The Washington herald., 1909-02-02
LAST NIGHT AT THE
LOCAL PLAYHOUSES
THE BELASCo.
4ssalvation NeII.s

salvation AeiA7
On. tbs Boxsry. the Bowery;
They DO such things
And they say such things
On the B0WeJ-
III never 50 there znJ more.
That is the refrain that comes to mind
after seeing Mrs. Fiskes latest play
which was presented before a large au-
dience at the Belasco Theater last night.
1t IS called salvation Nell" and was
written by Edward Sheldon.
II is probably one Of the most depress-
ing and-one might almost say-u9neces-
sary plays that the present epoch. with
its striving after realism. has brought
forth AS il is. in all its hideOus naked
ness. il is well done, superbly so. the
stage properties, the environment the
raw and unashamed speech. tinctured
with oaths; the street fights. the acting.
not only OF the principals. but OF many
OF the subordinate plsyers--an these
make a grewsome and true picture that
impresses itself upon the memory But
the impression Il leaves IS horrible, And
one leaves the theater, with the tune OF
the Salvation Army ringing in his ears,
seeing Salvation Nell hoping TO convert
her convict lover. with a sense Of deg
radiation, and with q feeling OF infinite
pity that q player SO finely equipped
for splendid and glorious work as Mrs
Fiske is. should distOrt her art 10 such
a purpose.
1t matters little about the story Of this
play. It concerns simply a poor girl, a
creature Of the siums. who has brutal.
loafing lover. who lives on the money
she earns By scrubbing barToOm floors
and who is sent 10 prison for drunken
assault on another loafer who makes love
TO Nell. In the second act. eight years
sfterward. Nell has. been converted and
Is a captain in the army, when he
lover comes out OF prison and wants her
to resume relations with him; wants her
10 go away with him on the proceeds OF
a contemplated burglary. When she re-
fuses he knocks her down and leaves
her II the last act in front OF the
army headquarters in Cherry street.
Nell breaches TO a mob OF the street, the
eX-cOnvict hears her, drops some money
in her tsmbourine, and. presumably, Is
converted. On that note the curtain
falls
The play has no moral. It has no pos
sible excuse for existing save as a
realistic picture of the worst phase Of
life IN the sluns. The first act shows
barroom and IL is fairly accurate
picture OF a BOwery saloon. with its
chucker-out, its free-lunch counter, its
room Eor ladies" and. OF course, there
is the introduction OF one of these
ladies" who takes refuge in the place
when the house IN which she has been
living IS raided by the police.The realism
OF the play all through IS Ike that
nothing extenuated." and the result Of
the portrayal IS that one feels as II he
needed a bath after the play
Il has not been so long ago but most
OF Us can recall the publication In this
country OF the novels Of Emile Zola-
Mana 'TAssommoir. and the rest; and
we can remember. toe, how they were
tabooed IN polite society because Of their
realistic pictures Of phases Of life that
ordinary healthy-minded people deem
best TO ignore. But-nous avon change
tout cela-and the modern tendency to-
ward realism in literature and the stage
seems 10 be TO out-ZoIa Zola AT his worst
II pictures such as this. pictures OF the
most horrible phases OF life in the under
world. are 10 be greeted with applause and
appreciation by the popular taste simply
because they are true 10 detail (and Il
must not be forgotten that the truer they
are to detail the mere nauseating they
are), then one can only deplore the
vitiated state OF the public taste, the
change in the public conscience; one can
only deprecate and condemn that prurient
curiosity which demands 10 be satisfied
az whatever cost 10 morality.
Having said this. il would seem to be
unnecessary 20 say much about the act
!ng-that Is as realistic as the rest. Mrs.
FisKe Is so great an artist that she in
vests even such q part as this Of Saliva
ton Nell with life. but she is less convinc-
ing IN II than We have ever seen her 70
any part She has two or three chances
OF really moving her audience. one when
she is reading one Of the most beautiful
passages from the Bible TO her little boy.
and she did not read il well: another.
when she falls OF her knees and prays
that her lover may be kept from crime,
ard q third. when she breaches 70 the
mob. In both Of these latter opportUni-
ties her voice was hard, unsympathetic,
ard unyielding-the- note Of Fathos that
alone might have 5ustiged such scenes
was missing
Mr.. HoIlr. OK BIinn. remarkably cIev-
er actor, played strikingiy well the
beastly part OF Jim Platt. the lover: ne
PLAYED il 50 we'll indeed. that II was
hideOus in its revelation OF the depths of
degradation to which a man may sink.
Miss Hope Latham also struck a true
realistic note as Myrtle OdeIl. g demi-
mOndaine. playing it so well as to make
one shudder at the pity OF IL
The company throughout is a fine one:
perfectly competent in every phase. But
this only adds to the pity one feels that
so much fire effort and talent and tire
should be wasted on such an endeavor.
HECTOR FULLER.