The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-01-26
"The testers"

an explanation of the expulsion of his
wife and himself. The blind, cowardly,
drunken Wycherly covers in his great
chair. Then, when the woman's hus-
band turns his back, the blackguard
feeling an advantage he cannot see,
springs on him. But he is thrown off,
and dragged trembling and mumbling
to his bed. The jealous husband re-
tires and Irene resignedly reiterates
her intention of devoting herself to the
despised and repulsive Wycherly. again
rejecting the sympathy and protection
of the honest man she loves. During
this colloquy. the husband sneaks from
his room to Wycherly's. Two shots ring
out. The blind libertine's father APP
pears, and means that the guest has
killed Wycherly and then himself.
Isn't it funny" the hysterical Irene
laughs irrationally: Phillip sat in this
chair-they both sat in this chair; and
now they're dead?"
This melodrama of Irene Wycherly"
by Anthony P. Wharton, an English
college professor, is as much of con-
trast to the French comedy of 1.-THE
testers" as Viola Aliens strong-voieed
deciamatory power is to Maude Adams
subtle, insidious gentleness.
Authors scratch the hair of their
heads to fetch out from their brains
attractive titles for their plays. There
was a long while during which single
words were used almost altogether,
with short ones preferred. Longer til
ties ensued, with alluring phrases, the
ever promising noun girl being en-
ployed frequently along with adjec-
tives and adverbs. Well-nigh complete
sentences are now lettered big on the
billboards to catch the public eye with
vague promises of singularity. This
week we i'm New York have offered to
US Twenty Days in the Shade" and
Society and the Bulldog" Taking
consequences rather than expectations
into account, the first of these captions
stands for success and the second for
failure Let me write agreeably to be-
gin with about Twenty Days in the
Shade" which means in Partisan slang
twenty days in prison. Charles Froh-
man used to keep a company of come
dams going with TRANSACTIONS of
French farces on the theme of hus-
bands astray; but the subject, ever big
in Partisan fiction, petered to the van
ishing point with New Workers, and
finally passed from sight on our stage.
However, Paul Potter seems to have
kept his eyes on the undated flow of
fun in French wedlock farces until he
saw one especially adaptable to the
American sense of humor
So it comes to pass that. years after
the American death and burial of
French farce, the corpse is Vivified to
vivacious life, and a New York initial
audience goes laughing mad over the
Partisan husband of whom hundreds
have farcically got into, and usually
got out of, scrapes with other women
than their wives. In this newest af-
| fair, Potter belittles the sin. and en-
| larges the consequences. A fond hus-
band has taken his doting wife's chum
| to a variety theatres obscure box on
| the sly, quarreled with a party whose
women wouldn't take off-their obscur-
! ing hats. and whipped a policeman
who sought to quiet the row. For that
he is sentenced to twenty days in
| JAIL by name, but not in person, for
he hires a beggarly dereliet from his
college days to endure the imprison-
bment in his stead. This substitute de-
IvelOps into a blackmailer, a fellow
/ prisoner turns up as an unweleome
visitor, the committing magistrate be-
| comes a family acquaintance, an ar
dent mother-in-law and a betrothed
sister complicate matters further, and
the succession of incidents is so new
and swift that French farce gets a
vigorous renewal in New York.
The first-night hilarity over Twenty
| DAYS in the Shade" was almost par
oxysmal. Original ingenuity by the
authors and expertness by the adaptel
were prime factors; but of equal POI
tency was the choice Of the players
and the control of theme. If ever you
write a farce and get it onto the stage
/ insist that its actors shall not appear
to know they are meant to be laugh
able Have them rehearsed to seen
totally unaware that they are anus
ing. Leave 1T to the audience TO do tho
| laughing, and don't have any of il
| done on the stage. The dozen persons
in the cast of this piece represent g
costly selection of suitable talent, the
utmost value of which is developed by