Evening star., 1914-01-27
BelaSco.

1t is to Doris Keane more than to
any other influence associated with 1t
that the production now exerting such
fascinating appeal at the Belasco owes
its consistent power. The word 70
nance" dominates the entire perform
ance. The study of a single human
career, the picture of a lifetime, It's
events and its emotions are enough to
| make a novel or d play. Some one fig
ure asserts itself as the character Of
great interest, and personages that sur
round it are important only as they
help to shape events. 1t Is of Nine.
Cavaliini that Romance" tells. The old
story of the true love whose course
cannot run smooth assumes new ana
tragic appeal with the bewitching lit
tie Italian opera singer as it's vitalizing
| influence.
The structure of the play is a. charm
| ing departure from the current COM
monplaces. The curtain rises on a pro
| logue. A father, endeavor1ng TO as
suade his son from marriage with an
| actress, tells of his own heart-wrlng-
| ing experience when as youthful
clergyman he fell in love with the
reigning songstress of his time.
| AS he proceeds, the stage darkens. the
| lights grow dim. The present fades away
and the visions which his mind recaiis
are placed in vivid actually upon the
scene THE Young rector meets the daZ-
| zline and wonderful stage favorite. He.
all ignorant of her world. is conquered
| by the beauty and dashing assurance OF
| her personality. She, no less ignorant OF
his life and its purposes, ls mystlneo ana
drawn toward him with irresistible ad-
| mirati of the dignity and beauty OF his
ideals. In the crucial hour the woman
after making pitiful confession OF her
| ill-guided path proves the stronger of the
I sion do nod
wiling to sacrifice his own ideals; the
girl who has so recently learned to value
and accept them as her own. puts him to
shame by remaining steadfaSt, even unto
| death. The climax of the dramas IN
terest is thrilling one. Handled with
less artistic deftness it might easily be
coarsened to a degree that would con-
stitute offense. The production fully
avails itself of the liberal attitude of the
play-going public toward the theater, in
the matter of frank discussion.
AS Nine. Cayallini, Miss Doris Keane is
a revelation of every mood from sunshine
to storm; through all of them the auditor
follows her with keen, vibrant sympathy
Her dialect is as irresistible as her smile.
The romping girlishness of the role,
tinged. as 1t is. with a strange, hard So
phistication. affords a lustrous contrast
that makes her womanly and tragic sor-
row stand forth in black intensity.
The play nelts again into an epilogue.
1t has, after all. been only an incident OF
the quiet evenings confidence between
father and son. The old truth, that ex-
perience may speak. but youth will not
heed, is the only moral which adorns the
tale so beautifully unfoided.
a mastery element of the production is
the handling of the light effects. The
stage properties and the costumes pic
turing the times when old New York was
young are as interesting as they are pic
turesque.
A highly responsible share of the per-
formance falls to Mr.. Leslie Faber, who.
as the grandfather and as the spirited
young rector. gives performance of con-
trasted qualities with extraordinary merit
in all its aspects. II. Nye Chart is an
important figure in the cast having the
role of the elderly man who has lived his
life and does his feeble best to guide
those younger than himself.
Romance" is powerful story inter
preted with extraordinary skill.