Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-11-22
OBSERVATIONS BY
A FIRST NIGHTER

yTH HE vagaries of theatergoers are
weird and wonderful. Paid in
= a FulT' is picked as a winner in
New York. Critical reviews by Chan
ming Pollock, William Winter and
scores of lesser play dopesters speak of
it as one of the best if not the best
play of the season. 1t is played to
crowded houses throughout the east;
Lillian Albertson, formerly Of Los An
geles, created the part of the Mrs
Brooks; John Blackwood Is known to
have offered $4,000 for it before its
production, and TO have narrowly
missed getting it; it is extensively ad-
vertised, and then staged in Los An
geles with a good cast, and meets-a
frost. At every performance there
were wide, desolate areas Of empty
seats, and the strong climaxes OF the
play resulted only in trapped silences.
The fault certainly does not lie with
Eugene Walter. Seldom has a play
carpenter put together a better con-
structed drama. No matter how fas-
tidious you may be in the matter Of
dramatic technic. it is difficult to find
a flaw in the piece. Every climax is
the logical. inevitable outcome of the
preceding neXus Of events; the tempo
of the piece is perfectly in accord with
the laws Of cumulative effect; the char
acters are human, there Is q strong
vraisemblanee through il all, and there
is a sufficiently engrossing sociological
problem. It would require senior
Wrangler to figure out why the play
is not appreciated by Los Angeles.
There are several possible explana-
TONS one is that in the acting of the
piece, the adaptation for the sage
brush circuit was not all that it should
have been, admitting that any such
an adaptation was necessary. William
NJ Gibson seemed determined to show
The audience that Brooks really was a
very detestable sort of a person, and
was not under any consideration to
receive any sympathy. This over en-
phasis of the altogether despicable
qualities Of the man was unnecessary
and had the effect of accentuating the
sordfl and depressing note of the play,
for which the heroic qualities Of
stJimsy'' were not q sufficient relief.
Again Los Angeles is not intensely
Interested in problems It has no con-
gested apartment house district, and
it has no shaving thousands seeking
some way to better their condition; it
has no Cooper union, few Hull house
ieealists and parlor socialists, and it
Just can't get wrought up over socio-
logical problems. Los Angeles is more
Iowa, and in city Of this kind there
is not enough of the unstable, volatile,
sulphitic element TO be constantly on
the alert for some new paradox of
life, some blind alley Of thought lead
ing them to pleasurable absorption in
insoIubIe problems.
In this connection Los Angeles
doubtless showed excellent Judgment in
not enthusing over the problems of
.sPafd in Full" The sentiments ex-
pressed, and such philosophy as there
is in the play, are sophomore and COM
lnonplace.
This week should be an eventful one
in the history of the local theatrical
season. The Majestic theater opens
with 1.-THE Land of Nod" Ferris Hart
man begins an extended season of
grand opera with "The Idols Eye. "
Louis James appears in Peer Gynt,"
and Florence Stone is billed for Oscar
Wildes inimitable play, "A Woman of
NO Importance" Each of these at
fractions will draw its share of the first
nighters, and doubtless hundreds OF
others brought out by the unusual ex-
cellence of the offerings.
Certainly a wide diversity of tastes
win be appealed to. The coming Of
ssPeer Csynt" already has aroused the
usual controversial war as to whether
Ibsen's plays are symbolical or alle-
eorical, and whether the ethical motive
overbalances the dramatic, and whether
they really are artistic and whether
The poem-drama of peer Gynt" is suit
able for staging. 1.-THE Land of Nod
viii appeal to the less controversial,
but possibly none the less artistic ele-
ment. The play is one of the most
delightful extravaganza since Peter
Pan"
The opening of the Majestic is event
FIJI. ArtisticaIly the theater is one Of
fhe finest in the country, and its
acoustic properties are as good as