Omaha daily bee., 1909-01-17

are to have a chance to see and
thoroughly digest Charles Ram
DKYU%fN1 Kennedy's play, The Servant
Bt IN the House" 1t is one OF the
$500 most remarkable bits OF dra-
matte construction ever yet undertaken. 1t
has been called daring because its leading
character suggests to some ultra-imagina-
tive persons the reincarnation Of Christ.
1t Is doubtful IL Mr.. Kennedy ever intended
that the character Of the bishop OF Benares
should give this impression. But the teach
ings Of the bishop are those that no fol-
lower of the Nazarene need blush for or
9hide another for thinking that IT is the
reincarnated Christ that is represented. 1t
Is the broadest and kindliest of humanity
that is taught, the doctrine Of love for ones
fellows, and Of the doing Of good for evil
and Of keeping ones self clean. 1t teaches
us that the world would be a beautiful
place to live in If only men and women
would do what they reasonably ought to
do. The obliteration of self Is the message
and the contrast Is between the two
bishops, one a wordly-minded c%hurchman,
whose thought is more in the stock mar
ket than the prayer book, and the other
who has discarded ~ritualism and the false
divisions of caste, and found in mankind
his brothers. and in doing good for all his
work and his joy. And the method is Just
as simple. 1t consists solely of trying to
help others. It's so easy and calls for 80
little effort and SO little sacrifice that peo-
pie won't try It.
In his story, "In tho Days OF the Comet
Mr.. Wells showed what a hideous place
for life the world was before the gases of
the comet permeated the atmosphere and
rharuad tho rott,ro 90 v,onlya,l Aet..
that temporary asphyxiation the element
of self had passed from mans nature. and
the dream of the poet was realized. when
IAN mems good is each mans aim and
the new life was beautiful. Mr.. Kennedy
doesn't so so far as this in his play, but
he does show the necessity of clearing away
the accumulated foulness that stagnates
underneath the social superstructure of the
present-the pent-up filth of the charnel
house. whose awful fumes arise to stifle
us and poison us in cur daily lives. We
can not worship truly nor be healthy in
mind or body so long as we breathe that
polluted atmosphere. And the bishop of
Benares. with sweetly human precepts
points the duty, while the drain layer,
with his rugged practical application of the
thought. shows how it is to be accom-
plished. 1t needs no glamour of religious
ihS " hdht lhlo dlltbOi9 lllIlNESlNts
1t is as clear as crystal. as luminous as
light itself, and its result would be the
immediate establishment Of the millennium;
but, never mind. 1t is not at all likely
that either the bishop Of Benares or the
drain layer will find any great throng OF
people flocking after them. Human nature
changes very slowly.
BY far the most daring thing Mr.. Kennedy
has done is his arrangement of the drama
into acts. 1t has four, but each is merely
the continuation of the one that preceded
1t. The curtain rises on the second act
and discloscs the characters just as they
were when it went down on the first, and
so with the third and fourth. while the
climax of the drama is reached just as
the curtain falls on the final scene. This
innovation may seem a little confusing,
but 1t is quite logical, and has proved
wonderfully effective. 1t preserves the
continuity of the story, and relieves the
allegory of any absurdity that might
attach were 1t offered with any melo-
dramatic adjuncts. The appeal is so direct
and so potent that it might almost be
made without the simple scenic accessories
that are used. But moro of this at another
time. 1t is referred to here that those
who are not familiar with the drama may
have even a vague outline of what may
be expected.
Tess Of the D'Urbervilles" is not a
pretty drama to witness. Thomas Hardy
deliberately put the kindly aspirations OF
his readers on the rack when he wrote
the novel. and then turned the screws up
to the last tension. 1t is all one can
stand. And the drama made from the
book has been remarkably successful in
preserving this element. It is deals with
the short and simple annals of the poor"
but without any OF the romantic coloring
that so often gives to the simple life''
those tints that lure folks who know of
1t only by hearsay. 1t is grim and sordid
poverty that Hardy depicts, and the fetch
worship OF caste. Even the comedy of the
drama is bitter and v~lnegary in taste; poor
old Sir John DUrberville, transformed from
shiftless John DerbyfieId into a still more
~shiftl9ss and altogether worthless baronet
by reason of the antiquarian meddling of
Parson ~Twickham. is one Of the most
pathetic figures in the drama. and his
undoing would furnish tragedy enough,
were it not that the fate of his daughter
overshadows It. Tess Derbyfield might
have gone soberly along her way of life;
been a dairymaid or otherwise have assisted
on some farm; married a yokel, bred a
family OF brats and died in obscurity, but
without having tasted of the aspirations
of an awakened soul nor having felt the
pain of shame and the despair Of absolute
hopelessness. But Parson Twickham came
along and amused himself by showing old
John that he was really Sir John, and
furnishing him with an unquestioned title
and no way of supporting it. This sent
Tess away into service in the family OF
the upstart D'Urbervilles, and began for
her that drive of fate that pressed her on
and on. till she went to her death. shamed
and beaten, upborne through by the knowl-
edge that the man she really did love
loved her. too. and that she had taken the
life OF the man who had ruined hers.
This touch makes the tragedy complete.
Just when life did open for her the way to
happiness, she had cut off her chance
irrevocably by a desperate act that seemed
righteous enough TO her. but which was the
last bar that bound her TO her doom. The
progress OF the play in its entire course
is depressing; II can not in the nature OF
things be inspiring to see a girl hurried
along by events she can not control to