The Washington times., 1908-09-13
BelascO Play
Dramatic Treat;
"Jet" Doubtful
Notable Collection of Furni-
ture Used in Staging The
Fighting Hope"

NdAt0 upon 10 SIT III Judgment Oh
i two premiere productions. each the
initial effort OF a promising young
playwright, in one week. One Of these
plays, The Fighting Hope" at the Be-
lasco, gives every evidence Of being an
unqualified success, while the future OF
the other. Jet" at the Columbia, is
pTOblematicaI at the best.
Jet" is one Of those pretty little
dramas OF rural life and rural peonIe
and IS practically constructed without
villain, the nearest approach TO one
being the character Of Doctor sam
whose only sin was his endeayor 10
get Jet to go away with him The play
offers one novelty, and that is that the
heroine eventually marlies 1uis same
near-villain.
Just what the future Of Jet will be
is hard to predict. II the first and
the early part of the second acts are
not radically changed the play is doom
dc for an early burial III the dramatic
graveyard. AS the play stands now the
audience gets its first glimpse Of the
plot and learns what it is all about
when the second act is half finished.
The third act is excellently arranged.
The climax is dramatic in the extreme
and grips the audience with a strangle
hold The fourth and last ac- IS in
keeping with the preceding. except for
the last scene. In this Jet capitulates
to the hero-villain too quickly. Doctor
Sam should be made TO have a harder
time convincing the girl that their desti-
MES are one and the same.
II Miss Lowell the authoress, will
practically re-write the first two acts.
bringing them up 10 the standard Of the
other -vyo, she will give the theatrical
world a drama that will appeal TO the
heart strings, and one that will win
a liberal portion Of success
Should the play fail however, II will
be through no fault Of Miss Nannette
Comstock. who Is the star Of the Of
fering This clever little ingenue Of Col
Hers Caught in the RAIN has all the
qualities that go 10 make up a real
theatrical star. She is convincing in
her Interpretation, alluring in her mag
retism and possessed Of a tempera-
Inent peculiarly fitted for emotional
work She has always been al able
comedienne in ingenue roles, and her
work last week in Jet gives promise
of an even better record as an emotion
al actress
Twelve hours 70 Set One Scene.
The Fighting Hope" required SO much
discussion as a brilliant performance of
an excellent new play that no notice
has been given SO far to the remarkable
setting before which it was acted. Never
fl the history OF the stage, probably,
has another such scene been builded-
For The miracle ana mystery plays Of
the Middle Ages IL was the practice TO
set only one scene, with placards hung
20 denote the different places Of action
as, This Is "A Garden" or This Is
the Mount of olives" The ancient
drama was performed before permanent
decorations. with disregard of the back
ground in the minds of playwrights,
actors and play patrons alike Here,
too. was a play enacted before a fixed
setting But this was a room specially
designed for this drama, appropriate
TO the circumstances Of which the auth
or treated, and as substantially made
in all its essentials as a ROM in an
apartment house. In addition tC all Of
which it was as well furnished Cor
better as the best room Of most fat
dwelIers.
Fer the construction Of this set
the designers were given charge of the
stage In New York, supplied with car
penters and decorators as though they
were about TO build a hotel, and set TO
work What they made is a room in sec
tions. How great an undertaking II was
10 build It, and how much labor is rep
resented in taking It down here and
setting it up in another city will be
plain from this-that about twelve hours
are spent by the usual corps of stage
hands in putting ii together
Stanford White Armchairs.
When It is in place. however. all the
time. money and labor spent upon 1t are
justified. A memory that goes b1ck
over twenty years of constant attend
Rnce on the theaters cannot recall an
other scene nearly so complete.
Thus, there are two handsome arm
chairs one at either side of the library.
with uprights terminating III golden ire
foils and upholstery Of beautifully tool
ed leather. No wonder they are noticed
by everyone! They came from the auc-
ton of the effects of the late Stanford
White. and cost Mr.. Belasco. according
to the newspaper accounts of the sale,
about $500 apiece.
Near each chair and balancing IL ar
tistically is vase OF Overglaze, appar-
emily japanese, but actually Spanish
They are not costly. but they have real
beauty and help signally to create the
atmosphere Of the richly overfurnished
house Of the trust company president of
our day. The safe in which Mrs. Gran
ger puts the letter which is the crux Of
the plot is a heavy piece Of realism, less
successful than the beautiful cosmos
flowers which stand on the book shelves
throughout the last act. In lieu of glass
for those shelves, which would have
shone Ike mirror and caught the light
from every angle. the resourceful IrO-
ducer has tried gray yelling, and that
material proves vas " better than the
wire netting more frequently used.
Best of all the touches which give this
setting the very simritude Of reality
and 90 do not obtrude themselves on
the attention is the bronze Of the IN
known Lady OF the Louvre, who looks
down on the struggles of her latter-day
sister with that inscrutable smile which,
iE this little bust. in Mona Lisa and the
Sphinx. all three. hides and yet reveals
the eternal feminine.
THE Darling OF the Gods "Adrea,"