The San Francisco call., 1908-11-02
BY Walter Anthony

The gift for characterization is rare
with authors and rarer with play
wrights. An ability TO conceive and
project personality which lives, loves,
suffers, hates and endures Is not ac-
quired altogether. Mainly 1t is a gift.
Sedley Brown has 1t. He wrote "A
Navajo's Love-" which was presented
yesterday by the company which is
under his stage direction at the Valen-
cia theater. The character is Julian
Navajo, half Indian and half French
the son of q chieftain and a French
mother whose veins, when she was
killed by soldiers, spurted noble blood.
STRONG MELoDRAMA
The play is melodrama. physical and
mental. There is show of pistols, but
no use for them, there is the daughter
whose inheritance has been embezzled
and lost by a too trustful father; there
is an unworthy suitor who demands the
lady's hand as the price of his financial
aid; there are two comedy relief
couples and there is Sthe Indian who
fights the unworthy one a battle in
Wall street and wins just when he
finds out that the man he beggars was
the boy who years before had saved
his life at peril to himself. Navajo
relents. let's his rival out of the money
mesh and for his ma agnanimity wins all
hearts--he has had the girls from the
first act.
The weakest point in the construction
of the story Is the comedy, which is
commonplace. The strongest Is the
character of Navajo and a splendidly
built third act. Incidental scenes such
as the one where the Indians drink
Is drugged with fire water and where
1a io hn 0i a
orous and novel and the play does not
lack interest save in the first act,
where there is too much talk to swim
the action. Browns other fault Is a
tendency to be rhetorical. Not that
his rhetoric isn't good, for usually it
is unusually good, but 1t is unneces-
sary and little puffed up.
INTELLIGENT INTERPRETER
Julian Navajo, in the hands of Rob-
ert Warwick, receives full and fine JUS
tice It is a notable characterization
and Brown should feel grateful for his
intelligent interpreter. Indeed, he ad-
mitted that he was, In graceful
speech before the curtain at the end of
the third act. That speech, by the way.
developed a comedy vein which Brown S
play did not so clearly uncover. War
wick is picturesquely the Indian, and in
savage moods stands striking figure
against the conventions which rub and
irk him. II a woman could love a
savage, and the evidence Is they gen.
orally do, Alice Kings affection for the
halfbreed was surely justified.
Charles Dow Clark, In comedy role.
played admirably against Miss Arleen
Hackett as DR.. Lillian Deane. Both
were given difficult tasks to perform
in the conventional episodes of the
comedy relief" Frank McGlynn as
Running Fox was also excellent. and
the hard and unsympathetic methods of
Robert Homans fitted his role Of La
Sale better than other parts he has
assumed at the Valencia.
Harry eastman and Harry Fraser
were also nicely suited. Miss Willette
Kershaw was sweet and fair as Alice
King, the girl" and, as before, ap-
peared best In the near ingenue scenes.
The play will be the attraction for a
week and should prove interesting to
those who love a story well told, and
one character, at least, well defined
and true.