The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-12-12

When John owens wandered about
looking for his barrel of apple sass It
did not make much difference what
sort of n cripple as drama THE
Philadelphia Lawyer" or as it later
came to be known, "Solon Shingle,"
might happen to be. Dion Boucicault
doctored UP RIP Van Wrinkle" for
Joseph jefferson before he acted 1t IN
London in order that it might seem
little moro impressive as drama. The
introduction of the two children, which
was his work, was thought to have
bettered the dramaturgy of the affair.
But what a hopeless specimen of
play the thing always remained to all
who were not lost in the magic of Mr..
Jefferson's acting.
So 1t was with the lest of the plays
of those days. Edwin Booth drawing
the awful circle of he church about
Marion DeIorme or launching the curse
OF Rome at his enemies altogether
deafened the audience to the artificial
ity AMI bombast of every line of Bull
wer Lytton's play about the willy
"Richelieu." There are no actors on
the stage to-day who could reconcile
the public to the sugary sentiment and
feverish unreality of "The Lady Of
Lyons" although there was a time in
which the skill Of the players could
win cordial acceptance for the drama
anywhere.
The public was no more critical OF
the school that followed. To illustrate
the so-called emotional" genius of a
list of gifted actresses that came into
the glaring calcium in our theatre,
there were no dramas so well suited
as the output of the French writer's
OF the '70s SO that brilliant sister
hood which included Matilda Heron,
Lucille Weston. Rose Eytinge. Fanny
Davenport, Clara Morris, Agnes Ethel
and others whose fame has not lin
gered so long in the memory of thea
TRIGGERS, we're seen almost exclusively
In plays from the French such as
Miss Mutton" article Az" Alike"
"Coralie" and the various adaptations
that Boucicault and other playwrights
of the time made for American use.
So much more important to the taste
OF the time was the actor than the play
that repetition did not exhaust the popu-
larity of a work as II so speedily does
to-day. The eager theatregoer went 10
zee tnlS OF tnat aClItSs NOHStpNlOh "
part not the play in which she acted.
II was not only the theatre of Shake
speare that held them in such thraldom
for wears The men were not only
sought out in the classic heroes such as
Hamlet and Otheiio, but in "Rlchelieu.
"The Iron Chest" 1.-THE Marble Heart
"The Dukes Motto and the rest of the
dramatic junk of the period which was
never looked upon by the devoted audi
ences as a mere play, but as means OF
displaying the virtuosity of some beloved
player In the meantime the native
drama was equally but the mirror OF
some popular stars personality, whether
was Frank Chanfrau in Exit, the Ar
kansas Traveller or John T. Raymond
in "The Golden Age"
This being the period of the actor
rather than the play, foreign celebrities
hurried to these shores as they have not
In recent years. Tommaso Salvini and
Adelaide Ristori came from Italy and
later Helena Modjeska from Poland
with Marie Seebach. Luwig Barnay
Marie Geistinger and other Teutonlc
celebrities to play for their own brothers
and sisters and a somewhat more ex.
tended clientele. or course they brought
foreign plays with them.
Which was the cause and which the
efect7 Did all the eminent players pass
out OF view. forcing the public to Absorb