The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-03-14
SHERIDAN COMEDY
TICkLES THE B0WERY

New York. March 12.-DTama has
dignif1ed itself here some with a Shakes
peare tragedy in Broadway and Sher-
idan comedy in the Bowery- In both
places the audiences unfamiiiaTity with
the matter presented is amusingly obvi-
ous. Who can expect other than per-
sons with retentive memories OF early
reading 10 know more about king
iJohu'' than that Shakespeare wrote
The great tragedians used il sell
dom. il has yielded nothing to the sup
ply of familiar quotations, and up to
last Monday it hadn't been acted III this
city since thirty-fve years ago
The New Amsterdam calls itself the
theatre beautiful and il was occupied
by modish people Of tolerable culture;
vet the intensely melOdramatic incident
of burning a boys eyes out with red
hot northumberland most OF
them TO show, by their absorbed be-
haviOT. that they had forgotten, If ever
: they had known, that such horror was
IL any Shakespeare play. Many long
passages are omitted to keep king
John" down to a long evenings limits,
but this one is given completely and
deliberately. The historical story of the
British kings political inter edlOcking
threats of pontifical curses, bewilder the
women especially; but they have a keen
regard for the kings little nephew. Ar
thur, heir pTesumptive to the throne,
and a pitifully helpless pawn in the
ROYAL chess game. There has been a
scene of anguish by the lads mother
on his being taken from her, and so
the Shakespeare tragedy has had tears
wiped off It with many dainty handker-
chiefs.
Duke Arthur. as embodied by Leila
Frost. a child of sweet voice and grace
full motion. is another Little Lord
Famtleroy for curly hair and manly
spirit: and So when. IN the seventh of
the plays ten scenes, he is q doomed
prisoner in a gloomy castle. signs of
sympathy murmur through the audito-
rum. Doomed to what? Why. TO have
his eyes burned out. Shakespeare was
something of a sensational melodTamat-
list his own self. The pretty little fell
low has been courageous, but now ter
ror overcomes him. and he pleads pite-
ously to be spared the awful torture.
Hubert de Burgh. his custodian, is fond
of him. but is sworn to obedience. and
ne grufflv commands silence. There
upon, Arthur asks to have his tongue
cut out. which would keep him mum
horribly, but he thinks that would be d
mercy in lieu of destroying his vision
in agonies. Hubert is bound to do
mis- dreadful duty. He calls in two
brawny executioners. They bring "A
kind of blacksmith's forge, thrust two
iron rods ends into its bed of live Goals
and work bellows to intensity the fire.
Arthur strives to be brave. but think
of having your eyes burned out? He
can't without cries for mercy, and the
women can't hear him without scbs OF
pity. The two ruffians tie him I'm a
chair and hold him fast with the ropes
DDS. Hubert takes the suffering rods
oftrOn from the fire, one in each hand.
approaches the wailing boy and is
about to thrust the superheated ends
into his eyes. That in Shakespeare
Why, TO be sure. OF course, Hubert's
humanity prevails over his sense of
duty, and he tries to let Arthur escape.
x X X
Nothing in present-day farce has
made people laugh harder. so far as /
have seen, than 1900 of our populaee
did at the screen act in The School for
Scandal" The arTi-ral of Lady Teazle
in Joseph Surfaces apartment, and his
seductive arguments to overcome her
scruples, conveyed neither satire nor
sarcasm across the footlights, but was
relished as jolly joking; the intrusion
~ Sir Peter. the wife's retreat behind
as screen and the husbands pathetic
talk to the roue about leaving all his
estate to his misbehaving wife, were
laughted at without a pause; and the
breaking in of Charles Surface, with
his near to exposure Of the hidden wife,
sent the merriment up to a convulsive
pitch. Yes, here was a houseful of ten
to-fffty-ceTt matinee people taking a
Sheridan comedy as good, big moneys