The Dickinson press., 1908-11-28
Two Great : Plays

and Florence Roberts in The House of
Bondage on Monday evening. Managers
Reichert and Ray are to be commended
for securing such excellent attractions
and they announce that q lot more just
as good IN coming during the next few
months of the season.
The consensus Of opinion Friday
evening was that The Great Divide vas
one of the finest plays ever in Dickinson.
The cast was excellent and the work of
the two leading actors, Edwin Mordant
and Mabel Brownell, was at all times
simply superb. These two capable
players rank next to Henry Miller and
Margaret Anglin, who created the orig
inal parts.
The story of the play is a phsycho-
logical struggle between a free. and easy
son of the west and a high pricipnled
girl of the east. who, when left at the
mercy of three drunken toughs. who
shake dice for her, marries him to saw
herself from dishonor.
The marriage, even under these brutal
conditions, brings out the noble instincts
and characteristics of the man and en-
kindles in his heart a great purifying
love. But the woman. bro0ding over
the situation, revolts with all her being
towards him, crushing down the. love
that is awakened in her heart by his
natural nobility. and keeps constantly
in mind the horror of their first meeting,
when he was another being, a brute
made mad by liquor.
How he finally wins her love and re-
spect, forms m of. the most dramatic
stories ever presented on the stage in
the history of American drama. The
play is remarkable for its virility, it's
human interest, and its striking incid-
ents. .
One of the largest audiences Of. the
winter was held s%pellbound as the story
was unfOlded by the clever cast, and
the leading characters received a most
enthusiastic ovation at the close of both
the first and second. acts.
The House of Bondage, which was
the offering Monday evening, was g
metropolitan production in the most min.
ute detail. Nothing better will strike
Dickinson for some time to come. While
the play itself, n of these problem
affairs which are so popular at THU
time, does not appeal to the average
person, the cast Is in the hands of sucl
capable people and every part so vel
interpreted by star players, that thu
acting alone carries the piece tt success
The play centers around the MARTA
misfortunes of a titled Englishman, VIII
has a laison with a duchess, and who's,
wife loves a famous surgeon. The hus
band and wife each discover the mis-
placed affections of the other. Their
is nothing criminal about the wife
fondness for the physician. The husban.
has an abscess on the brain. and tn,
physician. by force of circumstances
must perform the operation. He rise
above self and all temptation and tn
operation is successful. The climax o
the play comes at the close of the las
act when the wife, in a scene reaching
the highest type of emotion withou
becoming tragic, announces to her hus
band. who has become a member of tn
British cabinet, that unless he amends
the British divorce laws within 81,
months. she will live in open defiance Of
the conventionalities and the law, witt
the man she loves.
Florence Roberts, an actress who's,
fame in the west is already widespread
has the role of the wife and succeed
most admirably in the stellar part. Sh'
is more finished, more intense and les
emotional than in some of her previou
roles. As the surgeon, Thurlow Berger
carries off secondary honors. His ACTIN
is a magnificent piece of work, bringing
out clearly the nobility of the character
He has one of the most pleasant. melo
dious voices q man can possess and i
in addition an earnest and capabl
actor, making good to a marked degree.
Arthur Forrest in the role of the hus
band, cleverly interprets the cynica
Englishman. In spite of all the dis
agreeable features of the part
as played by Mr.. Forrest it has a charm
and fascination which wins the admira
ton of the audience, if not the sympathy
In the role of the duchess, Ann Warning
ton has a distasteful part to play, bu
one which she gives in a highly art isti
manner.
The piece is splendidly staged, eac]
of the two settings being complete il
every detail. All of the properties use'
are carried by the company and tn
effects are exceptionally pleasing. Tn
production was a memorable one in tn
city's theatrical circles and will long b.
remembered for its wonderfully cleve
acting and for the excellent English il
which the play is written.