The sun., 1916-11-26
By REAMER.

0amA cdlie0 Inc Tnlrtcentn 1
L Chair" does o hold the stage for
a long period Of time. It will In all
probability be due to the slight relation !
which the hero bears to the plays
principal interest. II the murderer
must be called the hero. 1t Is because |
no other character In the drama, I'M
less It be the police inspector. can be
thought to deserve that title. The
colorless young lover 10 a. negligible
a. every other character in the piece.
Only the spiritualist and the detective
srs uppermost in the minds Of the
spectators during the play. The other
characters merely serve to prevent the
drama from becoming . dialogue be-
tween these two.
The disappointment Of the climax 10
not to be denied. The murder was
committed by the person in whom the
audience Is possibly least interested.
The Innocence Of the girl Is. of course.
proved by her fenatical Old mother.
The bullying police inspector 10 out
vitted by the spiritualist. Perhaps In
that fact should reside the satisfaction
Of he public. Under other circum-
stances 1t might. But Mr.. WELLER has
scarcely allowed his listeners time to
make the acquaintance Of this young
lady. Barring the single minute In
which her afianced clasps her I n his
arms, there 10 no opportunity to con-
template her outside the group Of sus-
meets which continually crowd the
stage. Nothing therefore In retro
spect quite compensates the audience
for It's sense Of disappointment that the
really central figures in the drama
should have played no active part in
the murder.
But this feeling endures for only q
few minutes. Before this disappoint-
Ing last scene there IL an evening Of
tense and feverish. interest. That II
something to be grateful for. ever II
IL Il somewhat abruptly terminated
- by a dash Of cold water.
Tho so-called Theatre Francois des
Flats Cnis u the arrival OF
some distinguished recruits from
Europe. The organization Is sadly in
need of them. The performance or
Catherine was chilling to those In
tsrestcd subscribers anxious to see a
French theatre Of the first class In
New York. -.
The selection Of Lavedan's demoded
old extract from Lie BibliothcQue Rose
\ was perhaps not fortunate. but It Is
not easy to provide a repertoire for
an entire season with a new play
every week, an invariably inter
estinR work for every Monday. II
was not the fact that L~avedan's drama
had dated hopeless,y that distressed
visitors to the Garrick Theatre. III
was the wretched quality Of the acting
The difficulty Of getting actors from
France-in spite Of the still ample
supply from England-must be all but
!nsurmountable. But there should be
on the other hand. little or no difficulty
in making the company Al powerful al
need be on the dlstaf side.
OF course the ideal Of q French
theatre for New York would be thu
Theatre Michel in Petrograd. which O.
all the temples Of French art outsid'
Of Paris Is the most famous. Their
many noted actors Of the French
stage began their careers. There SOM
notable works In the French theatr'
were acted for the first time. The In
pulse to the foundation OF such al
institution never existed in this coun
try as 1t does to-day. The intens
sympathy with France gives to ever.
utterance Of French art an eloquenc
which It never before possessed
whether II be the theatre or an.
other department Of art. There 10 n
expression Of the genius Of the Frencl
nation more human or more direct ]
it, appeal to our people than tn
drama. Persons who could not b
dragged into an art gallery are ofte
delighted to go to a theatre.
So II the French stage Is to b
represented here at all II should b
worthily represented. We don't sa
that It should be necessary to hav
a French theatre here at all. althoug
It's influence would be OF the highes
educational value. 1t u impossible fc
any American to sit through even on
Of the mediocre representations of tn
present troupe without acquiring q RI
spect for the beauty with which II
French language is spoken by thos
10 whom II Is native n the simu
taneous desire to show some Of tn
same cultivation in speaking the
own. But In every way the existent
OF a French playhouse must be benef
clal to manners In the broader sense
the word.
Even the visiting French actors
the past have rarely met with pro
perity here. Maurice Grau used
say that Sarah Bernhardt alone HI
justified the enterprise of her In
presarlos. Certainly Gabrielle REAR
who came here at the bloom of h
career and was acclaimed on all sid
as an exquisite and irresistit
Coincidence, never but on one occasi'
ever drew into the theatre an audien
that covered the cachet which h
managers assured her. That was
the occasion of her debut at Able,
Theatre in "Mme. Sans Gene" T
experience here Of Jean Mounet Su'
was even more Notifying. He W
rejected without a hearing in spite
his skill as a romantic actor OF
most fiorid Latin school. The thea'
was pitifully empty whenever he a