Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-07-13
THE CAST
by sIDLE LAWRENCE


BY sIDLE LAWRENCE
4 MEXICAN colleges have played
u rather a conspicuous part upon
"A the stage in recent years. First
of the new brood of plays which
smacked of the campus and dormitory
or boarding house" was ION the
Quiet" originally presented by Will
lie Collier. Then came "Strongheart."
which offered a stage picture of under
graduate life at Columbia as con the
Quiet" had at Yale; then AIDES "A Col
lege' Widow" the first co-educational
comedy, with it's scenes at "Atwater
university; and after that Brown
at Harvard" which was followed by
shorter-lived and hence less important
comedies, farces and melodramas. Now
it is the University of California's turn,
and at the Burbank yesterday we saw
"A Strenuous Life" based on the old,
old story of the undergraduate who
lies himself into trouble and out of 1t
with the airy aplomb BETTING under
graduate traditions.
The play is by Richard Walton FULLY,
a Californian, and, / believe, Berke-
ley man. In it Mr.. Tully has written
an amusing farce but he has failed to
of varsity life. 1t takes more than
few football suits and lot of PEN
nants to create a college atmosphere,
and that is about all the atmosphere"
introduced into the present production.
The farce is not new to Los Angeles,
having been seen before on the stage
of another Main street playhouse. but
it's presentation yesterday was the first
by the Burbank company.
Audience Well Pleased
Last night a large audience saw the
piece and laughed immoderately at its
situations, and as it was written for
laughing purposes only "A Strenuous
Life may properly be said to fulfill It's
purpose.
Farce is at it's best when the grossest
improbab ilities are made to appear
plausible. No caricature is too broad
If 1t can be made to appear real-it
the image is not distorted beyond
recognition. When that happens, how
ever, farce descends to burlesque.
which is quite different thing, ana
In at least one instance Mr.. Tully
seems to have overstepped the mark.
He shows us a professor of mathe-
mates whose powers of penetration
are of SO small caliber that one mar
wells at his stupidity and doubts MS
ability to solve the most elementary
formula having the algebraic x as It's
objective. University professors are
not fools, especially where undergrad
yates are concerned. They know the
breed too we'll.
All this. however, does not prevent
"a Strenuous Life" from providing
good evenings entertainment, once you
take the character of the "mathenat--
ical prof for granted. After that All
is easy, and the somewhat clumsy
living of Tom Harrington and ms
friends serves nicely to stir your rlsi-
bilitieS.
The Mendaeious Desmond
William Desmond is the senior whose
mendacity causes all the confusion. He
writes his fond papa that he mas won
a medal for excellence in mathematics.
He masquerades as lieutenant OF vol
unteers-this is in the days of the
standardization war-and makes love
to a young woman who just dotes on
brass buttons. He blows in the money
given him to pay bills and let's his
creditors do the worrying. Then, ona
day, papa, with little sister in tow,
appears upon the scene and the trouble
begins.
Tom inpresses a newly-arrived fresh
man into service to impersonate the
professor of mathematics and tell dad
what a wonder his son is. The freshie
does It, Then the real professor shows
UP, the girl arrives on the scene, cred
itors make their appearance and every
thing is comfortably Jovial through
three acts.
desmond lies artistically If clumsily.
In fact he plays this part as though he
liked it, but am inclined to think his
love making is a trifle too sophisti-
Gated. even for a Berkeley senior.
Gerald Harcourt is the roommate who
helps him lie. Harry Mestayer is the
absurd, Isping freshie who masquer-
AIDES as a member of the faculty, and
he's funnier than any prof who ever
plucked a good football man. A. Byron
Beasley is the real professor. Beasley
Is funny, too, and shouldn't be held
responsible for the exaggeration OF the
character he assumes. John Burton is
Harrington, pere; H. ]. CHM is jap
anese house boy; Blanche Hall, natur-
ally, is the girl to whom Tom Harring-
ton makes love; Elsie Esmond is his
sister; Louise Royce is the boarding
house keeper and Mango buffet is her
niece.
Lewis s. Stone, who retired from
the Belasco company following last
nights presentation of 1.-THE Rose of
the Rancho was given a hearty god
speed by the large audience assem-
bled. In fact. the audience applauded
him so persistently that Mr.. Stone
was obliged to respond with speech.
He spoke briefly, thanking his friends
for the kindness of their feeling, both
as 1t was manifested last night and
as it had made itself apparent for
merly.
Tomorrow, with his wife and daugh-
ter, Mr. Stone leaves for the east. He
will return, however, next month TO
head his own company at the Audi