Los Angeles herald., 1908-07-14
THE CAST

OF the Mason opera house.
THE CAST
Richard Voysip Bruce McRae
Raymond Lagardes 80. Edward r. Mawson
NJ. GOndoin ................ Sidney HerDert
Fernand Lagardes. s...........-- Leonard Tue Iu,
Marie-Louise Voysin /. Margaret Ellington
Isabelle Legardes. ....... Isabel Kicharos
BY SIDLE LAWRENCE
NI HE PLAY of "The Thief" which
an exceptionally capable company,
n headed by Miss Margaret Hing
ton, presented upon the Mason stage
last night, is a human document in
dramatic form. It's story presents no
| esoteric problem in psychology The
strength, the compelling force of the
tale is it's simplicity its remarkable
human quality.
1t would not be difficult to retell the
whole plot in a dozen lines. More
would be superfluous. Yet from this
material M. Henri Bernstein has penned
play that holds attention tense
| through three acts and which is devoid
OF artifice and trickery. It's second act
is a duologue-or, If you will pardon
the puma duel-logue between husband
and wife. From rise to fall of the cur =
| tain they two hold the stage, uninter-
rupted. And the second is the big act
of the play.
Certainly it must be that the French
theater is not in SO deplorable a case
as we have been led to believe. Good
plays can come out of Paris THE
Thief is one of them, and by far the
best in many years.
An Oft-Told Tale
Human nature is by no means the
complex thing writer's of problem
| Hra ms hoU nc 70
| colonel's lady and Bridget O'Grady are
pretty much alike, after all. In its es-
| sentials the story of 1.-THE Thief is q
tale oft told in the police courts. dare
| say any police magistrate with a few
years experience could cite you, off
hand, numerous parallels. The play is
not ingenious, it is human. It's central
figure is not kleptomaniac, but a
thief. In that distinction rests the
power of the drama.
1t would have been easy, very easy,
to have made this play merely a pleas
| ing little picture of charming woman S
| pecadillo. Can you not see, for in
stance, how ephemerally Smart Clyde
Fitch would have made it, had the
basic idea ever occurred to him as suit
able for stage presentment? But "The
| Thief" is not a pleasing little picture.
Its canvas is broad, its composition ad-
mirable and 1t is emblazoned with
truth.
The action occurs within the space
of twenty-four hours, evening, night
and morning. The story is presented
through the medium of only six char
acters and of these one appears only
her husband, steals that she may eke
out their income and buy clothing,
otherwise beyond her means, believing
that only thus can she retain her hus..
bands admiration. Here is at once her
crime and her temptation. Suspicion
falls upon the son of friends with
whom they are visiting. The youth
has conceived an infatuation for the
culprit and she weakly persuades him
to admit guilt. Subsequently her hus-
band discovers her crime. She herself
confesses to the family she had
wronged and with her husband goes
away 10 begin life anew in Brazil.
A Strong, PurposefuI Play
There is the play, in little, and a
remarkably strong, purposeful play 1t
is The sermon is there, too, if you
care for it, And the humanity.
The acting in this drama is straight
forward, simple, natural, like the
dramas theme. Miss Ellington, in the
role of the wife, plays with remarkably
telling effect O part Of obvious diff
cu1ties. Her earlier scenes with Fer
nand Lagardes, the infatuated youth,
are acted with a charm of coquetry
that is irresistible and the comedy bit
with her husband, at the opening of
that tremendous second act, is very
real. Then comes apprehension, merg-
ing swiftly into fear. terror and a de-
spair which still finds the woman bat
Ting with an almost maternal fierce
ness for the one thing life has for her,
her husbands love. In the crisis the
woman sees with surer vision than the
man. She brushes aside trivialities
which loom big before him. And she
fights, fights, fights for her happiness.
Then, in the morning, comes a realiza-
tion of the inevitable; her victory over
self, confession and the end.
Miss IIIlngton's Acting
Miss Ellington is an actress of fine
emotional ability. She does not spare
herself. Last night, at the close of
the second act, and again at the close
of the play, she was obviously worn
out by stress of emotion. 1t is trite,
but 1 believe true, to say that she
realized the role as well for herself
as for her audience. The theory has
been advanced that this is self-hypno-
sis, not acting; but what of that? The
results are there.
Bruce Mcf1d6, an aClOr OF eXI6iiueu
reputation and excellent attainments,
plays the husband with admirable tenn
perance; and Edward r. Mawson acts
with dignity the part of the father.
Mr.. Ide as the son, Mr.. Herbert as the
detective and Miss Isabel Richards
as the young mans stepmother, all
contribute their full share to the best
acted performance of what is, in many
respects, the finest play Los Angeles
theater-goers have seen this season.
The audience which assembled at the
Mason last night to witness 1.-The
Thief" was both large and socially dis
tinguished. There We're several box
parties, and throughout the house
groups of intimate friends, who after
ward sojourned to some of the favor
ite clubs and restaurants for supper.
In one of the boxes were Mr.. and Mrs.
Fielding Stilson and their guest, Mrs.
Winter. Other prominent men and wo-
men in the audience included Messrs.
and Mines. G. Holterhoff, D. Mccarthy,
w. r. Bishoff, r. P. Bishop, A.. r.
Lindley, 1. Isaacs, H. Harris, II. Adler,
n. Sanderson, w. r. Leeds, Walter J.
Trask, H. Lowman, ]. T. James, N. F.
Wilshire,~O Sweet, A. L. Cheney, w.
Robson, B. Workman, S. M. Cole, D. A.
Hamburger, B. Bailey, c. Montgomery,
r. Marsh, T. P. Newton, II. Moore, W.
G. Chanslor, M. S. Hellman, r. A.
Rowan, N. r. Wiltshire, e. w. Sargent,
L. A. Brand, Carroll Allen, Dr. Walter
Jarvis Barlow and party, DR.. ana ana
Mrs. Granville MACEDONIAN, Miss
Moore, Miss Newton. DR.. and Mrs.
Guy Cochran, Miss Belle Hambur-
ger, Miss Evelyn Hamburger, Miss
Holterhoff and Messrs. H. S. 'VanDyke,
r. Van Pelt, L. r. Wharton, Dan F.