Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-01-24
ROBERT billiard
IS BRILLIANT IN
FOOL THERE WAS
His Shoulders SOreIy Tried by
the Weight of His
Company.
IMPERIAL MUSICIANS AT
PR0CTOR'S ARE GREAT HIT
Other Theatres Also Furnish
Bills of Unsurpassed Ex-
Cellence and Beauty.
FOOL THERE WAS" which

A FOOL THERE VAS which
IA returned to the Newark Thea
tire last night for a weeks en-
gagement. is not SO convincing in his
foolishness now as he was a year ago.
Not that Robert billiards portrayal
Of h man who gave up wife and
home, and friends and power to be
dragged down into the depths by a
siren Is less mastery. If anything, he
displays a keener. more intimate under
standing of the difficult role. But 81
heavy is the weight of the present COM
pany on his shoulders mat at times IL
seems as If he might throw VI his
hands and demand to know what's the
use?''
Miss Virginia Pearson Is very beau
tiful. Also, she possesses a certain
litheness that keeps her very much
within the picture of the type she Is
supposed to portray, until she begins
to act, when, in place of the woman
extraordinary we find a recklessly
whimsical person who is inclined to
ANT when she gets excited; who scatters
rose petals in a way that suggests
careful rehearsals rather than emo
tional impulse, Miss Pearson plays the
role adequately, but she fails to bring
AAC ~ = NA1A
could be found off the stage.
Little Miss Boots Wurster again
appears as the Child. playing with a
nonchalant certainty that many grown
up Thespians would give much to pos
sess. Boots has grown Her chubby
legs are beginning to l%engthen, and be-
fore we know it we'll be watching her
play ~blue-bowed, fioppy-hatted daush-
ters of beloved dads. (They always
call their father dad.) If you do not
believe Boots Is a "natural-born"
actress Just watch her business Of
writing letter. when the other char
acters occupy the centre Of the stage.
Wife Over-EmphasiEes Her Sweetness.
Burton Churchill Is cast as the Friend.
He is excellent in the lighter scenes,
but is inclined to be too melodramatic
In his denunciation Of the fool. Miss
Stella Archer, the Wife, Is inclined to
over-emphasize her sweetness. Her
smiles come too often to be properly
appreciated. Miss Winifred Burke plays
the Sister with a~dignity that Is tinged
with sarcasm, which Is exactly what
the role demands.
So well does Preston Crewe portray
Parmalee, whom the woman drove 10
suicide just before the Fool came on
the scene. that one regrets very much
that they didn't walt n have him
die along toward the last act. It ia q
shame to cut off real ability so Bud-
denly.
Mr.. Hilliard gave a brilliant perform
arce, despite his handicaps. His make
up in the second act was a marvel OF
artistry. The gradual deterioration OF
the man was suggested without being
emphasized. one could not tell whether
1t was in the clothes-they seemed as
carefully pressed as usual-or the hair,
or the face, but the tell-tale sign was
there. So that the pale, d~isheveled being
in the last act seemed to have been
logically evolved.
1t is not necessary to recite the plot
at this ate day. Everyone knows the
ste ~ and everyone ought by all means
to see the play.
ADELINE STANLEY CARRICK.