Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1914-12-22
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEEoY."

LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEKoT"
From an ideanstio viewpoint moth
ing can be more tender or touching
than s picture Of youth melting the
hinty heart Of crusty old age and
Furnishing that organ OF sentiment
into its erstwhile golden glow. Such,
briefly summed up. is the theme OF
Little Lord Fauntleroy." (or II
might have been named Perfect
Love.")
It is most euphonious sounding
name, and the perfection of the play
itself follows out the same CLOSE har-
mony." so to speak, in Its appeal to
the most dominant Of human emotions
love.
No matter how perfect the instru
ment, it cannot ring true without the
touch of the skilled artist. Little
Lord Fauntleroy" could scarcely be
more perfect than in the interpreta-
ton given By the Forsberg Players al
the Orpheum Theatre.
A charming story, devoid OF intrl-
cate complications. Frances Hodgson
Burnett's masterpiece, in dramatic
form, could not have been better
adapted to the talents of the local
company and Of little Miss Constance
Robinson had II been written for their
special use
Little Miss Robinson, who recently
won a host of local admirers in the
THE Littlest Rebel" has returned to
this city to enact the title role of the
play and has thereby added more lau-
rels to the wreath with which her
efforts were crowned some weeks ago.
The vehicle also affords Charles
Dingle, the oompany's talented lead
ing man, an opportunity to show his
skill In a new role--that of the crusty
old earl, who disowned his son (the
boys father because he married
against the earls wishes.
Little Lord Fauntleroy's mother is
wonderful woman, and holds no re-
sentiment or vindictiveness against the
man who disowned her husband. Her
love for her child and the man who
gave up his right to a title for her is
perfection In itself, SO perfect that she
loves those who hate her. Can there
be anything more tender than the
sight of the widowed mother sowing
in the heart of her child the seeds of
love for the hard-hearted grandfather
whom, by all the traditions OF human
nature, most mothers would have
taught him to hate?
The childish simplicity and grace
which Miss Robinson lends to the
role of the Little Lord" is at once
the source of merriment and of a
touching sincerity.
In the first act Is shown the home
of the Errols In New York, some
years after the death of the disin-
herited son. The wife and the son
are reduced almost to destitution /
when news comes that the little boy, |
10 10 ~ hoi fn nf
Derincourt, is entitled to a large |
English estate and to the title of
Little Lord Fauntleroy."
The mother, played by Miss Ottola |
Nesmith, consents to sacrifice the
right to live with her own son that
he may one day acquire his rightful
possessions. The leave taking of the
little lord' from his boyhood friends
is one of the semi-comic scenes of
the play. The touch of humor which
runs throughout the play is in the
capable hands of Grant Erwin, the
corner grocer, and Gerald Van Orden,
the bootblack.
In the second act little Fauntleroy
manages to get into the good graces
of his Grabbed old grandfather. The
naivete with which he accomplishes
this is the most charming portion of
the play.
OF course there is VILLAIN" too. |
This is Nina, who claims the Lit !
tie Lord Fauntleroy title for her own
boy. who, she asserts, ia the son of
the second son of the earl. The earl,
however, has become too much at
tached to part with his grandson, and
her plot is frustrated. Nina is enact
ed by that all-around capable
actress, Hiss Helen Courtney.
Mr.. Dingle's conception OF the
gouty, hard-hearted, tyrannical
grandfather could hardly be improved
upon.
All of the tenderness of maternal
love, such as might be expected from
little Lord Fauntleroy's mother, Is
displayed with touching realism by
Miss Nesmith. In striking contrast
to this disinterested love is the cal
culating kind shown by Nina" the
care-free adventures
Mr.. Havisham, legal counselor for
the earl is played by Arthur Jarrett
in g most creditable manner.