The Washington herald., 1910-01-25
THE COLUMBIA.
ebert HiIlinrd in "a Fool There
Was.o

Was.'
A Fool There Was" with Robert
lard as the fool. came TO the Co
.nbia Theater last night, and from the
oment in the second scene OF Act l,
hen the fool meets his lady fair" the
81 rye and attentive audience knew that
i thrills were destined to creep up and
each individual spine before the
was over.
persons are mainly responsible for
thrills, which arrived per schedule
5ere real enOugh-and to spare. In
''the vampire" as a theme, Porter
On Browne found two of his char
ready-made and to hand. He had
construct them, for a Master had
breathed into them Immortality.
characters OF the play are simply
lted as the husband, the wife. the
the friend, the woman. the sister.
, on. only those named being i'm
Z. and OF these only the man and
oman enact the story, the others
ing the setting and the back
an. alias the Fool. has a wife and
and he has, besides, honor, posi-
/ friends. Sent abroad on a mis-
state, he encounters the woman
ship. To make 1t perfectly clear,
so many words, what sort of a
she is, a desperate youth blows
brains at her very feet. and she
on with a laugh; and before the
Of his blood are dry upon the
T. she lounges in her steamer chair and
on the man who IS 20 be her victim,
lot even number two. but fourth or
as he knows not. and at first cares
when he is stripped to his fool
ie," and everything that makes life
/ the living has been swept away,
life. the vampire reminds Tim that
TOO has given up much for him
s, herself-cOolly matching her own
red body against the sacrifices he
de for her But that, we are told.
7ay of vampires. Happily we 90
fell into their clutches,
Idience last night did not gather
tatiOn that the author or the
uld mince words. They had not
4 a Sunday-schooI lesson, and
e not disappointed. There is no
to hide the fact that a spade is
nor. in the process OF laying
human passions and Weaknesses.
ny less strong language seem ade-
treat scene comes in the second
IN the fool and his lady fair are
face He is wavering. and hopes
TO his wife and child.
oman-And you're soUy, I supposs-broken-
Ian-Yes. BY God. l am.
Foman-That's the man Of il, Every man
wo women-one 20 love. the other 20 respect;
earess, the other 10 honor; one 10 please
IT, the other 10 please his friends. And you're
u Iterent from the rest that have known
Mantle rest that you have known,
Noman-The rest that / have known.
Man-Ycung Pamaleei
THE woman laughsl
And Rodgers
tins woman laughs)
And Seward Vandam--
The woman laughs)
And God knows how many more
-oman-And did you ever think there are
loves?
Man-God. I've thought, I've thought.
Woman-One love IS hke-the white rose.
pale. wlstful. weak, a hfeless thing that lies
against the hand that holds it. that Beares
81 eye and chiIs the soul The other love IS
the scarlet rose-rich, rare. glowing glorious
= thrills the heart with the Joy Of living and
lens the blood in the veins until the very
Il cries ont in a frenzy u It's fragrance. A rich
q ating. throbbng love Of body aud soul. Of
81 and head that PUSHES upon one like a storm
Il ca. dashing one hither and thither, important
= tossing. tearing grip. That is orr love- the
Owe! And it is sweet. is it not my fool.
JUS the vampire charms him. She
mates as might a snake. The friend
II es in just in time to find them in
4 Il others arms. The woman withdraws
s. d tho friend endedYOrs. for the sake OF /
wife and child at home. 10 open the |
4 Us eyes. He makes a desperate appeal
1t is of no use. Even his child fails
? move him from the horrible entangIe-
lent The woman seeks to embrace the |
hid and succeeds in kissing the little
ne and the man snatches the child
way and the friend takes her away.
Alone again.
The Man-What have you doneF
The Woman-What else but kiss her-your little |
lWiel
The Man-Kiss herr You2 Ny daughterY Ny little |
iuriell You kiss her: Your You? She'll remember 4
Remember and understand. Il stinCs
stings Can You understand that YOU
u know what that means, you foolg 1
on. You disgust me. You sicken me. /
angrily By the neck AID strikes her /
kiss ne, my fool
u fSfrlkas her agafnl Not fC+rit.s ~
kiss me. my fool
IS back as if to strike her
their eyes meet and he real
lplessness, and their lips meet
ain falls.
act which Is IN two scenes.
evoted TO another effort on |
the wife and friend to win
lack again. but they are too
10 the end the vampire is
4 the wreck and ruin she has
The ending takes an unex-
IN. and holds up the dramatic
the final curtain.
dicated. the atmosphere is any,
pleasant. That of folly and sin
Even where the light breaks
the gloom there is the stiffness
ominousness Of tragedy. The
well written. The dramatic con-
is progressive In a logical Sc
The lines are full Of meaning.
many instances brilliant There
licacy about the situations IN
70 fool and his lady fair are
ned that would border on DO
but for the surcharged cleo
phere and the cracking Of the
ids just over the horizon.
There Was" is powerful drama. /
though It IS an unpleasant OBJ
.. il will not fail to have its
I though II uses heavy strokes.
IS moral home Unerringly. The
5 approached his canvas boldly
painted his pictures in great 1
cfarfffuer l., THAR |