New-York tribune., 1910-01-11
DRAMA
~7he Barrier er" at the Ne1o Am-
Sterdam Theatre.


10 ,h;rd acts. and flnai ac' 'ho'e ',.
'nu than any OF its predecessors iihdi
18th action and not weary VASE "
.,.netion This is something sua'se M
the land. ~, --,;.t, is better
Her. soot ON which 1T is based. Mfr.
toap pr.shrev has made the play from
,,..h,s novel. 1.-The Barrier" and the
'.'N ill thank him for a worthy piece
, II is not q great play, by any
.-5 some will scoff at IL as melo-
forqetting that this term. like
-. not only covers sins. but has Its
eno--, ,r,,.r;+s 1.-The Barrier is a rugged,
a. sD,.so.,n rlav Of frontier life. with good
~, ,,ors than shooting-nature in 1t. al
-, 20 be sure, there are guns
enough .bo y,,l,op lives
- "a sotsw man" He has his
- snd his bar. and his soua"' aho MS
-I,,dre, Of these latter. one Is d lovely
.srI Nacis. who has just returned 10 the
.-.s,,- station after five years AT ms
g., school Gold has been dlscoVered III
.teo,tlenent and rascals come from afar
,heat for IT, Also comes a detachment
40 T-nited States troops, uncer the COM
,nsnd of Young Captain Burreli. OF Ken
t,,rkv Ths captain laiis III NV WIN
Necia who reciprocates ms deNouoh' 10
the great distress of Poleon Doret' strap
- tranpins. handsome French Canadian.
one of the uncut diamonds OF ihe North
III Captain Burrell, learning that
80 6 a balf-breed, pauses in his WOO
The conventions of his social order
- &c The army forbid the union TO which
,as been ready TO pledge himself The
=, Le,ou,es. therefore. the butt of miners
-, And John Gale, it appears, has
- for fifteen years a fugitive from
gates where under another name. his
- he was indicted for the murder of
o.ber mans wife To the trading post
:, the Yukon comes his old enemy. Dan
Rannett. now calling himself Dan Stark
7, was his wife that Gale was accused of
killing. Stark. or Bennett, was the real
murderer. and il turns out that Necia is
his daughter, and not half-breed- Gale,
in the long ago, had taken the child. when
an infant. and her mother, whom he had
loved before she married, from Bennett.
who beat her in his drunken wrath.
Bennett caught the escaping trio and
killed the woman. Gale. knowing ii i'm
possible 10 prove his own innocence of the
murder Of which he was accused, fed with
the child. whose rascaly father finds both
in Alaska, after many years. Gale at
1empts TO XIII him, but misses fire. Gale
gives himself UP 10 Captain Burren, who
has brought orders for his arrest on the old
charge. Gale surTenders in order that he
may reveal Necia's parentage and restore
her TO her own place in the world, thus
proving her clear white origin.
The manly, splendid performance OF
Theodore Roberts as John Gale is the best
hsps. he is too much in danger of revealing
the fact that he is the hunted man, but. for
all that his acting is admirable, he carries
the audience with him at every step. and
in tie closing scene shotvs with really great
power the anguish of a strong and loving
heart within q trUde exterior.
But real gem of acting is that Of Al
rhonz Either a. Poleon Doret. The virility
and tenderness OF this young trapper fellow
is depicted with a genuine art too rarely
seen in the Young iheroes of the contem-
porary stage Mr.. Ethiers work was
warmly applaUded. Mr.. ". S. Hart as
Stark gave capital impersonation of cool
villanv Miss Florence RockweIFs Necia
vas well received
IN the earlier scenes. as the simple
maiden Of the Yukon. the mission-schoolod.
hsf-hreed girl $50 supposed Miss Rock
well Was rather too sophisticated in man
Ter 10 be convincing. In the second half
~ the play. wearing the fine gown which
Poleon had brought her from Dawson
CITY she was more in her element. and
she acted well, although, considering her
training Necia was even then too much
The grand young lady, and one wondered
how the girl had OF sudden acquired the
srt of fashionable hairdressing in those
remote Businesses and of carrying herself
with such effect in the most fashionable
of dresses. But DO one will deny Miss
Rockwens attra ractiveness.
Mr.. Socola was good as No Creek Lee. a
sort Of Yukonese Dick Deadeye. Mr.. Dur
kin. ss Captain Burrell. warmed up in the
last act. hut was rather stiff in the other
portions of the play.
il IS worth recording that Mr.. Presbrey
has made a last act which not only con-
unues but heightens the action and zest
of his play. This is an achievement so
unusual that some dozens of dramatists
aud dramatizers might see The Barrier
with advantage to their own craftsman
ship. There is fight in the dark between
Gale and his enemy. There is a gun
fash. and for a second you see the two
men graphing. Then darkness again and
-ou hear them. Lights are brought. Rude
justice vindicates herself, showing Stark
DIVING, first accusing and then confessing.
The audience is really stirred. II waits
after me play ends and applauds heart
lif and calls the players. When a New
York audience does this it is more Than
satisfied Il is the right thing TO do and
ls but rarely done. Rulwer's Richelieu
spoke n applause in the proper places"
OCCASIONALLY II is heard therein II was
heard last night. Summarized then: "The
i'arrier" is an interesting play of a rude
life, and The acting of Mr.. Roberts and Mr..
i,ihier IS uncommonly true to nature, worth
seeing and remembering. A. ".
cAsT OF THE BARRIER"
drln Gale Theodore Roberts
tiJns -.----------.- Miss Abigail Marshall
p 'li' . ftOsallnd Zlcgier
N1n -Ha rold Ziegler
- creek Lee. C5uinnio Socola
Nec's ..--.----.-......-. Miss Florence Rockwell
. aIiain Burrel. L. s A.....-James B. Durkin
; rie"n Doret "A lphonz Ethier
! lfnlpn -...-..-...J John T Pierson