Omaha daily bee., 1909-01-27
At the Theaters

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''The servant In the House" st the !,
BOYD.
the House. 4 drama in five acts. bv |
Charles Ram Kennedy. The cast:
James Ponsonby Makeshyfte. ID. D., the
P nsnsas EsEsrend, ,s h.. ' Ssdrt bishop %i Wilson q
Rev. William smythe,
.'.,":...".. Mr.. wilfred Roger
.............. Miss Lizzie Hudson Collier
Mary. her niece .......M Miss Gwladys Wynne
MI Isoperd smith, a sentlsman OF nee, n
Rogers, a page boy MFR Henry Dornton
manson, a butler......Mr Creston Clarke
Mr.. Charles Ram Kennedy has not said
the last word on the topic. nor has he by
any means said much that has not been
dinged into our ears for ages. 1t is our
own fault that we haven't needed the les
son.. not the fault of the preachers. The
trouble is, we are stil a somewhat stiff
necked and stubborn generation, and fire.
quenty refuse to do what is obviously for
our own good. because II happens to be a
DIT unpleasant In the contemplation. But
that doesn't alter the wholesomeness of his
sermon, or relieve us In any way from the
desirability of Immediately applying It.
The Servant in the House, as has been
explained in detail, presents the proposition
that the world would be a nice place to live
II people would only live rightly. Unhap-
PLY, people won't. and so the clogging OF
the drains that has resulted produces an
untold deal of gas that is very unhealthy to
breathe. but we go on breathing it be-
cause as yet no drainman of sufficient
courage and address has appeared to tackle
the JOB OF clearing away the dreadful ac-
emulation Of muck that swelters in the
crypt and poisons the atmosphere above.
Mr.. Kennedy numerically pillories the
world-wise and exalts the simple, as is
proper enough in sermons, and affords not
a little genuine satisfaction to those of us
who are sufficiently pharasaical to apply
the lesson to our neighbors. His play is a
mixture of sllegory and exposition. and is
powerfully dramatic in it's direct simplicity.
It's one weakness lies in its forced element
OF mysticism; how much more potent Man
sons message would be If it were delivered
by a man. moving among men. rather than
by the strenuously i~nsistent presence OF
suggested Deity! What a pity Mr.. Ken
nedy could not have abandoned the merely
~theatric and preserved the anna unity
or his otherwise masterful preachment! 1t
may by the present means reach some
minds 1t would not otherwise have avak-
ened, but 1t lacks in virile force. none the
less. At a time when the church itself is
striving to relieve religion of its cloaking
OF mysticism and seeking to approach man.
KIND on a broad basis of reason, It seems
the dramatists might easily afford to make
their appeal more directly to the intellect
and less to the emotion.
As the gentleman of necessary occupa-
tion.' Clay Clement towers a commanding
figure over the action of the play. His
redemption is the net result Of applied
reason. and bis eloquence as he tells of his
task in the last act is such as makes one
forget that he is speaking of muck and
offal and charnel pits. and leaves only the
realization that he Is talking of the accom-
pllshment of a deed that is needed for the
good of mana heroic undertaking as noble
as ever led knight to battle or advocate to
court. Mr.. Clement has long been looked
upon in this neck of the woods as an actor
OF parts, and his friends are not disap-
pointed by his work as the drain man.
Mr.. Creston Clarke Is impressive as the
low-voiced, sweet-faced Manson. and fully
realizes the authors very manifest purpose
He has prepared his person so as to very
nearly resemble pictures of the Christ, and
his gestures are those .ascribed to the
Master by the men who have put on can.
vass their ideas OF hlSspersonality. In this
regard Mr.. Clarke's work is perfect. Blu
1t does not remove the regret that the
author chose this medium for the express
sion of his own great thought.
Mr.. George Wilson is presenting a mos
excellent conception of the worldly-mindet
bishop of Lancashire. who is following
2 Mammon more assiduously than one In hi.
: position is expected to. His picture of the
! dodderins old preiate, whose falling sigh
4 and hearing and passing strength onl,
accentuate the extraordinary activity of hi
keen intellect, end make even more gro
y tesque his greed for wealth, is one OF tn,
: finest things of the kind seen here sine,
he gave us the wonderful impressive pic
, ture of Louis XII in IF 1 Were King TIL,
hope is hereby expressed that Mr.. Wilson
r will be spared to afford us the pleasure o
his excellent art for many years to come
r Omaha friends OF Mr.. wilfred Roger. VIII,
r was leading man at the Burwood last sea
e son, will be pleased to know that he 4
showing his worth as an actor most effec
lively In the role of the vicar. 1t is on,
OF the most difficult parts in the play. call
Z ing for the widest range OF emotional ex
preston, and Mr.. Roger attacks ii intelli
. gently and acauits himself with grea
credit.
Miss Wynne is a charming girl, and ap
parently is only presenting her natural sell
A in the role she has. Comparisons ar,
seldom INDUCED in here, yet the impuls.
to contrast the meeting Of the Musi,
= Master and his daughter and that Of the
= Drain Man and his daughter cannot b.
= resisted. Warfield may have compelled
\ tears, but he did not arouse the deep and
I genuine feeling that was stirred by the
1 playing of Mr., Clement ard Miss Wynnt
I last night. This was so genuine and SC
I utterly devoid of the theatric that it com.
PEELED one of the most spontaneous and
enthusiastic recalls ever given in a theater
Lizzie Hudson Collier is all that coul1
be asked in the wife Of the vicar a woman
who idolizes her husband and strives in
every way for his advancement, forgetting
but one t%hing-that his soul requires at
%tention, too, and this may not be had
while slavish devotion TO convention OBJ.
tains.
And, finally, Mr.. Dornton makes a but
tons" eminently fitted for the service OF
, so well ordered a house as the home Of
Rev. william Smythe. d. D..
The Boyd theater was uau fntoa l.,