The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-05-14

very carefully and cxpensiycly III
the manner Of thirty years ago,
hasn I had its curtain up a minute
ere the villain sneaks in OH
silent feet. with soles touching the
carpet gently and heels not at all,
to murder his doing uncle. He
wishes to do the decd in utter
silence. so that the hero may be
accused: vet fiddle string is
tipped at the assassin 5 every tip
toed step, Il flute walls as he comes
forward. and blare of cornet
precedes the mortal stroke: but
these noises don { wakcn, or even
warn the victim. They arc a
dramatic effect for the audience
without being aware of them,
way asscmblage at IN obsolete
meiodrama. and it filters at the
bygonc device of incidental music.
Thirty wears ago, when -'Tbe
Lights % London" shone brightly
on stages III London and New
York, it was big glare iu san
Francisco, 100. at thcater where
David Belasco and William \,
Brady worked as boys, Brady, re-
Wondering how popular II was.
and perhaps hoping TO thrive on
the demand for ''such good old
PLAYS as we used TO GET has put
it into action for month. The
first audience made noise over
it-an uproar-but Of laughter aud
not applause. This was an
assemblage of theatcr Sharps. fa-
miliar with the best of modern
craft in composing and perform
ing plays; and it was amazed by
the crudltv of this once prosperous
work by George r. Sims. Its story
of an innocent young man accused
Of killing his father TO get his
wealth, while the murderer was
his cousin. hadn't weakened; nor
had the types of London char
acters lost their truth to life:
but in technique, however, "The
Lights o. London had been eX-
tinguishcd by more recent dram
atlstS.
Ibsen's Revolution,
Yet in 1881. the year of It's
birth, Henrik Ibsen put forth his
first naturalistlc play. Ibsen had
been like Sims in creating flawlcss-
~ good and altogether bad char
acrcrs, making them talk and be-
have as normal men and women
do not, and putting them into am
possible situations. But he turned
sharply about TO realism, and all
writers for the stage have fol-
lowed him.
The first of the new audiences
for 1.-The Lights o London
made so much sport of it that
ihc occasion viii be historic. That
the scheduled season g run would
be shortened to single night
seemed likely But the thcater
was crowded at the second
performance by guycrs. and the
venture Will make money If
the eminent actors will stand
the ridicule Wilson Barrett and
IT, S. Willard were the heroic son
and villainous cousin IN the
original cast. Yes, the same Will
lard, now an embodiment of be
nightly. was then depictor OF
polished vIlIiany. New York had
Charles T. Thorne and Frederick
de Beleville for their eXporeuts
of morality and crime, The pres
cnt renewal company has SIX
star actors in William Courtcnav.
Charles Richman, Thomas a. Wise,
Douglas Fairbanks. Thomas ..
Seabrooke and Holbrook BliDn.
The names stand for high pro-
fcieucy: but all save Blinn arc
too modern for the purpose, and
the exact. uncXaggeratIve excel
lcucc Of Courtenay was tame
nv contrast with Barrett and
Thorue's robushousness, whilc
Richman s soft t-hearted manner
was nothing like the hard polish
of Willard and de Bellevillc' s VII,
lainy. So the antagonism between
son and cousin lacked the vim
that might-iust possibly. but not
probably-have thrilled a l9ll
Broadway audience,
One London Light Blinks,
Mshsps began as soon as the
plav did. The first reighted lamp
% London wouldn t shine Alright
with electricity as il had in 1881
with gas. That was at the play s
start with the murder of rich
old English squire by Charles
Richmond, his nephew, III way to
inculpate his son. William Conrte-
nav,
Pains had been taken to prepare
close copy of the old-timc per
formanccs. and il may be that IN
9oiup back to obsolete methods,
facility in the craft of NOWADAYS
40. sacrificed ANYWAY matcrlai