Evening star., 1914-02-15


The French farce proves this
ii IL also proves that music has
charms to soothe.
Ths little play that was running five or
six years aga at the Palais Royal The
lter in Paris is followed with surprising
fidelity in this clever English adaptation.
arst introduced as oh. / Say" The Gus
tontary order Is here reversed y good
,.lzy is in danger of being spoiled by a
had t7ffe--><a search for n caption for
this laughing iitfIe af7 u IfsetAt haying
been conspicuouslv difficult.
The usual experience is the more lin
rering one of finding a perfectly good IL
tie spoiled by bad play.
The stage setting Immediately proclains
a French farce. There are doors SO num-
erous that a few more would provide one
for each character. The French farceur
IS something like an expert in the game
OF pool. His success is measured by his
proficiency in avoiding collisions as he
gets the right character into the right
door al the right time. Compared to the
original, the piece in which so many
clever principals and 50 many pretty
chorus girls ana so many pretty melodies
are revealed, is as Mrs Hemans' poetry
the central idea Is carried out with re-
ularkahie consistency y very little lit
erary scrubbine has sufficed 10 turn what
was a registering bit OF indecency. as raw
as The Girl From Maxim s. itself. into
an entertainment that need not offend
reasonably sophisticated audience. The
French performance had no music and
no pretty girls. The American refine
E;ey,,
vastly superior bit of work
The Madcap Duchess afforded musi-
cal and pictorial relief. L is a comic
opera whose title offers cheering
change; the substitution in musical en-
tertainment of the dashins madcap for
the persistently stodgy Ounce cap In a
musical comedy the music is all too fire.
quently employed as it is with a troop of
acrobats. not as an essential part OF the
piece. but mercy to conceal the srunting
and heavy breathing of la5orious efforts
TO amuse.
''The Duchess was to have gone to
Montreal this week. But it looked like a
long. hard trip in a rather frig.d atmos-
phere. and it was found desirable for the
company TO sojourn in New York and re-
Z
more convenient intervals of travel.
K
Stop Thief is one of those frolicsome
episodes which throw plausibility TO the
winds and frankly assure the audience
that if it is going TO have a good time it
must not try to argue. 1t is acutely
funny, Intentionally and sometimes by
accident a roonful of people on hands
md bIlv for
comic stage picture. But the real joke
lies in the fact that in the minute search
a suit case full of burglarized silverware,
standing conspicuously under a sofa, is
absolutely unobserved. \ trifiing incon-
sistency like this does not mar the en-
joyment Nobody wants to see rattling
rnile-a-minute plot held up to straighten
out the location of a suit case.
+ <
Stop Thief may be regarded as typi-
al American farce. 1t deals but little
with doors and mechanical contrivances
and depends on characters and conpiica-
tions Of incident. The machinery is set
up to run fast and cause a racket Its
appeal TO sympathy or logic is vague. If
there is any such appeal in stop Thief
il lies In the reminder that the thief who
steals under stress of need may possibly
claim some Of the fosbearance accorded
the offender whose moral deficiency finds
scientific apology Whether stop Thief
has any moral or not. it is refreshingly
Tree from talnt of insidiouS suggestion.
The experiment of bringins; grand opera
% Washington was again tried Friday the
18th PHILANDER JOHNSON.
-
INTERESTING ASsEMBLAGE OF
MANIFESTATION Miss AneIin decided
a Year ago TO return to the Shakes
pearean and classic drama exclusively
she resolved and promised to assemble an
organization of players that would
fender the text OF the plays and the
ielineation of the characters In as
nearly an ideal manner as possible
For the leading male roles in her
repertoire Miss Anglin announces Full
Ter Mellish, Ian MacLaren and Eric
Blind. each of whom has had many
Years experience in the Legitimate"
school Mr. Mellish played with Ed
win Booth IN this country and i'll Eng
land. with the Irving-Terry combina-
uon, and for q number of years he
was prominent member of the late
Richard A1ausfeld's company and later
with Mrs. Fiske, Last season he
achieved distinction in the role of Cae-
sar III William Favershsrns production
of the Roman tragedy. His parts in
Miss Auglia's repertoire are Malvoho
IN Twelfth Night" jacques in 'As
You Like IT. and the pedant in The
Tanning OF the Shrew'
Ian NacLaren has attained signal
success in romantic and classic roles
as a member OF some of the foremost
organizations Of England. including
Beerbohm Trees company. the Benson
play yers and Miss Hornirnann's Man
chester players. For the past two sea
sons he has been with the Liebler
Company. first in support of George
Arliss in ''Disraeli' and as the success
sor 10 Lewis Waller IN The Garden
of Allah Last season he received the
highest critical praise for his per
The Daughter of Heaven" In Miss
orsino in Twelfth Night" Orlando in
As You Like II" and Lucentio in The
Tanning of the Shrew.
Eric Blind. who Will play Antonio
in Twelfth Night" Oliver in "As You
Like IT. and Pertruchio in THE Tam
ing of the Shrew." has been a member
Of Forbes Robertson's London Lyceum
company, the Irving Terry combina-
tion and Beerbohm Trees company.
lie has also played important parts
with the Ben Greet players and with
Sothern and Marlowe-
The first women characters in Miss
Ruth Holt Boucicault. who has had a
wide training and experience in
Shakespeare in association with Otis
Skinner. Richard Mansfield and other
well known stars Her roles with Miss
Angiin are Olivia in Twelfth Night >