Los Angeles herald., 1908-05-18
The CAST


Helen Plugenet. .............. Elsie Esmond
Mrs. Linnell. ..........,.... Maude Gilbert
MRS. blaney ....'..'...'.. '..'.' Louise royce
Rachel Neve ................. Blanche Han
fatty .................. Maude George
BY SIDLE LAWRENCE
KIN HE HYPOCRITES." Henry Ar
thur Jones' remarkable play of
n contemporaneous life in an
English provincial parish, was pre-
sented for the first time in Los Angeles
yesterday afternoon at the Burbanl;
theater before an audience that strug-
| gled, not always with conspicuous sue
cess, to understand what it was all
about. This failure on the part of the
people Sin front" to appreciate the play
had its effect upon the players, and the
result was rather unfortunate all
| around. Jones must be played subtly
| and must be received with attention.
Yesterday afternoon the house was
restless during the first act and nerv-
ously alert during the second act for an
opportunity to laugh. There was i'll
fact considerable laughter that was
| obviously i'll timed and that must have
been exceedingly eXasperating to the
actors. THE "Hypocrites" cannot be
acted wholly behind the footlights. The
audience must do its share. and when
| the audience fails the failure of tho
1
fault.
1t is a big play, "The Hypocrites.' a
| drama of high moral purpose and of
| compelling truth: a sex problem play.
| If that designation pleases you, but one
| in which the man and the woman most
vitally concerned are merely puppets,
| dangling upon strings manipulated by
the clever mother of the man. In II
| the playwright has held the mirror W
| to nature with an eye skillful to the
angles of refraction, so that the images
projected upon the stage are without
distortion
The Plays Central Figure
The central figure of the drama is not
the betrayed young woman, nor her be-
| trayer Neither is it the pious and
dutiful young curate whose constant
endeavor finally results in the marriage
of the young people; but it is the young
mans mother who, because of her love
for her sop, stoops to baseness that she
may save him to his career"
This role, the Mrs. Wilmore of the
story, is played at the Burbank by
| Edythe Chapman Neill, admirably in
many of the situations and strangely
| inadequately in others. Mrs. Neil's
failure in the role is her failure to con-
vey the idea of mother tenderness
| which is, | take it, the handspring of
q
| whose chief concern is not for her son,
but for her own creature comforts. Her
| stuggle is not that of mother fighting
for her offspring but that of a woman
| striving desperately to realize her owl
ambitions which merely happen to in
volve her son in their scope. Thus the
final reconciliation seems too abrupt
| and is uncOnvincing.
In the earlier scenes of the play, in
the scenes with Mrs. Wilmore's hus~
band and with her legal adviser, Mrs
| Neil dominates the stage and realizes
! finely the task set her to accomplish
| Here there is no need for tenderness
and there is, consequently, nothing to
| detract from the verify of the charac-
| ter. Incidentally the actress wears
several gowns that are fine examples OF
the modiste's handiwork and that are
| tremendously becoming.
The Big Scene
The big scene of THE Hypocrites"
| comes at the close of the third act. The
betrayed girl has made her way to the
| Wilmore home, where Mrs. Wilmore
! learning the truth, has so worked upon
| her sympathies that she has agreed to
deny Lennard Wilmores responsibility
| for her condition. Lennard is to marry
| the daughter of Sir John Plugenet
Rumors of his relations with Rachel
Cleve having reached the ears of the
| baronet, however, Sir John arrives to
learn the truth. Comes also the Rev
Edgar Linnell, curate of the parish, who
is determined the young man shall dc
| what he can to right his wrongdoing
and to whom Lennard has confessed. :
| Then ensues a battle wherein the
curate fights single handed, Rachel
Neve persisting in her denials and Len
nard declaring that his past relations
! vx-itI ha cyir ri haX
of a casual acquaintance. In the end
| the strain of the inquisition proves toe
much for the girl, and as she tries tC
| leave the room she half falls, only to be
caught in Lennard's arms.
Fiercely she struggles to free herself
seeing in that quick, impetuous EN-
| brace the defeat of all their plans "Nol
mol Not you!" she cries. Don't touch
me. They'll think-oh, let me go!'
| Lennard rains kisses upon her face.
The curate Triumphs
Rachel" he says. "Oh, what .
hound. what a cur I've been! Rachel
Rachel. forgive mel" She struggle.
away from him and he turns to the
baronet Sir John" he goes on, "I'n
a scoundrel I daren't face Miss Plug
| enet, but ask her"
Sir John turns from him with ar
angry gesture. Mrs. Wimore. you
| knew tnlS, ne says, anu yOu lieu u
me and fooled me-"
| The woman does not answer the ac-
cusation. Instead she addresses to hel
son the broken-hearted query: Len
what have you done?"
Lennard walks toward the curate
"Linnell," he begins, II beg your par
don I've behaved like a"
But the priest interrupts: That's
past. Look up, my friend. You've
cleared yourself. You've owned youl
fault. You're free man from this
hour
They shake hands warmly and the
curtain falls.
The fourth act. though necessary tC
the completion of the story, is in a way
anti .climactical. The struggle embodied
! in the play in over There remains only
to gather up the threads of narrative
and to effect a reconciliation between
mother and son. This done, the drama
! is ended
Perhaps the most noteworthy acting
! in Yesterdays performance of this
Vitally interesting work was done by
Harry Mestayer in the role of Lennard
Wilmore. Mr.. Mestayer showed us a
young man upon whom the garments
of hypocrisy did not fit readily; weak
| man, man perhaps deserving OF little
sympathy, but living, breathing mar
for all of that.
Miss Hall as Rachel Neve was quietly
effective, and William Desmond, who
can do nothing badly, so far as Bur
bank audiences are concerned, was ap-
plauded literally for his acting In tht