The Detroit times., 1910-09-29
THE STAGE
DETROIT OPERA HOUSE.

DETROIT OPERA HOUSE.
The opportunity 20 witness an ID
sen play on the local stage II infre-
Quent and SO. In view OF the fact that
the public library records and the
sales Of the book merchants Prove
that Detroit has very considelau.
number OF Ibsen readers. II was not
surprising that Q large audience gath
cred In the Detroit opera house, We'd
nesday evening, to see the great
Norseman's play. Pillars OF Society"
which Mrs. Fiske and her Manhattan
company presented for tia close OF
their engagement. The play, al
though one Of Master Ibsen's earlier
efforts. Is less known TO the theater
than perhaps any other from his pen.
II received it's first presentation in
Detroit, Wednesday evening. as part
Of the Eiska repertoire for the cur.
rent season.
The play is bright comedy, with
none OF the physiological by-paths
and bitter dissection OF soul usually
found In Ibsen's relentless unwilling
OF society. The Ibsen satire is there,
but IL Is amusing rather than sting
ing. The story. the situations, the
brilliant dialogue, the sequence OF
events. all bear the impeccable lbsen
craftsmanship. and the whole affords
an intellectual treat to the student and
an agreeable evenings entertainment
for the average theatergoer who en-
tiers a playhouse 10 be amused.
The characters are those OF any
small community where convention
reigns supreme. gossip and scandal
AFFORD the chief relaxation, and SNUG
hypocrisy sets Itself up to dictate the
manner OF life Of every being within
the small circle. Who does not know
the Society for the Moral Uplift Of
the Lapsed and Lost. The good sous
who gather at one another's homes
for an Afternoon Of sewing and an hour
Of tittle-tattle that quickly matches out
large-sized scandals and rattles the
bones of the skeletons In every Fam
lily closet In the community. These
Pillars OF Society are given a sa-
tirical Jolt by Master Ibsen that ar.
fords the onlookers much satisfaction
and a good laugh.
Into the narrow confines OF the
small town on the North Sea In which
the dramatist has placed his charac-
tiers, returns Iona Hessell and her
step-brother, Johann Tonnessen. al
ter an absence of Is years in Amer
ica-the land Of freedom and liberty
in thought and action. The depar-
ture OF these two years before mad
been under a cloud, hence their reap
pearance caused such q flutter In the
town that folks couldn't sleep nights
or attend to their daily duties for
talking 1t all over. As the story m
folds. one learns that Johann has
carried the stigma of anothers pee
cadilloes all these years, and that the
actual culprit Is Karsten Bernick. the
real pillar Of society OF the town.
Bernick Is rich and influential and
everybody looks up to him as the
moral example for the youth OF the
town to follow. Bernick had loved
Iona but married her sister for mer-
cenary reasons, and so the return OF
the prodigals makes Bernick highly
uncomfortable.
From an actors standpoint the play
Is q mans play. giving the spotlight
To Bernick, who In this case was en-
acted by Holbrook Blinn- Mr.. Blinn
In stature and features bears strfk
ing resemblance to the pictures OF
| Napoleon and II an actor OF sucn
proven ability that his impersonatiou
of the hypocritical Bernick was . nm
ished and thoroughly artistic piece OF
work.
Mrs. riske, a Iona, brought her
| intellectual gifts and acting talents
i a. At ~ n RhaYaHf@Y
| that IL as difacult Of presentation as
any Of the Ibsen women Mrs. F1ske
| has made known hitherto. 1t could
easily settle into just one OF the orof
nary characters necessary to the un
folding of the story, but Mrs. F1ske
brings that peculiar something called
genius TO everything she touches
| and. SO makes Iona the inevitable
pivot Of the onlooker's interest.
| The play requires large cast with
a mob scene for the fourth act
Every character was admirably
presented and the mob was unusual
ly satisfactory. Henry Stephenson
the excellent Rawdon Crawley IN
Becky Sharp" had a totally diner
ent role in a Pecksnifhan character
called DR.. Rorlund, In which he was
| entirely successful. Edward MacKay
| az Johan Tonnessen, gave one OF the
admirable impersonations Of the cast
whose general excellence was SO high
that II would be difficult to single one
| from another for special prai
The play requires only one stage
setting--the living room OF Consu
| Bernicks house. with a view Of
| broad verandah and charming garden
| from the long windows. 1t was al
attractive and perfect in detail al
| Mrs. Fiske, in her stage mountings
| has led her public to expect. The
| storm scene in the third act was real
| istically handled, and an example o.
master stage mechanism. The en-
tire production should be remember
| ed by Detroit playgoers as one OF the
notable events In local stage annals.
Mrs. Fiske and her company left
| the city at the close Of the perform
ance and Thursday evening Miss
Ethel Barrymore takes possession o.
the same stage, In the Pinero drama
Mid Channel"
ELLA MAE HAWTHORNE.
After a tooprolonged absence, De
Wolf Hopper returns to tickle Detroit
ers with his fearful voice and elon
gated antics In his new vehicle, "A
| Matinee Idol" which will have Its
first presentation, Thursday evening
In the Garrick theater. This time the
long and lanky former comic opera