The Washington times., 1908-04-12
Gossip From New York
On Things Theatrical
(Contlnued Lon LIZ az

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and you know tSst the hero will catch
the brother.
The villain, who is boss OF the lumber
camp. is only dangerous for a moment;
because. even II he has witnessed the
murder. he himself Is a bad man who
has done some killing in a former period
of his life. and he IS known to the hero
on sight.
In a STACEY way the theatric situa-
tons are kept up at a supposed tension.
while the audience, all the while. knows
Just how things are going to turn out
and. when the Lieutenant lets the brother
go and gives himself up fo- treason, you
are not much excited about It. The VII
lain comes in and, under compulsiOn,
helps to prove that the man who was
shot was a criminal on whose dead head
there was a reward. Thus. the hero
had not committed treason. as he had
let a man go who. In reality. had done
the states bidding In shooting the muir
dered man.
on goes the villain with the cook
lady" who was in love with him. and
the Hero and the Girl are. Of course,
united forever and ever and ever.
Brought up IN land STEPPED i'm the
traditions OF their father. who waxed
great by dint of THE Charity Ball"
and such plays. it Is natural that the
brothers De Mile adhere TO stage ira
dItions. II IS no surprise that they do
not sound a deep plummet into the
depths or modern life. as. for instance.
Augustus Thomas does in The Witch
ing Hour" So, in The Royal Mounted
one may hear the creakings OF the dra-
matte machinery, one may see all too
plainly the strings that pull the pup
pets. II IS too much OF an avowed
show" It is not real. It does not sat
isfy one with Illusion. with the vital
CONTINGENCIES OF a big play. But Mr..
SCOTS delicious Irish brogue would
compensate one for far weightier
deficiencies. HIS mauiiness and Unending
good spirits. his grace Of manner, his
healthiness Of impersonation. lift the
play up into an extremely agreeable
plane. II is a younger. a more charm
| ing Chauncey Olcott we see before US
albeit there are no songs. Looking at
Scott Is as good as a roiiicking song
Listening 10 his a tractive enunciatiOn
| IS pleasure The play IS above the
| average. II you can stand the eternal.
! old-fRshiOned playwright methods OF con-
struction. The hero IS a gentleman by
/ birth, filled TO the brim with hope, dar-
| ing. and Wit Now let him fall in love
and you can imagine Just how adorable
/ a character this artful Mr.. Scott makes
| the lieutenant. II is a refreshing glimpse
/ Of the unspOiled ioyableBess Of the
/ true Irish gentleman The play should
so well on the road, but II seems too
/ badly trite for a long run at the Gar
I rick in mid-New York
An Impressive and extremely elabor-
ate effort was made Wednesday even
/ ing by Paul Kester, author, ana r H
| Sothern. actor, TO bring that enticiag
I hero OF fiction, Don QUixOte.' before
/ the eyes of a present-day audience n a
play that would take hold We have
l dreamed and loved the crazy OLD char
| acter. and Mr.. Sotheru earnestly.
= studiously. paintakingly detained and
/ acted and drew she man. There was
the addition OF ample scenic accessO-
| RES. There was mass, ensemble. faith
\ ful transcripts from Ceramics great
| novel The author was trying his Ut
most to make the story vital in a play
/ Mr.. SOthern ard all the company
| worked like Trojans. And still, II vas
/ mass. instead Of a living entity. II
[ was inteTminable. and II was talky,
and it was incoherent-that is 70 say.
it was so involved and bulky that II
/ puzzled every body. You must still go
to the book when you want to SYM
| pathize with that half-dernented charm
| er who defied everybody and every
| thing and thought he could whip the
4 vurld's fortunes alone There may be
| a chance to put this character into a
Ilsy Of today, but Paul Kester has
not succeeded. Mr.. Sothern deserves
much credit for the intelligent and lib
| eraI manner in which he stages every
| thing he undertakes, and this effort
| goes a little further in this respect
| than Is his custom The play, how
! ever. falls from overweight. II is sOggy
as 10 dramatic texture, AMI it can only
/ run a while as a spectacle. II is read
/ lily understood how Don QuiXOte' ap-
] peals to the dramatist and to an actor
like SOthern- But this event only ac-
! centuates the difficulty OF dramatizing
| an idea The idea is that the daring
! dreamer today, as at all times, VIII try
ana hope to win. single-handed. against
ali mankind The idea has given US
/ his such expressions as "auiXotic," etc.
/ Nearly every man worth his salt sym
pathizes with the idea But this Kes-
ter play misses ats mark by miles