The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-01-08
SHEA SCORES TRIUMPH IN
 THE BELLS

k 1kA OAAAO The claim that Bridgeport has no dramatic Judgment of it's own, and that Bridgeporters will patronize only
 New York successes was in mea-
 sure disproved. last night, by the in- telligent and critical audience which went to Jackson's theatre to see T
 E.. Shea. as Matthias. in ''The Bells,' a
 play which the late Henry Irving made famous. Shea is little known in this
 part of the country. Nevertheless he is recognized by the members of his own profession as one of the few men
 remaining who can do justice to such heavy parts as were made famous by
 Booth, Mccullough, Barrett and Irv- ing. ''The Bells" was well staged. The l interpretation of the complex mental ity of Matthias was intelligent and ex- ecuted with degree of faithful vivid
 ness that induced the audience to storms of repeated applause. Not that applause is in itself proof of compe- tence in an actor. but that accorded to Shea was the applause which is only given to excellence and which once
 heard will always be recognized.
 There still remains in the number of those who love the theatre many
 who recognize most of the modern plays as merely trash. These are fla
 miliar with the superior quality of the
 drama that has gained a name and a place. It was of such that the audi
 ence that heard ''The Bells'' was com
 posed.
 The story is that of a strong, and rugged man, natural leader in his native village, WhO in debt, and deep despair, is confronted by the tempta- tion to kill a fellow creature for go d. s-I> It. ~sz- The gold clinks. The murder is ac- complished. It is Christmas night
 when the deadly blow descends. The snow is deep. The storm is furious.
 The body is burned in a lime kiln.
 Fifteen years elapse. All have forgot but the slayer himself. In him the
 wonderful thing that men call consci- | ence burns with vivid fire. The
 world may forget, but he cannot for get. The sound of bells is ever in
 his ears. Grown rich. become mayor
 of the village, little village of AL
 sace. he is ever haunted with the fear | of detection and the gallows. His fears become an obsession. To shell l ter himself from the law he decides 1 that he will marry his beautiful daughter Annette to Christian. the l head of the gendarmes of the village. | The time is again Christmas. But it lis Christmas 15 years later. There is another terrible snow storm. The storm reals to the minds of Father | Walter. the farmer. and Hans, an l aged poacher the details of the trag- edy. They talk of it. As once before | Matthias comes into his inn from the
 storm. He finds reminiscence of the crime on the lips of his wife, his
 daughters aff1anced his aged friends and customers. Moreover, in his trip
 abroad that day, he has seen a mes | 4,f-4 vIo Io, o~1@ %O
 sleep, one who makes the sleeping people tell all of their past, even their crimes. Suppose such a one should | subdue him to slumber. The thought
 further afflicts his afflicted mind. l The wedding contract is signed. In the meantime Matthias has begun to talk in his sleep. He retires to lone
 some attic room and locks the door. i Walls have no ears''. He may babble, in sleep, of murder, but none, he be- lieves, will hear.
 So the closing minutes of play arrive
 upon mind ripe for the rapid end to which the pitiful tragedy is hurled.
 Matthias dreams of arrest, of being
 naled before the court; of inquiry and of judgment.
 Ghostly voices afflict him in the night. Prisoner, you hear the sound l of bells, why is this?" Matthias de- nies; admits. He hears the bells. But i in his dreams. Who would assault justice by affirming dreams But the bells, are the bells that Matthias heard
 on the horse of the Jew, on the night when he yielded to temptation on the
 morning when the axe descended. The mesmerist is called. Matthias, protest | ing is commanded to sleep and to l confession. The accusing words are read to him. He is condemned. "Cut
 the rope" he cries! "Cut the roper 1 His friends rush to his room. He | Lszy across his bed, strangled by the string of his own neckcloth of which, in the | frantic fraving of his awful dream he has made a halter.
 Matthias has been haled to the bar of justice, tried, found giulty, sentenc- ed and executed by his own conscience, or was it perhaps by some of those occult forces which as many believe,
 pervade nature, working the justice of Providence despite the opposition of man.
 It may be perceived that the actor part without reducing it to rags and 1 bathos. Indeed for the whole of the 1 last act the actor has the stage to l himself and holds it all alone until a brief minute before the curtain des- cends. This is no, mean feat to ac- compliSh successfully. Few actors can, l but Shea does.
 i This afternoon he will play the
 Counsel for the Defense, a play in which his rare talents have rare op- portunity.
 And tonight he will play Dr. Jekyll and M~. Hyde,'' dramatization of Stevenson's famous story. Perhaps this is the last time that a Bridgeport audience will have an opportunity to see this famous dual role rendered by an actor who embodies in his skill tine i traditions of the vanishing college of ! +..,- I~Js l tail of the modern school.
 l For right, or wrong this is the age l of high kicking and short skirts. The actor gets the most money who tells i the most risque joke. Shea presents no claim upon the comic opera following. l He is all for people who want real drama, illustrative of real life, as real life only can be interpreted by those strange souls who appear from time ] to time, stay for a space and take !! their unique gifts to the graves in which they lie.