Omaha daily bee., 1908-06-28
GOSSIP or TIE NDo STAGE
Good work Done for Love of 1t nv
Dramatic SocIetic8.

Dramatic Societies.
LONDON. June 2L-CSpccial Cores
p1ndcrccD-Withln the last few weeks two
o. tho ta.co best known theatrical societies
c, ErGlard have produced plays that have
Loer really wcrtn while and that would
r,"as ave been seen II they had not been
Loac f..-iIe love Of It. ! have already re-
t.:rcG IN those columns to the Pioneers
I :oGuc,i5n of John Masefield's Nan"
rnl tae onc-act play Feed the Brute" by
George PASTOR, both of which have since
been presented at the Haymarket theater
e.. special uatinCcs. More recently the
Stage society presented an excellent trans
llucn Ct a rather depressing play by that
laicrJed D~utchmun, Herman Heijermans
under the English title of Links" 1t is a
strong, Intensely interesting work, with
]tlcG0-Cut, ~tnoughtful Misunderstanding
and shows a genius FOR details which is so
prominent a feature of Heijermans' best
WORK. Curiously enough 1t resembles in a
Genoral way Pinero's latest play, The
Thunderbolt.' which George Alexander is
presenting now at the St. James. 1t deals
with the same Kind of sordid family squab-
bic, unpleasant, but Of absorbing interest.
These two successes serve to focus atten-
ton upon three organizations which, al
though they are essentially English and
owe their existence to the peculiar condi-
tl1ns governing the production OF plays in
this country, might well be copied In the
United states. TIE prime purpose of the
two societies already mentioned and an
othcr-tAc Play Actors-is to present to
the public Plays which for various reasons
lave lora declined by the managers or
fGraiGlCn by thc censor. When the So
Cc.lc5 wcrc fist formed their little Sunday
evening affairs were only patronized by a
certain Wcll-dcciuCI and easily recognized
type os cXtyrmistg. The men wore low
tu---down cellars, long, flowing bow ties,
tweed suits and cared little or nothing for
personal appearances; the women wore
Crce,l C~ostumcs-oT "a near an approach
as tie police would permit-sandals, a
string OF beads and the inevitable eye
glasses.
Today that is all changed. A matinee of
the Stage society or its associate institu-
items can count upon as smart an audi
once as can he found anywhere in London.
Fabulousiy expensive motor cars and pri-
va,c carriages wait in a long line outside
while their owners fill the playhouse. G.,
Bernard Shaw shows up with Mrs. Asquith.
the ,o.ented wife Of the prime minister, and
;hc audience is a workable who's Who
Of the "intel!cctuais" in English high life.
So pleased is Charles Frohman with THE
Two Pins the medieval drama with
wh!ch Oscar Asche and his wife, Lily Bray
ton, oTened their season at cheap prices at
The NldwyCh that he has secured the Amer
lean rights and tells me that he will lose
10 tine in producing il In the United States.
The play is written in blank verse and deals
with the adventures of a thirteenth century
maiden who attempts to rescue her ven
trresome brother from the clutches of a
mAsterful overload. Although the maid
fails TO accomplish her object through
strategy. The entrance of Cupid saves tho
day and rescues her brother from a dose Of
honey and feathers. The play, while
bright and amusing, is not remarkable II
any way except that it succeeds in keeping
the audience constantly entertained.
George Fawcett, the American actor whC
created the part Of Big Bin in THE Squav
Man IN the United States and who wa
brought over here 10y Lewis Waller to pla!
the same part in the English adaptation
OF the same play which will finish a lonI
run at the Lyric theater on the last day o
this month, tells me that he has no inten
ton Of returning Immediately to America
lie hopes TO be able to appear in LondoI
in "Puddn'nhead Wilson" under the man
agement OF Herbert Sheath, Aside from
Lewis Waller, who is an established Eng
lish favorite and who played the part en-
acted by William Faversham in the Unite
States, Fawcett made the hit of Edwi
Milton Royle's drama OF the west.
.
So Far as We in London are concerned
David warfleld is a case Of now you Sc
him and now you don't" We have bee
told a dozen times that we were going I
see him in The Music Master and TT
Grand Army Man" in the fall and just a
Frequently doubt has been cast upon IN
announcement, The latest is that. al
though he is now on the continent on
holiday, London will not have the pleasur
o. seeing him this year. OF all the actors /
the United States the English theater goer
are most anxious TO see Maud Adams an
David Warfield.
Constance Collier, one of the most prom
iz,nE OF the younger actresses Of the Ems
lish stage. has signed with Charles Frot
man TO appear In the United States begir
ming September l. Her first American er
gagement will be in William Gillette.
translaton Of Henry Bernstein's samson.
The English actress will have the part {
Madame Brachart, played at the Par
"reminiscences by Madame SimOne le Barb,
Miss Collier is a big, buXom. beauty
woman and, although she is only % year
OF age, has had a long stage career. -
six years she appeared with Beerbohi
Tree at His MaJesty's theater and on tou
accompanying the famous English actci
vaanaRer on his trim 10 Berlin last Yea