The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1908-12-22
Melodrama Has Interest in
Spite of High-FlOwn
Text.
LAURETTE TAYLOR
PROVES A NUGGET
Acts Sprite Charmingly in Play of
Early California Days
at BelaSCO.

For such as still can read The
Pathfinder and THE Deerslayer'' is
Yosemite a melOdrama. written by
Charles O. Taylor, disclosed at the
BelascO Theater last night The
crack OF a trusty rifle" the "dusl1y
warrior leaping forth in the agonies OF
death. the haunting quiet of the
Srackless forest" are all there
And as many of our Washington folk
as this playhouse ordinarily seats. from
fashionable parties in the boxes to a
crowded gallery, peered with the actors
round cliffs, crept across fallen trees,
and participated in hair-breadth res
cues with the excitement OF small boys
James Fenimore Cooper himself could
not have fancied a more romantic set
ting for his novels than is here repro
duced within the dimensions Of q stage
or a more fawn-like personality than
Is here portrayed by a comedy young
woman named Laurette Taylor.
The Call Of the Wild The Wolf, -
Wireless The Spoilers" and a score
of other books and plays have reflected
our reaction against a strongly DSy-
Geological literature and drama these
past three or four years. Yosemite
is designed further TO satisfy Il wearing
Tor the big simple things and the
''pTimOrdial impulses" On the stage IL
takes the form Of acting. real acting.
chewing the scenery and splitting il al
them" big gripping scenes and
"melCdrama that is melOd rama" IN
literature II works out as The Sea
Wolf
Evidently there is appetite for this
sort or thing Otherwise Her Cave
mans Letters and Hers in Reply
would never have rocked the book mar
ket Otherwise. also. last nights HU-
dience at the BelasCO would never have
heard the first act Of Yosemite" with
indulgence. the second with marked in
teTeSt IN spite of many smiles, the third
with a sense OF deep pleasure in a Sc
TieS OF poetic revelations of fine Charac-
ter. and the two scenes OF the fourth
with Imagination and hearty approval
This, Notwithstanding ErandlOSe de-
ClaD'GtiOn an almost uninteTmittcnt use
of commonplace figures of speech
scores of mixed metaphors. and a gen
eral Eigh-howness Inappropriate TO the
characters and like unto nothing so
much as Shak espeare off the track
ReincarnatiOn as a Theme.
Author Charles A. Taylor has woven
q thread of transcendentaIism through
his story. Some time before the dis
Covery Of gold a little girl has been
stolen from 4 mission in northern Cal
ifornia, where she had been left by her
Spanish mother. The aDdUctor is an
outlaw, Yosemite, who lives in cave
beside a smcldering volcano. BY fire.
uuent murder and the iuscceSsi Utility Of
his refuge, this American briSand keeps
possession of his prize, forces her TO be
his wife. and watches her grow into
hunted being Of the hills with only such
training as reaches tenaCIOuSly out or
the past or IS derived new from an
Indian woman Of magic, a SupersutiOCs
believer in TCinCarnatiOn-
The inevitable American appears TO the
rescue. Mother and child are both
saved, only TO be retaken from the
mission by Yosemite IN the savdgcry
Of his resentment the outlaw kills the
mother The child IS borne of 70 The
Devils Punch Bowl to be reared IT the
same ignorance and the same Indian
beliefs. The American, hedrt-DrOken,
consecrates his life 20 the rescue Of the
daughter, and when he finds her nudS
also that the mOtEG'S faith in the re-
Incarnation OF souls has taken posses
sion OF the child and JhGt not only has
she become another wild thing with the
same wide eyes and SpTiuging supple
ness. but has also come to believe that
in her Is her mothers soul reborn
This material assays high The re-
fnement Of it, though CruGity itself in
places, is not without merit The seen
cry eShales the atmosphere Of the great
Yosemite valley There is setting Of
the courtyard Of the missiOn-in which
a little gITl-sweetly and naturally act
ed by Vivian TObin-plays with a kit
ten. and two doves ilutter in cote
which would give charm 10 any play.
The costumes are appropriate. If il
were not for the text, the production
would have quite as much atmosphere
as any play Of this period and place
which has been offered in our theater
I'm late years, not excepting THE Girl
OF the Golden West
A Personal Triumph for Miss Taylor
Taken from stock company some
where and brought to us practically
unknown, it vas the merit Miss Tay-
lor's acting and the forceful beauty of
her personality which first persuaded
last nights auditors to take these
mock heroics seriously. She is a mug
Eet. Her entrance, Stealthful as a
jaguar, easily frightened as an antelope,
crystallized the spirit OF the whole
drama. It is required Of her 10 weep
like Margaret Angiin, to allow smiles
OF happiness occasionally to shine
through her grief in the manner Of
Viola Allen. and To play the sprite.
She aCcOmphshes il all. and If this play
survives through recasung OF its dla-
lOPue the credit Will belong To her and
20 the management which gave her
such settings as a background
Ar impersOnat.On similarly suggestive
OF the Cut-of-doOrs is that Of ChandOS
st John BrcnOn, who acts an Indian
I'm the service of Yosemite. It is
conceived with imagination and acted
with skill. But with these thrce-MiSs
Taylor, little Miss Tobin. and Mr..
Brenon-the- merit or the acting stops.
Theodore Babcock. as the outlaw; James
Durhin as the American. practically
all the rest Of the cast are of the cir
cult Of melodrama- In their mouths
such speeches as I shall remain stead
fast 10 the last" and stand where
YOU are,' seem ever more grandiloquent
than they read.
yosemite has come 10 Washington
after two weeks i'm Buffalo. In that
three-night stand the patronage grew
steadily. The showing would seem to
be that Z the plunge into The "Leath-
CT Stocking Tales is something OF a
shock to this generation We soon take
20 tossing our heads in the spray like
school boys on vacation at the sea
shore. But the plunge can be made
less severe If the ice of bOmhast Is
T7ked out Of the next. and unless that
is done IL Is our reluctant Judgment
that fewer will jump in than might.
ALLEN d ALBERT. JR
4 RANDLE HIGHLANDS