New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-08-27
THE DRAMA
LYCEUM THEATRE.
"Arsene Lupin. -

IF you wish 10 conceal anything" so runs the
TENOR Of the shrewd Dupin's advice in Poes 1.-The
Purloned Letter" leave il I'm plain sight At the
Lyceum Theatre last night Arsene Lupin took
more than a leaf from the American analysts
story, for he Haunted his intended crimes in the
faces Of the police. It is far cry from Dupin TO
Lupn. voicing the absurdities well the crafts
manship, the dc fitness the elaborate mise-en-scene
or the newer detective drama.
De Crosset and Leblanc, the authors OF "Ar-
sene Lupin," made the critics stare and raise the
eyebrow, for these playwrights fail to take the
audience into their confidence until the close
Of the third act. Always in plays of this kind it
has been high crime nd misdemeanor to keep
the audience in the dark. But the perspiring spec
tators last night were kept guessing and almost
forgot the heat in worrying the puzzle.
The means employed was amazingly simple. Each
Of the earlier acts marked the entry the
or minor thieves. coarse bunglers in crime, whose
crude work kept the playgoers of the track of
Lupne subtle Vaccinations. Then. in the third
act, came the big between the Duke of
Charmerace and Detective Guerchard This
worth waiting for. Each accused the other Of
being Lupin. The detectives astuteness was more
than matched by the dukes superior fnesse. In
the end. al the stroke OF midnight. the duke
ried off the 15o.0OO-franc tiara. leaving the de-
teetive and his police guards surrounding the
house completely outwitted. whipped and mys-
titled.
story hook ending. and one ridiculous II codly
analysed IL carried the act and probably the play.
TO success with the enthusiastic audience that had
applauded now the crafty astuteness of Sidney
Herbert. Guerchard. and again the smiling.
cynical humer OF William Courtenay as the duke.
Besides these two there no other characters
that stand out. Charles Harbury. as the much
robbed collector OF art treasures and Arthur
Elliot, the solemn examining magistrate af-
forded studies OF comic senile panic and comic
official dulness merely. That was all there was
in the parts and that the actors brought out
skilfully. Tho crowd of factotums. lackeys police
agents. thieves of the cruder sort and timid folk
lanee-some of them good and others weirdy n
real. through failure TO strike the right Partisan
note in a Yankee playhouse.
Doris Keane had an opportunity Sonia Kritch-
noe OF which she failed 20 take full advantage.
II part requiring temperament; which Miss
Keane lacked The pathos OF her subordinate posi-
ton and her crimes the love she bore the duke.
were hardly suggested. In the last act her work
greatly improved.
The final act and the device by which the duke
makes his escape show the French authors at their
best. Tricky throughout. the play is triekier here
than ever Almost the effect Of acrobatic panto-
mime produced by the swift interplay of the
characters and the surprising revolutions OF their
fortunes. Lupin is the duke. but who the duke
is II should be left the individual playgoer to
md out. Telling that would spoil the interest of
the play. % the revelation Of the criminal would
destroy the interest OF The Moonstone," sd-
vance synopsis Of the plot would kin Sherlock
Holmes" story.
the serious II carries the detective problem
10 the nth power OF irratonality beyond which IL
cannot 60. But Il Is tricky and clever. and will
amuse for a while provided the weak places OF
the English production % a drama CHARACTERISED
esly French be built up and improved