The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1911-11-03
CHAPLIN ENTERTAINMENT GREAT

CHAPLIN ENTERTAINMENT GREAT
Norfolk Will Get Delightful Treat
Thursday Afternoon and Night.
You may have been at a banquet
and after the serving of the last
course, you have seen the toastmaster
rise from his chair and say, Ladies
and gentlemen, we have with us this
evening" And as he announced the
speaker-the guest of the evening
you noticed the feeling of expectancy
so apparent on the faces of those
about the table-the eagerness with
which they anticipated that which
was to come.
This same expectancy and eager
ness may be felt in Norfolk today
because of the coming of Benjamin
Chaplin, actor and dramatist, in his
portrayal, Lincoln" at the Norfolk
Auditorium Thursday matinee and
night.
Benjamin Chaplin is one of the men
of the stage who is splendid enough
as a man; great enough as an actor
and artist of dramatic production to
be commended to the entire people
of a community.
He is giving to thousands Of pres
ent-day Americans the same vivid,
true picture of Abraham Lincoln as
was given to hundreds by Lincoln
himself a century ago.
He acts Lincoln, realistically, al
most perfectly.
Men who knew Lincoln say he
does; thousands who did not know
him believe he does.
That is art. Art is culture and the
more culture the broader the intelli.
gence. Besides, with LinColn's droll
humor it is entertainment and an
abundance of it,
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer said
on Sept. IS:
Any mention of Jim the Penman'
in this day and age must necessarily
be provocative of "Reminiscences, and q
temptation to those comparisons
which are all but forbidden. Yet the
production of this time-tried drama
given at the Moore last night by three
such artists as Florence Roberts, The
odore Roberts and Thurlow Bergen
demands a dispensation to the extent
Of venturing the belief that it has
never been surpassed if it has ever
been equaled.
And this excellence cannot be
wholly attributed to these three, with
out the assertion that their support
orit W MI or
individual endeavors. From the
| minutest detail of the stage furniture
to the climax there was nothing lack
| ing to complete the illusion.
Miss Roberts Effective Throughout.
Miss Roberts is the same stron&
| woman so well and so long known t
| theater goers in Seattle, and never
was her gift of repression and under
| statement shown to better advantage
than last night in the role of the mys
tery-tortured woman. She was Away!
emotionally intact, and when the mys
terry cleared to a certainty of shame
| she bore it with poignant calm fal
more effective than the widest de
spair.
| The James Ralston of Thurlow Der
gen was that of slow-burning agony
self-consuming. A criminal in whom
all criminal instincts had atrophied
but driven on the memorable past, hi!
art was such as to always hold tn,
| balance between pathos and the ad
miration that is accorded to him Wht
goes bravely and smilingly to hi
! doom. Mr.. Bergen was the prince o
| forgers.
Theodore Roberts Wins Applause.
| An underlined Mephisto, coarse fea
tured and a physical coward, nigh
sum up the character of Baron Hart
field as played by Theodore Roberts
but it would fall far short of doinj
that admirable actor justice. His char
acterization was so complex a me
LANCE of cynical humor, heartles
greed, shifty cunning, devilish phi
Osophy as is not seen in lifetime o
theater going. These dramatic grace
were set off by little awkwardnesse
and uncouth mannerisms that were a
most lovable, to all of which the file
house applauded on more than one oC
Casion.
Rest Of Cast Good.
The detective role of Capt. Redwood
based on a drawl and an opportun
somnolency, is melodramatic in tn
less dignified sense of the word. 1t
amusing, but hardly convincing, to tn
sophisticated theater goer MI Den
thorne, however, made much of hi
material. Miss Smythe as Agnes Ra
ston, was charmingly sweet, and Star
ley de Wolfe and Isaac Dillon, as Lor
Delincourt and George Ralston wer
thoroughly likeable.
The house was filled to the last ro'
with an appreciative audience ths
reached the height of it's demonstr;
ton when great basket of flower
was lifted across the footlights to Mis-
Roberts. Jim the Penman" will b
p at the Moore for a week, with III
usual Wednesday and Saturday mat
nees.