New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-10-12
THE DRAMA
Production of 1.-The Family" at
the Comedy Theatre.

rho,- mare all Sneeds. excepting tao
! OF these two one was a Churchill ard the
other mas Roosevelt, and Roosevelt was
! doc T,,-inr an entire act. the first act
Won nero inclined 10 think that the famiI,,
pan,a had heen misspelled and that i; was
really c,ide A. the fathers case the avi-
denca goes that way; in the sons case
there is no shadow Of doubt whatever The
! father ts cheap but fat politician. who
holds office for what there is in it" and
/ is nsc,,a5 with kind of fat sentiment. the
son nor 20 put it too mildly. is "a terror -
He has never done a days work. honest
! or otherwise. lives on his father. mother
and sister. PLAYS the races, or pretends to
do 81 and is remarkable only because he
! "sneaLs the language Of the live ones and
sneaks II correct" which, being inter-
pre+ed means that he talks nothing but
slang As he talks all the time. the effect
is appalling.
II is necessary 10 refer 70 these distress
inc nersons. father and son. in order 10 ex-
nIsin why Mss Madeline Sneed ran away
from, homo with burnt cork minstrel.
who wore a red coat and had a gold tassel
in his bushv The minstrel was a false
knsve. and Madeline was taken hcme "
her gentle mother. who persuaded the dis
pleasing father and dreadful brother 10
hold their tongues. The wicked relocated
minstrel dies-off stage-in a railroad acct
dent. The siangy brother is somehow
moved =, work for his living and TO drop
a little of his jaw breaking, ear cracking
talk but as very small sister picks up
the fragments Of his phraseology not much
IS gained for the nlaltreated English an
guage. Nothing at all has been gained as
far as making play is concerned
The Dramatist's Correspondence School
is working jealousy these days A favorite
subject Of its autumn term seems TO be
hell. In two or three short lessons It tells
the pupils how to play upon the word at
every. possible turn, give the audience the
equivalent of the meaning, and work UP
a scene by compelling some commonplace
ungrammatical and selfish creature 70 shout
the beloved word half dozen times with
tears and hair tearing. The printed in
structions also show how to build up a
Dear Mother part. so essential TO any well
regulated theatre this season. so certain
TO touch the great. tlrobbing heart. At
least the impression brought from some
playhouses is that a Dramatist's Corre-
spondence School exists somewhere, and
somewhere remote from human affairs and
from the frontiers of the world OF art. If
such world there be. Such A school there
must Be. else how could so many new
playmakers turn out so many plays to
pattern?
The acting in this play, The Family.
was good. save that Of the part of the
minstrel bold Quite frequently the audi
ence laughed in the wrong places, but this
vas not the fault Of the audience. nor al
ways the fault of the actors. Mr. John
Wesley had the slangy part and the usual
hell speeches which 90 With this kind OF
part in this kind Of play in this remark
able season. He was quite equal to all the
requirements. Miss Bert played the dear
mother and a very dear, lovable mother
indeed she appeared TO be. But weeping
with her OF for her was out of the question,
since the whole device of the playmaker
was Of the stage stacy 70 the last degree.
II must be very easy TO write what some
folks call plays" and only an irresistible
force seems able TO prevent their produc-
ton. A w