Omaha daily bee., 1908-10-10
At the Theaters
"Paid in run" at the Boyd.

tRnf0 In ruiz AZ the BOYD
paid n Fun" a drama Of eontemgorans-
under direction OF Messrs. Magenhals g.
Kempen. The cast;
American Steamship company"...-
"'S9y Basss f0St
James smith, superintendent Of dockage
OF the Latin-American Steamship,
coD company iiiiiam. nr.s,d iGeorss S sac
Latn-American Steamship company,
formerly a South Pacific trader..... &.
Mrs. Harris. moibef Of Emma and
widow of Captain Williams late as
sociate In business: F1orence Robinson
Beth Harris, her daughter b. Marion Berg
Sato, the japanese valet Of Captain
Williams ................ George Belden
Again. Its true. It's pity, and. pity tits
it's true" Such meB as Joe Brooks do ex-
list; happily they do not abound. Never
theiess, and spineless, weak enough TO COM
NIT a crime and not bold enough to face 1t;
selfish enough to sacrifice anything and
anybody. and obtuse enough to think their
incompetency lie hard luck" Ibsen
touched on the type in "A Dolls House,"
and Clyde Fitch has presented It once or
twice, as In The Climbers" and Her Own
Way" but 1t remained for Eugene Walter
to show the Joe Brooks sort of man in its
nakedness. And he has done 1t unspar-
lnbly. Two OineT types OF manklnu are
shown, each in strong contrast with the
other, and of the sort that really redeem
the world and it's people from the blight
that would soon fall upon & Il the Brooks
type predominated. And we all believe In
women like Mrs. Brooks. and are also con-
WINGED that Mr.. Walter. in his lnexperience,
has taken his mother-ln-law from a comic
supplement. Ditto the young Miss Harris.
The story OF Paid in Full" is very
brief. Joe Brooks Is the poorly pad col
lector for a big steamship company. He
has asked for an increase in pay, and has
been refused. He lives with his wife in
cheap apartments in Harlem. where they
endure the hardships Of poverty, she with
good cheer because she loves her husband
and believes in him, he with constant
grumbllng and discomfort, which 10 en-
HANGED by the nagging Of his wiie's mother.
Jimsey Smith, superintendent for the
steamship company, silently adores the
wife. and keeps up a brave show Of friend
ship for the husband in hope of helping
him. Captain Williams. president of the
company, lie a hard man of business, who
has fought his way up from the for ecastle
Of a California c~oasting schooner, but he
knows men, and women, too. Brooks steals
TO piece out his salary, and is caught. He
1 RNCdAp AAAhA W 1uabNoAAho
to his wife that she go to the rooms of
Captain Williams alone at night, telling
that whatever happens will only be known
to the three. She goes, only TO find that
the captain Is not the ruffian he has gem
orally been thought, and returns to her
husband with q receipt in full for his
defalcation, but disillusionized The listener
to the tale is privileged to project 1t
through the divorce court to a happy mar
rage between Mrs. Brooks and Jimsey
smith If he so desires. That ultimate re-
suit is limited at with something like direct
emphasis.
1t is in the telling that the tale derives
Its Interest. 1t In human in most Of its
aspects; exaggerated, as tales general y
are, for the purpose of more clearly es-
tablishing the point intended. but withAl
drawn boldly and filled in deftly. 1t is
episode, rather than dramatic, yet its
episodes follow logically and with some
thing like continuity. Devoid OF psyche
logical depth, it's appeal comes from it's
human aspect. 1t shows how a weak and
unworthy mar hurries forward to his own
destruction, while a woman Of merit is
freed from his incumbrance, and each is
left to a destiny deserved
Whatever subtlety his literature may
LACK Mr.. Walter makes up in his stage
craft. AS with The Wolf" the first of his
plays to be seen here, the story is projected
against a carefully prepared background.
} The first act takes place in a little four.
! room Harlem fiat; the second In the tawdry
apartments of the Brookses in a more
pretentious family hotel; the third in the
quarters Of Captain williams, where the
walls are decorated with the wheel of the
first schooner he commanded, and lighted
by the sldelights, red and green. OF the
same vessel, and wherein the captain dis.
plays trophies picked up during his South
Pacific wanderings. Here he tells the tales
!, OF the women he has bought, and OF one
who died OF overlooking; the others ht
took more care Of, putting them on diet
Here also he receives Mrs. Brooks, come tc
plead for her husbands liberty, but firmly
standing for her own good name, and her,
he shows her that a man may be ever
all he has been said to be, and yet respec
a good woman. 1t was not a weakness OF
the part of the gruff old seaman, but merely
the tribute that men of strength have al
ways paid to pure womanhood. The las
act occurs I'm the Brooks rooms In tn,
hotel. Here the .culprit nervously PAGES
waiting the return of the woman he sen
out to pay his debt. She comes back an,
I hands him the paper that clears him; hi
selfish joy bursts forth, and then he de
mands to know the price she paid. under
e taking to stand on his rights as a hus
3 band. Here is where the woman realr
: asserts herself, and quietly and earnestly
t and with whitening force, she shows hin
how far he measures below the real stan
: dard of a man. This is really the strong
/ est scene of the whole play. The third &C
r Is conceived with melodramatic force, bu
y II lacks the intensity of the closing seen
of the fourth act. Then the play ring
true to dramatic conceptions. and for
few moments 1t is really great.
TIL company that is playing the piece &
the Boyd Is a thoroughly competent on,
Guy Bates Post, pleasantly remembered fC
his excellent comedy work in "The Heir {
the Hoorah,' has the part Of Joe Brook
and gives it without sparing any of I
petty meanness. It Is a careful study
a weak, selfish, contemplate cur. and
done perfectly, Mr.. Backus is presentir
q fine picture OF the quiet and unobstrusl,
but sterling Smith, and Mr.. Cooper rol
nj I and Rrauy1a ahpnf sba aRa.. 80. a. ~. 80