The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-06-15
No. -"On Trial. "
By DOLLY DALRYMpLE

A3 they'd been reading my ser1es of stories about New York and the things I saw there, that they believed if I was a regular dramatic critic. the theatres could use what I said in electric signs out in front.
 l felt rather puffed up over the com pliment, and only "came to" when I | realized perhaps that it was probably sarcasm or worse still, that the person speaking knew nothing whatever of art and only enough of literature to write stinging letters to customers who cannot appreciate a sight draft"
 Anyway, as I was about to say. "On Trial made me nervous.
 Come to think about it. I believe my friend was right about the critic busi- ness; that sentiment alone would make snappy line, although. of course. it would not do for an electric sign out front or even for one of those stingy ! little ads" in the papers, where they'd 1 abbreviate my name probably to ID. D., in order to save .SS per cent of an agate ] line.
 1 Plays shouldn't be written that make ! people nervous; anyway, as I said before, 1 On Triap' made me terribly so.
 l had a perfectly good seat in the front row for this play, which is a great ad- vantage to anyone who is as interested in the European war as l am. I read two or three headlines about it every blessed day. and the Candler theatre shows the orchestra living in the
 trenches" you hear so much about in war bulletins, far from the madding crowd and supplied with sanitary electric | lights and exits The musicians make great use of the exits. for there is no 1 music at all-except between the acts.
 read recently in Professor Emilio Zlng S valuable work, "Fhe Use of Hol- low Tile In Dramatic Construction" that nothing is melodrama without music, so evidently to save "On Trial from being classed in history as Ihelodrama the orchestra walks out to Murray's (Which is next door to the Candler) whenever there are signs of an approaching act therefore 'On Trial" is-drama The "prologue'' especially interested me because the courtroom scene brought back memories of the time when I bought a 1 dress which wasn't satisfactory: the l dressmaker called it fit; called it d mls-fit'-and then we both threw
 ht' and my lawyer settled the case in my favor and I didn't have to take the l 1 Ever since then courtroom scenes have ] held great interest for me
 Those who know declare that there is difference between a "civil' case and criminal case, but believe me, 1 don't think there is anything civil about the law, and to me one courtroom is just the same another I suppose if had the proper dramatic instinct | could tell at once about such things: but a courtroom is just a courtroom and it has nothing but tragedy in it to me- the depth of the same depending upon the number of lawyers retained 1 But-to get back to "On Trial" One of the unwritten laws in theatrical circles has been that no play with a | courtroom scene'' can succeed-not ex- eepting Madame K"
 l 'On Trial which is one of the most popular plays that has ever been on the boards in New York never leaves the courtroom except parenthetically, thus proving itself the great execution | . Of course, the occasion is a murder trial
 Even if I had never seen Frederick Perry when he was running for mayor in "The Man of the Hour I wouldn't have had to read the programme to know that he was the defendant" He had the Defendant written all over him up and down, behind and before pro and con, east and west, north and south It made me so n-e-r-v-o-u-s to see how nervous he was, that I nearly jumped out Of the seat-and the funny part was that he wasn't nervous about being ac- quitted-no; not at all. It may have made him nervous to have insulted a jury of his peers and 1t certainly is an insult to an intelligent jury when a man accused of murder insists upon pleading guilty '' It's as much as saying that 12 good men and true are a bunch of Done heads ,' a ic a fraid 4hnxy make mess of things and find him mot guilty"
 Il Of course, he explains that under our peerless judicial system a man can't throw his life away. and that he has to be tried for murder even if he brags about it. Again-how would we ever be able to breed a strong, hearty race of criminal lawyers if all the men who wanted to plead guilty to murder were permitted to do so? There is no better practice for q rising young lawyer in a cutawav than case in which his client is guilty and everybody knows it.
 Just as the wife of the Dead Man, Is telling her story, all the lights go out, and I thought, of course, it was for the prIr- pose of letting the orchestra return from
 "Murray's," but instead of that if was for very different purpose; the play runs "backword, like crab or tur- tie, or whatever it is that does that way;
 
 not even the simplest sort of a sMoving Picture,' I was all muddled up and got nervous-er, and nervous-er, and didn't
 see at all that the scheme was to have the stories of the witnesses put into scenes so that the audience could get them straight without any interruption
 from the judge and jury?'
 Do make it plain?
 I don't think so because it isn't even plain to me yet, and I sat through hours
 of 1t trying my level best to see through 1t.
 Anyway 'The Dead Man Chats the way they put him on the programmed
 was a business man, and he wasn't tired.
 He came home to his wife real chirpy
 like and pleasant-not at all the mar
 ried" way, and just to show ,he wasn't
 tired, she being in a rage with min f. (which is very much the 'marred'' way)
 was presently pacfed by friend husband
 giving her s10000 he had in bills in his f pocket. At least he said they were 10 s10a( bills, hut I sat ip Row A, Right l. and ] know that they were all tens. and moi more than sln0 in all but still in times like these, that's a good deal to have in real money. So Gerald puts the money ir { the safe--not one Of those apartment safes that burglars have so much trouble
 digging out of the wall with a hairpin but regular safe, such as all business men livings in the library of the Can 7 der theatre have at one side of thS room.
 Now, then. all sorts of things begin tl , happen: mysterious deeds in the dark } the lights have gone out again, ard Mrs