Los Angeles herald., 1909-06-07

Observation-Disclosures. Blanche Hall
Miss Kittredge, working for the, the hos @.,,,.,
Martha, negro house servant ....,.
.............,...... Carol Marshall
Captain ThOrne, artillery. William Desmond
Mr. Benton .Arrelsford, war department
! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. A. Byron Beasley
Wilfred varney, the generals youngest
| son ,.............. Harry Mestayer
| Henry DumOnt u. S. secret service.
| --.... Frederick Gilbert
Major General Randolph, commanding
| at Richmond .......... William Herance
Jonas. old servant .Jonn W. burtoh
| Sergeant of the guard Wayand Tra;k
Orderly .................... III. ;. Dufleld
| Eddinger ............'. -. oihuue io"e
onerator ....... willis Marks
Lieut.. Allison, Confederate telegraph
operator ............ Hale studebaker
Messengers of the Confederate war depart
ment-Werner Corbin, Norman Heap VIII
1 liam Garland and Elmer McInturh'
With an enlarged cast playing mar
moniously and with wonderful accuracy
for an openine matinee, the Burbank
stock company presented William Gil
lette's dynamic drama of the Civil war
yesterday afternoon A play Wen
| known in it's puzzling suspense TO nlne-
tenths of the audience, this theatflclzeu
detective story nevertheless won the
most ardent demonstration or approVal
| which the Burbank has experienced IN
several weeks The applause which
greeted the patriotic medley after Act
was not all for the orchestra. The
mood which readily yielded it had been
induced by the stirring scenes just en-
acted beyond the footlights.
Especially in those lightning Gillette
climaXes, which emerge apparently
i from nowhere, did the Burbank COM
pany acquit themselves discerningly.
/ In that rather talky first act, with what
Il a vivid and cleancut precision was the
scene enacted which like flash OF
menace reveals a hint of the conflict
to come. How deftly and yet surely
did ones suspicion slowly point to the
spy, even as ones admiration was won
for him, quite Independently of the uni
1 form he dared not wear or the abstract
| ethical merits of the extraordinary
| struggle which is the cruX of the ac-
/ tion. Down in Dixie one may find many
partisan still to argue obviously over
the all conquering love of Edith Varney,
and a fair share of southern misses
would go to Thorne, rather than Arrels-
ford, which in itself is tribute to the
cool. careless craft with which Gillette
; masks his stage wizardry.
In the background the sullen horror
of war. Beneath our eyes a deadlier,
more suppressed terror enveloping the
lives of a scant few. The quiet flow of
simple chat and then, like the crack of
a rife, the entire situation is caught
up into the fame of tragic strife. 1t
was this accent on the great and cru
cial moments of the play which the
half dozen principal members of the
cast placed so simply and unerringly.
Readily recalling the Gillette person.
ality in figure and facial expression, Mr..
William Desmond seemed its alter ego
| a a GIin which
negligently lights his cigar as he seats
himself at the telegraph key In all
but that one scene and he has initiated
dscreetly here his method is his own
Especially effective was the element Of
mystery which he threw about the per-
sonality of Thorne from the outset. In
the scene in the telegraph office one
caught the keen sense of impending
1 catastrophe, in the catlike agility of his
search of the room, in the nervous
! tapping of the keys, more than all in
| the subtle glance of 49, ewes, at once
candid and covertly calculating AS
the unmasked culprit, Mr.. Desmond
/ blended defiance, despair and a BROOD
/ ing regret, in a fine perception of the
/ situations emotional possibilities. At
the unanticipated climax he might
| have shown trifle more surprise-even
i pleasure-without slencing the neces-
sary heroic note.
| Miss Taylor was roguish and viva
| cious in the earlier scenes, but obvi-
| ously lacks the emotional temperament
for the more eXacting climaXes. She
posed very prettily in several of the
| situations in which one vainly scanned
! her face for trace of obvious feeling.
The southern girl is self-contained, but
less nationally unfeeling than Miss Tay-
lor's portrayal would Indicate
Blanche Hall was capital as the girl
iCI, aT.f Of UaY 20 sf-
soldier-loVer Both the latter came dam
gerously near snatching the laurels
| from the real principals. Mr.. Mestayer
gave an elaborate and finished south
ern, volunteer, which might have stepped
| from the frame of many a military
masterpiece in pen or color. Louise
| Royce was little stiff in her motherly
role until the crescendo of the plays
development touched her into life Car
rol Marshall deserves credit for not
OVERRIDING the NANNY" part, a tempta-
tion which few resist. Mr. Burton, in
a similar role, was fairly convincing
| darky and put rare quality of effec-
| tiveness into the scene of the purloined
cartridges.
l have left Mr.. Beasley's Arrelsford
until the last because in many respects
| 1t was the best thing in the play At
it's best an ungracious role, in his hands
it took on almost the aspect of per-
| sstent and pursuing Justice. Applause
drowned the Kisses as he was led a cap
| tive from the presence of the victori-
Gus spy. There is delicate irony and
something more, in a bona fide villain,
however repelling as rival lover, de-
| liberately doing his duty in the face of
every artfully contrived rebuff and
taunt of fate. The something more,
which comes strangely near heroism
in the drab garb of official vindictive-
ness, Mr.. Beasley gave the part In
| the difficult scene of the arrest he kept
his head. At the end he almost cap
tured our hearts. which is a very rep
rehensible thing for Gillette villain
| to do.
The big crowd which crammed the
Majestic last night must have looked
like anything but Lonesome Town to
Kolb and Dill, who have staged their
New York success here with a careful
eye to detail With Sidney de Grey,
| the longitudinally varying Germans
convulsed the audience as three tramps
whose adventures in the town of Watts.
Cal, constitute the plot thread of the
show The clever facial comedy of Dill
made abundant merriment last night,
| and the best single thing i'm theeentire