The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-06-20
John Drew at the Harnois.

| John Drew and Jack Straw will
| be the double attraction at the Har-
nois theater Wednesday, July I. M,
| Drew Is always Il favorite, no matter
what his play MAY be, and in this
case he is said to have one of the
best comedies that has been produced
| on the American stage in a very long
time. Its author, w. Somerset Maug-
ham, had Jack Straw" and three
other pieces all running at once in
| London last season and thev were all
successes, too. Jack Straw was the
| first of the quartet to be done in this
country. Mr.. Drew produced it at the
Empire theater in New York last au-
tnmn and it ran there four months.
| That ought to be sufficient guaranty
of its merit, for they don't keep plays
| on New York stages that long if they
| don't draw money into the box office.
| A second of Mr.. Maugham's plays is
| Lady Frederick in which Miss
| Ethel Barrymore is playing. Both Of
| these pieces, it is said, prove that Mr..
| Vaughan is a playwright of unusual
| talent. His characters are clearly
| drawn, his situations are dramatic
| and his dialogue is witty ana natural.
| He is a keen satirist of human weak
| nesses, too, but he is always kindly
and while he points.put faults he does
| it SO goodnaturedly that the sting OF
| the rebuke is gone.
| Mrs. Fiske, Americas foremost ac-
| tress, and her famous Manhattan
company will present "Salvation
| Nell.' the realistic play of under
| world life which enthralled New York
| for more than half a season, at the
| New Harnois thcater. Thursday. July
| %, With unsparng truth. and an as
| surance born of actual experience, the
author, Edwin Sheldon, has written Il
t. play of slum life in the metropolis,
| whose truth and message strike home
| to every heart Not in many seasons
| has the metropolis been so stirred as
by this realistic presentation of life
as it exists in the crowded centers of
every large city. "Salvation Nell"
has fifty been called a "Divine Com
edv of the Slums."
The part of Nell Sanders, scrub
girl in II vice-surrounded saloon, af-
fords Mrs. Fiskc some of the finest
acting opportunities in her career, and
her Nell has taken rank alongside her
Tess. Becky Sharp and other notable
creations. Although widely different
from any part Mrs. Fiske has had be-
fore, her present role is one of the
most appealing and absorbing in
which she has yet been seen.
Into the narrow life of Nell comes
the redccming force of a great love,
her better nature is awakened. and i'll
the progress of tho drama she rises
from the depths of degradation to the
heights of spiritual achievement. Yet
there is no attempt at any psychol-
osical lesson, other than that from
the owlest and most unlikely
sources in life, truth and beauty can
spring.
Harrison Grey lHiskc has given Sal
walton Nell 4 scenic investment of
stnpendous magnitude. The wonder
full street scene With its accumula-
lions of bedding, hurdy- gurdies, fruit
stands, child-life, gossip, pawn SHOPS,
saloon, laughter, rallery, and quar-
rels, is the last word in modern stage
management. No less noteworthy IS
the barroom setting of the first act,
where the lcnizens of the underworld
gather to pass Christmas eve after
their own brutal fashion.
Although salvation Nell' is realis-
tic to a degree, the lights and
shadows of Stun life have been so
deftly compounded that it is distinct
~ a drama of OPTIMISM Elnpha-
sis has been laid quite as much upon
the lighter and more joyful side of
Fast Side life in New York as upon
the darker, and although no detail
that would add truth to the picture
has been omitted, care has been taken
that no offense should be given the
most easily shocked sensibilities.
The Manhattan company has been
enlarged for the present tour to more
than 80 members. and never has it
ben better than in this clossal drama
of Stun life The part of Jim Platt
is played by Holbrook Rlinn. and oth-
ers III the Ion. cast are Mary Madi-
son, Hope Latham. Merle Madden
and Mary Madtlern: Henry Wenmen,
w. L. Clarke, Fugene Reed, Thomas
Carroll John Dillon. Frank Foley.
Grace Shaney, Petra Folkman and
Corinne Ford.