prunelles, |
has only one fault: the fault of being |
a husband and the lover has only one
virtue: the virtue of being a lover" |
This he sets out to prove and the |
proof comes readily to his hand, until |
the lover. after Cyprienne has been re-
linqushed to him. dolefully confesses: !
She's not SO much mine now as she |
was when she wasn't" This is the !
nathematicallv dramatic Q. E. D. of |
the comedy. From that time on the |
return of Cyprienne to her husband I
arms is assured.
Frank Worthing, who has been Miss |
Georges leading man this season, is !
Ill. Consequently the role of the hus-
band was played last night and finely |
played. too. by H. Reeves Smith. an |
head of his own company in "a Brace |
of Partridges."
Mr.. Smiths Fine Work
Mr.. Smiths comedy has persuasive |
and pervasive qualities that are Won
1erfuly telling IN TINS role. through |
out the play he succeeds i'm conveying
to the audience his amused tolerance
Of Cyprienne's pecadilloes-for her !
deserves no harsher !
at the same time his love
for the woman and his determination
to win again her love for himself
Now, to be amused at a feminine at
titude of mind is, of course, one of the
sins of domestic husbandry,
but here is amusement with a saving
grace, grace that provokes smiles
instead of tears. If you are married |
doubtless you will appreciate the skill |
required to attain this contamination. I
William Ricciardi, who has recently |
Joined the company, supplanting Max !
Freeman. gives an excellent perform !
ance of Joseph. a waiter. Douglas |
Gerard is somewhat too farcical as the |
lover. The part, in stage parlance, is
a feeder for Cyprienne and |
her husband, but the food would be |
more palatable if more care were taken |
in its preparation.
"Divorcons'' is a delightful comedy, |
played. And Grace Georges |
Cyprienne is a triumph of artistry. !
You ought TO see it.
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