The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-04-05

New York. April 3.-The advertise
ments named no new play here this
week, but 1 found three at the open
ing of the Pioneer theatre, where
drama is meant TO appeal 10 those
who do not yet know the significance
OF socialism, and TO focus latent
forces in the cause Of economic jus
tice." The theatre, just around a
Bowery corner, was a grimy old place,
dish company. An audience of 500
crowded it. The first lesson was The
Moral Demand" in which a moraiist
besought a hayward actress to return
10 responsibility as his wife; bu- she
decided TO remain emancipated from
matrfmony, and so he, being fasrtnat-
ed. became her affinitive companion. A
second lesson was Their Daugher,
in which the sordid hypocrisy of one
marriage was depicted by poor girls
cajollery and deception of n rich man.
A clever and pretty young actress,
Muriel Hope. had been hired to make
the lessons in free love AMI lettering
wedlock effectual.
The third lesson. THE Dolls" had
been written by Julius HOpp, organ
izer of socialistic Sunday schools, and
founder of this Pioneer theatre. The
forces which he seeks to antagoni2e
were persOnated by two IiLtle girls.
Alice was the daughter of \ wealthy
man. who. to crafty her pampered
within, brought home from his toy
mandatory every day a fine, new
doll. Annals mother was an unfed
widow. who came to beg for work, and
brought her hungry child along. The
father, fondly indulgent to his Alice,
had no feelings for the widows Anaa
The woman pleaded for work, AMI the
man refused aid. Alice and Anna
childishly prattled the social enmities
of their parents. And Mr.. Hopp gave
the sympathy to poor Anna by hay
ing her accused of stealing one of rich
Alice's surplus dolls. which she had
taken to play with innOcently. The
widow climaxed the play with a &c
claration that the poor. lacking. even
rags dolls, for pleasure, had right to
seize the elegant wax dolls of the rich.
IF these hogs won't let US fam
lshed creatures get to the trough of
food was the gist of her harangue,
they may expect us to slice the ba-
con from their own fattened sides"
In the forenoon Hopp had assem-
bled poor pupils from his socialistic
Sunday school to see THE Dolls" and
learn to hate the rich. In the after
noon. while the play was being given
for the education of adults. and at
Just about the minute when the widow
berated the father in the Pioneer the
AREAS nearly as I could calculate
the time afterward-an anarchist at
the socialists meeting i'm Union square
mang1ed himself and killed a con1rade
in an attempt to destroy a squad OF
police with a bomb that became a
boomerang.
A of -fa Iot
filled usually by accounts of new
plays, took me to "A Night in Bohe-
mia" Vaudeville is being varied in
geniously. I described lately the de-
vice of putting forth the American
Eva Tanguay and the English Vesta
Victoria. ostensibly as contestants for
audiences award of supremacy; and
II made it inferential that the contest
was fake: vet. when that week 5
Saturday night came Nesta was so
hoarse with strained vocal cords that
she couldn't sing, and Eva, (was it
sleeful exultation? p danced so violently
as 10 stop herself with sprained an
kle. Not much longer ago, / told how
the amateur night had grown from
a lark once a week, at the cheaper
variety houses. TO an extra hour of
prearranged fun, in which real novices
were not submitted TO impromptu ridi-
cule. but the butts of abuse were hired
performers, who pretended to be dazed
by the first glare of the footlights-
"A Night in Bohemia is an invention
TO make up. on Sunday. for the Sab
batarian laws elimination IF dances,
acrObatic acts. playlets and every
thing else except singing. plain speak
Ting and instrumental music.
X X
New Workers bite hungrily at hooks
halted with promises of Oddity.
Twelve hundred paid the best drama
prices for seats at this show of stunts.
They saw on the stage a dozen pairs
of men and girls seated at one large
table and Two small ones. The ad-
vertisements had said that Califor-