Omaha daily bee., 1909-11-14

VbyS9K DANES Of the stage who barb
S and bite furniture could Learn
from the acting Of the leading woman in
The Third Degree" company, but many
others.
When the curtain dropped at the end OF
the fourth act at the Boyd last night there
concluded what has been to date The most
successful engagement Of the season here.
Not the best play we have seen nor shall
see, because Mr.. Kleln's drama. while a
popular success, has several faults. but
because the play was good enough despite
this to furnish a good opportunity for
Miss Ware aud her fellow players.
Where Mr.. Klein was strong there she
shone and where he was weak she came
TO the rescue, This was notable I'm the
fourth act. which when writing Mr.. Klein
must have had brain flag. so far does IT
drop below the level Of the second and
third acts, and particularly the second.
which is far and away the best constructed
and best written Of the play. The weak
ness Of the fourth act was felt by many
sven those not at all versed in the technic
OF play building.
Miss Ware Is said 10 be at her best in
depicting the elemental moods OF an ele-
mental woman and in such a character
she, Of course, appeared In '"The Third
Degree" Satisfactory, at least, she would
be In a part OF far different kind. because
her success is due, In the first place. not
TO temperament. personal charm or any
thing, but a knowledge of the methods
Of acting. Those other. qualities she is
not without, but her chief reliance is on a
surer basis.
There has recently been shown on the
stage, though not as yet locally, how sig
nslly mere personal attractiveness fails
when the player thus only endowed is
called upon to act. A matinee hero. manly
Of presence and handsome OF face and fig
ure, has been called upon to play some
thing else than himself and the resul. Is
doleful In the extreme. 1t is worth noting
In this connection that Faversham. who
has been fighting hard to make an impress
sion as something else than the idol Of
the caramel contingent, has at length sue
ceeded, his acting in "Herod" having
within a few days received the praise of
the best critics. His effort to get away
from romantic drama or romantic drivel,
as you prefer, has been q great success.
.
The acting OF another character In The
Third Degree" furnished an amusing dis
NpfNAS NO ~ uOW tar many IleAtefkOerS
can so In discriminating between the actor
aud the part. Countless jokes about the
kissing Of the heavy villain have led nearly
every half-intelligent spectator to realize
here that a bad, bad man may be quite
we'll played. and the player is sometimes
at least accorded his due.
But this is as far as it goes. Malcolm
Duncan played the part Of Howard JET
fries, jr., a weak, vacillating youth, weak
to the point of despisal, II one may coin
the word. Mr.. Duncan was easily the
second best player in the company, but a
considerable number voted him poor.
These do not like the character; that is
all.
The same people rather thought that the
player OF Richard Brewster, the lawyer,
was as good as they deemed Duncan poor.
Their judgment, il the mental process may
be so dlgnlfied, was qui;e as erroneous
In this case, although inversely directed.
The part OF the attorney was the easiest
to enact Of any In the play save that of
the quite impossible father, and. while
James seeley did we'll with it, more might
have been attained.
The play served to confirm previous opin-
ions about the limitations of its author.
MIR. klein's chief strength lies In building
up some good situations ana mis- dialogue
Is meritorious. He Is not strikingIy
original even on a commonplace theme and
when he tackles a really tough subject.
as In The Daughters OF Men," he fails
utterly But he can please the majority
and his Third Degree" is likely to last
nearly as long as THE Music Master or
The Lion and the Mousse"
AZ EEEnegtE abundance al ~ hA fEaa
tiers the last week, It was a satisfactory
one for most houses. The Klein play did
quite we'll and also The Man From Home
at the Burwood, although on a second
visit. Three Weeks did not have many.
but a good many more than deserved.
Whether acting or play was worse is hard
10 decide. The ofpheum did as usual. and
that is to say IL sold out practically all
tho time and the Krug did well with The
Cowboy Girl"
NJ WmHUU I NON mum -urv,u