Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-01-14
"The Bird of Paradise" a Beau
tiful Picture of the Pa
cific Islands.
DEBASING AND UPLIFTING
POWER OF LOVE Is THEME
Story Told in Wondrous Sue
cession of Scenic splendors
and Dramatic Incidents.

THE Bird of Paradise" Richard
Walton Tully's Hawaiian love drama.
which created such a Juror when IL
was first presented to metropolitan
audiences. was brought to the shu-
bert Theatre for weeks stay last
night. In this romance of the island
of the Pacific, where it never grows
cold, the author has presented nov
city in play-making and acting that
one cannot fail to appreciate.
The scenes of the play. FIVE in all,
are all laid in the Hawaiian islands,
or, as they are referred to in the
,play. ''the paradise of the Pacific"
The first scene discloses a cave on
the Puma coast, with its chromatic
bloom and grass houses. Next is
shown the interior of this, and then
follows a scene showing a bungalow
on the beach near Honolulu, with
a tropical moonlight effect.
The last scene, showing Mount Pc
lee. the god of the natives, in erup-
ton, is one of the greatest pieces of
Istagecraft that It has been the for
tune of local playgoers to witness in
many months.
So far as the acting Of the piece
is concerned 1t is almost perfect
With but few exceptions the original
cast, including Guy Bates Post, has
been brought here. Laurette Taylor,
the original Luana, has been sue
ceeded by Bessie Barriscale. but the
play has lost nothing by the change.
A quintet of native singers, must
clans and dancers add interest and
color to the piece. and their singing
of quaint Hawaiian melodies is both
weird and alluring.
The theme of the play is the de-
generation of one race when brought
into close relationship with an In
ferior civilization A young Ameri
can doctor, filled with zeal to dis
cover and isolate the leprosy germ.
drops off for a respite on his way to
Mololtai, the leper settlement. Blum
dering upon a native feast. he is en-
thralled by a maiden of tawny skin
and tender years. Despite the warn
ings of beachcomber he deliberate
~ turns his back upon his duty. Then
follows his moral. mental and physi-
cal decay. This decay is brought
0bO4b ny aCSA COS anu - tOt0 al q
story which is pretty and gripping,
with novelty OF locale end custom,
clever maneuvering OF incident and
dialogue that is apt and expressive.
AT the outset the play is rather
talky; in fact, 1t might be said that
the first act lacks action, but the
succeeding two make up for any
deficiencies in the opening chapter of
the story.
Il Although there is cast of. about
| thirty persons. the action really CEN
ters around four persons: the beach
comber, Diana. an American girl;
DR.. Wilson and Luana. 1t is really
parallel of two loves, that of the
warm Hawaiian girl for the
American doctor who, under the in
nuence of the tropic languor and
ease turns into a lazy good-for-noth-
ing. and the love of the American
girl that reforms and makes man
of the sodden beachcomber. All
this is brought about in a manner
that holds the attention of an audi
ence at all times, and to repeat the
story here would only tend to impair
the enjoyment of those who will ses
the play this week.
Luana, as played by Miss Barris-
Gale. is maid supple of mind as OF
body, one moment languishing In the
abandonment of passion and the next
fiaring out in a burst of rage. Her
struggles to please her American hus-
band and adapt herself to his mode
of living are both pathetic and hui
morous. At times she rises almost
to the tragic, but through 1t all
works with quiet possession
that stamps her as a finished artist.
Mr.. Post, except in the first act,
has a role that offers him little OPP
portunities. but those that come to
him he makes the best of. His char-
acterization of the besotted beach
comber in the first act is splendid
bit of acting. Miss Margaret Ian
ham. as Diana, was also well cast. OF
the others the same might be said.