Los Angeles herald., 1908-10-05
THE CAST
By sIDLE LAWRENCE

n eppreciative audience traverSed
IA 'The Road to Yesterday" with
"a Miss Blanche Hall at the Bur-
bank theater las. night and found the
little journey delightful one. The play
is fairy story for grown-ups. 1t is
whimsical conceit, cleverly fantastic,
surprisingly drol. In theme it is iden-
tical with when Knights Were Bold"
presented at the Mason last season by
Francis Wilson. Beyond their central
idea, however. the two plays have
nothing in common. Tho Wilson piece
is drawn in spirit of liveliest farce.
"The Road to Yesterday" is romantic
comedy; comedy Of much charm and
daintiness.
The authors of the play have seized
upon the idea of rairCarnation and
with this as a basis for what follows
have sent the dranlatis presonnae of
their whirnsy back through what Mr..
Wells tells rs is the fourth dimension,
into the yesterday of 800 years agone.
Here the romance-loviog young miss,
who is the central figure Of the curious
exploit, discovers the difference be-
tween the romance of a realistic age
and the realism of romantic one.
A Satire on Romance
Through two acts which put forward
a good-natured and exceedingly anus
ing satire on the romantic novel of to-
day, this young woman unlearns
much that she had learned within book
covers Her here is set upon by four
men-at-arms and instead Of putting |
them to flight calls loudly for help. |
Even worse, he eats with his knife. |
She herself is the heroiDe of the story, |
yet the villain. scheming lord of
"'orrid 'abits,' forces her to marry |
him and the hero is helpless to prevent |
1t. In fact the young woman's ideas of
romance are sadly disturbed and with |
good reason, for there is little that is
romantic and much that is uncomfort-
able in the vicissitudes that beset her.
In the end her Journey into yesterday
is discovered to have been merely a
The period of the first and fourth
acts is today; that o. the second and
third, 1903. The first act is rather
talky and somewhat stupid. There is
too much emphasis upon the
idea, which. If 1t is not
generally enterta ned. is yet commonly
and needs no such extended
as is accorded it. For the
purposes of the comedy we are quite
ready to believe that the moderns
whom we see in twentieth century garb
really had their prototypes in the days
when James of Scotland sat upon
throne; AMI that, in their day
their other and earlier selves.
Once the first act is ended, however,
and the dream scene begins, the COM
sdy moves with delightful briskness
md entertaining ingenuity. The fun,
100, is well sustained in the last act.
That first act should be rewritten. BY
contrast with what comes after it is
positively dull.
Miss Halls Acting
Miss Blanche Hall as the romance
owing girl of the present day and the
oersecuted heroine of the past is a
pleasing figure. Her comedy is sponta-
leous and very real. In the closing
cene of the second act she played last
light with drollery that was irresist-
BILE. Nothing funnier than her assump-
ion of awkwardness in boys attire has |
,een placed to her credit in many |
months.
William Desmond, always effective
n a swashbuckling role here succeeds
lso in part that pokes much whole
ONE fun at the same swashbuckler.
If the others A. Byron Beasley pre-
ents with his usual nice discretion the
haracters of the rascally noblenan
nd the modern, who later expiates
is rascality, winning forgiveness
n the end Harry Mestayer and Henry |
are amusing in their re-
pective roles. Miss Elsie Esmond,
sually reliable, fails to make the
haracter of the gypsy sgirl appear
cal, though she does much better in
he plays modern periods.
Both Miss Esmond and Miss Duffet
rear stunning gowns.
'"The Road to Yesterday continues
trough the week. 1t is the last play
which Mr. Desmond will appear this
lonth, as he leaves next Sunday for
three weeks vacation. Miss Hall,
DO, viii take her departure from the
urbank the week following, though
is altogether probable she will re-
i'm upon the conclusion of Florence !
tones starring engagement. For Miss