Los Angeles herald., 1908-09-22
THE CAST
ny sInLE LAWRENCE


A LARGE and socially distinguished
n audience crowded the Beiasco the
"A ater last night to give welcome to
A. III. van Buren, the company's new
leading man, and Miss Loveh Alice
Taylor the company's new leading Wo-
man. The greeting extended 10 poth
players was pleasantly cordiai,i as 10
the Los Angeles habit. Mr.. van Bureh
was applauded enthusiastically; MISS
TAYLOR with no less enthusiasm, oe-
spite the fact that her role provided
small excuse for such demonstratlon
on the part of the audience. FLOWERS
In elaborate profusion were relayeo
down the aisle to the orchestra pit ana
passed over the footlights at the close
of the third act. until MISS Iayior
stood bowing her thanks surrounded IN
muIti-colored posies. The curtain rose
and fell and rose again, and nnaiiy
Mr. Van Buren,, leading Miss Taylor
by the hand, stepped to the front OF
the. stage. .Thank you for Dotn,n nc
said: and that was all the audience
could get out of him.
The author of "Strongheart," the
play selected for the opening. wrote
a strong role for his leading man, ana
kindly permitted his kleading woman
to be pretty and to wear smart frocks.
These two things Miss Taylor accom-
plished last night with ample success
Her appearance was graceful; her
manner easy and self assured. views
of her acting will come later. The
present role offers no opportunities Tor
its display.
Play Is Not New
The play of "Strongheart" has been
seen here several times in the past,
but never before in stock. 1t was first
played in Los Angeles, I believe, py
Robert Edeson and later by Ralph Stu
s-
jollity of undergraduate life in typ
ical American university, here called
Columbia, but which might as well
have been known as Harvard, yale,
or even one of the great institutions
of the middle west. Its second act is
a period of excitement, college loot
ball game in the distance and a col
lege tragedy occupying the stage. At
ter that the play loses somewhat It's
Youthful character and even skirts the
edges of a genuine problem, the prob
lem Of race. But 1t Is never d1dactic
and its ethical viewpoints are so dimiy
shadowed they are not always fuliy
appreciated by the audience. The les
son Of the play is a confession that
the problem considered is impossible
of solution. The author takes his hero
and his heroine up to an impasse ana
then calmly separates them, leaving
the Indian alone in the midst OF CIV
ilization he had come to know, but
of which he never can become part
Character Lacks Verify
The character of Soangataha, as 1t
has been drawn by Mr.. De Mile, Is
best liked where itsis least understood.
AS an chronological study 1t is about
as valuable as a freshman year essay
on whats the Matter with the Coun-
try?" but it has been made picturesque
and has been supplied with a veneer
of reality that doubtless serves well It's
purpose of deception. Indians. even
educated Indians, are not like Soang-
ataha. AS a race they are practically
cannot conform to Caucasian habits
of department or thought. Any In
structor in Carlisle, Haskell or other
Indian school will tell you this, not
as a theory, but as fact demon
strated every day within his own OBJ
servation.
Soangataha from being an Interesting
stage figure; nor does It prevent Mr..
Van Buren from giving us an exceed
ingly attractive performance of the role
as the author created 1t. Rightly. l
think, the Belasco's new leading man
showed us last night redskin who
was so thoroughly civilized that all his
racial traits had disappeared. So far
as his acting was concerned Soangata-
ha might have been a white man; and
as it was a white man Mr. De Mile
drew, the actor is not to be blamed for
his Interpretation.
MIR. Van Buren's Acting
Mr.. Van Buren's best work came in
the closing scene of the second act.
Here, ruled out, of playing on his coll
lege team in the second half of hard
game, Soangataha stands at the VIM
dow of the dressing quarters and ex-
citedly describes the play to a man
who has been injured I'm the first half.
This Mr.. Van Buren, did with fine dis
cretion and with an assumption of ner-
vous strain that went far toward real