Show I TilE THE WEEKS OFFERINGS IN GOTHAM BY 1 RAN KLI N FYLES New York Sept Sept 8 America has no dramatists to rank with Henry Arthur Jones and Arthur Wing PInero nor nor havo have France Prance and Germa Germany ny among their men now writing for tor forthe forthe the stage and HO 80 o Broadway is thea theatrically theatrIcally theatrically proud this week with plays which are by common agreement t the very best o of the two Englishmen work In this example of Pinero the namo name of John rohn Drew Drow id 18 i added to the and Johns John name is one to con conjure conjure jure Juro modish h attention with and al at although although though Jones piece has ha no starred actor the ado over its ita introduction in New York ahead ohead of London is IH helped by the presence of tho author Bo So autumn starts in this town with lite literary and artistic distinction in drama The portion of Henry Arthur Jones The Hypocrites which makes it a 11 marvel is less than a minute In hi dura duration duration tion and ana is not reached until tho the end endot of ot the tho third act The preceding two hours have been occupied by the tho ef of efforts efforts forts of an English county family to suppress a 0 scandal ltd HE It low fortunes were to have been lifted by Its sons marriage to an heiron Suddenly the prospect of oC prosperity Was Wad obscured by the intrusion of a 0 pitiful girl Whom ho he has hn lead lend astray If tho heiress learns learn what he had done sho alio would refuse to become his wife wire his par parents parents parents conspired with their lawyer lowyer phy physician physician and pastor hypocrites all With unreal piety to kill kUl truth and honor The Tho culprit swore that he ho was guilt guiltless guiltless less lesa The Tho girl was bribed by b main maintenance maintenance for her and tho the forthcoming child to sign jg a 0 declaration that ho was not its ita father The Tho only opponent to the measures was a youn oun curate obdurately conscientious and resolute resolutely ly determined that they should not pre prevail prevail vail van against truth and honor He was wasco coaxed co ed and berated he was offered the reward of ot a 0 pastorate if it he yield yielded ed and the penalty of ot expulsion from the church if It he stood fast but he would not be a hypocrite and they formally doomed him at a meeting of ot all the parties concerned That brought the action UD u to the th minute of ot the dramatic convulsion You are hypocrites and liars the curate cries in absolutely hopeless de dc denunciation denunciation of those who had defeated him all aU damned hypocrites and liars even oven you and he hI flings out his hand towards the miserable girl He has been exceedingly kind to her herand herand herand and his righteous anger is more than she can bear She falls faUs into the arms of her recreant lover the sight of her distress makes him manly he blurts out a confession and the audiences applause be heartier if what they see were actual life The Hy Hypocrites Hypocrites Hypocrites is a triumph of masterly sin singularity singularity singularity But if I an unknown John Jones instead of the authoritative Henry Arthur had written it no the theatrical theatrical theatrical manager would have capital capitalized capitalized izod the seemingly forlorn hope of a play In I which right up to the end of the third act all the characters save one and including the principal lov by lovers byera ers eros are contemptible X It JL t JL i Who says that no play can succeed without lovers Here Is His House Housein in Order taking the tho town and no one I in it saying I r love you The author is Arthur Wing PInero and from no dramatist less authoritative would woud any manager have accepted its lack of ot am Interest But the point is that having got to the public it entertains strongly notwithstanding that presumable presumable presumable able weakness That is the thc most sa salient blent fact about the new Pinero piece Another peculiarity Is that it presents first absolutely stainless he rome roine Margaret Illington is I use that name rather than that of the fic tic fictional character because you may my have seen the actress and know what a vi vital vital tal tab healthful handsome human crea creature creature creature ture she is Yet she is the center of a family cyclone with no phenomena of courtship or divorce The heroine of ot His House in Order is the second wife of a man whose first wife wiCe was a model of domestic method which the second is not He brings In Ina ina ina a with an advisory and blood relatives of the dead wife and unaffiliated with the tho live one oneto to keep his house In order So the Illington bride is ignored snubbed browbeaten and while the memory of ot her predecessor i in wedlock is hung with garlands and circled with a halo She is of too spir spirited spirIted a nature to endure endur the cruelty calmly but her rebellious outbreaks are futile At length she hits upon the unsuspected fact that the sanctified first wife was an adulteress That gives her a weapon with which she may vanquish her persecutors But she foregoes its use and instead gains by admirable renunciation her proper place in her husbands esteem and at atthe atthe atthe the head of his household The play Is a brilliant Pinero experiment and Margaret acting in it is a outburst L L JL Nevertheless John Drew is the lead bead leader beader er of the company and he Is is by the play enabled to put his professional house in order Drew has not of late years had roles helping him to more than hold his place in popularity Hj H as young as he used to be and it itis itIs Itis is hard to create stage stase heroes for mid actors I thank you he said to the audi audience audience ence enco on the opening night and then hesitated with a quizzical smile I thank you for another season Which meant that Pinero had given to Drew a character with which to gain instead of losing vogue Drew is isas isas Isas as George Alexander was in London Londona a diplomatic brother of the plays hus husband husband husband band He takes up the pitiful cause of the wife recommends her to the au audiences audiences audiences sympathy s pathY guides her through h the family amny storms and delivers her into happy sunshine In the abundance of new stage mat matter matter mattar ter tar I have no space for details of or this Pinero play And anyway I think you would rather read how Margaret Illington has to appear against her will willas willas as a smoker of cigarettes Some ac actresses actresses actresses tresses are not averse verse to the Ithe assumption assumption assumption tion of smart but most of them like to yield to the tobacco habit even In heroine smoke in sight but a cigarette case belonging to her hex is a point in the plot It an essential point though and Miss Illington begged to have it omitted But why should she object to doing in New York what Irene had done in London Pinero never waives s his reserved right to have his pieces played without al alteration alteration alteration and so she figures In public as a smoker of cigarettes people may imagine she is addicted to them in private private vate va te life lite George Ade is not tile tHe only er of stage There is a aJames aJames aJames James Forbes who equals him at writ writIng writIng writIng Ing the idiom of and excels Stahl gave utterance rance to Forbes Forbes par tahl tahi gave gat utterance to Forbes par parlance parlance parlance lance in a vaudeville sketch last year and this veel wee The Chorus Ch rus Lady Lad i JI I I a play In a dramatic thea theatre theatre theatre tre as emotional of Mrs FIske Fisko or Mrs Carter art r but with the tho fluent diction stilt still defiant of dictionaries Such talkers havo have been horse Jockeys prizefighters and cafe heroes until they thoy are no long longer er novel but here hero Is a I heroine a n chorus lady with lips Ups so 80 ungrammatical a you expect her to kiss kissIn kissIn kissin In correct English Patricia OBrien Pat for short kiss kisa recklessly however oven even though she ahe is iti a show showgirl showgirl showgirl girl for tor she sho is wise to tho the game gamo outs cuts tho the Johnnie Joker out of the pack deals the cards carda straight and plays thorn to win out with a g husband for keeps koep The Forbes assay of ot showgirl metal is that tb t of it Is bad as brass but the exceptional tenth tent is good as gold goll Pat OBrien is that ono one in ten but Whether her younger and prettier sister Nora turns out brass or gold is isa Isa a question that bat Is kept doubtful long tong i enough to provide a fl third act climax Need I tell you should guess guss it that thata a libertine lures Nora to his apart apartments apartments ments month that Pat goes there to rescue her h r that when whon their parents come tho the daughters hide hi to In a closet and nd that when Pats honest lover throw Noras tempter tempt r away from the tho door and evens eYe 5 it Pat steps forth to declare herself a wanton thus saving Noras reputation and losing her own Forbes ought to tobe tobe tobe be ashamed of that at it What makes an amusing comedy of The Chorus Lady J is the tho same inside view of a slum alum In that made the sketch humorous in vaudeville But the tho exhibition is much enlarged and elaborated rated A theatre dressing room is occupied by young women looking fit to line lino up in the beauty row of or About Town or The Tho Man From Now the weeks new n w plays of ot feminine entrance entrancement entrancement entrancement ment lift the roof root to let the public look book in ho kindly re removes removes removes moves a side wall walland and the exposure is satisfyingly deplorable It that the girls are less I Bs sightly than when in f action or that they are aro dis in their toilet processes but that they are shameless Jades talking freely of their vices bragging of their and quarreling over their rivalries in infamy When the curtain rises on this scene behind the scenes one of the tho girls is in her underclothes one is fully tullY costumed and the others are in various stages of dressing Patricia OBrien begins earlier in the intimate exhibit She en enters In plain street attire throws off her hat cloak and frock and lets us see how a show girl sirl puts things on from complexion and hair hall to an evening gown and gloves and gaiters salters All this is done with no coquetry cy ey guile guilo oi of manner And one of these things that thai the girls dont put on is the dental smile which comes off when the cur thin is down It aint the standing with one foot down with wU the other up like Uke a clocks hands biards at a quarter to 6 that makes mL me ache arhe Patricia remarks that crock crockery crockery ery cry grin is what gives me ma the tired felin in me mouth z 3 One of ot the Incidents in About Town takes clothes off chorus ladies ladles but i It alarms the sensitive spectator more at atthe atthe atthe the start than it shocks at the finish At this time the chorus represents Par Parisian ParIsian isian islan wives and fighting over husbands in a wine wino garden The girls claw and scratch like cats and the fur that files flies is raiment until all the gowns are arc torn off and strewn around But ample covering is left on and even the seeming corsets are mere outlines of ribbon More audacious is another dis display display display play A dozen show girls exactly alike In Gibson tallness and stand well apart with their backs to toward toward toward ward the audience Their long white skirts cling from hips to feet There are no sleeves nor any waists worth considering as the corsages are not only very low but are cut out freely at the armpits and not so much as a ribbon crosses the shoulders The light bight is dimmed which makes the powdered bareness match the white of the tight tightly ly drawn skirts thus giving the look of ofa ofa ofa a dozen plaster images from one mold ready to be boxed for shipment But after a moment these statuesque girls break their pose to go into exercises while singing about the out outdoor outdoor outdoor door girl sIrl Then the idea becomes clear These are feminized Instead of showing arms and amI backs lumpy with knotted muscles the trav tray travesties travesties esties of athletes present pr ent smooth sur surfaces sur sui surfaces faces They dont indicate muscle enough to raise dumbbells yet I suppose that if they were to turn turnabout turnabout turnabout about and reach out they might lift men out of the front seats scats Weber and Fields have not patched I together the trademark which they cut cutin cutin cutin in two several years ago aso This About is Fields separate show for the new season Its authors are too nu numerous numerous numerous to mention The program men mentions mentions mentions nine in one way or another It is isa Isa isa a conglomerate of songs dances and frolics in a state of mad incoherence Fields enters it as the driver of a cab drawn by a horse that has boys legs and a mechanical head with a mouth that laughs and ears that cock know knowingly knowingly knowingly In the next act he Is the man manager manager manager ager of a combined bank res restaurant restaurant restaurant and gambling and he headds headds headds adds to the profits by insuring against loss by burglary robbing robbins the vault of Imaginary money and having a photographer photographer photographer ready to make moving pictures of the crime to prove its reality In Inthe Inthe Inthe the company alongside the mite of an Edna Wallace Hopper is the bulk of an Elita Proctor Otis Probably Pro ably you have had Miss Otis impress you with the courtly dignity of a Queen Eliza Elizabeth Elizabeth Elizabeth beth and likely she has thrilled you with the bestiality of a Nancy Sykes but wait till you see her as a stage to Mrs Wallaces prima donna with only three notes and all pro protested protested protested tested Miss Otis might be expected expect d to tJ characterize the part ably but can you ou imagine her singing with comic action of what a cute cutup she was When hen a girl in baby blue tights The character who qualifies for the title of The Man From Now a re remarkably reir ir whimsical extravaganza dees It by swallowing a whopping ng dose of an elixir that projects him into the distant di tant year of 2906 2006 The transit is through fleeting clouds along flashing stars Including Jupiter with its spec spectacular spectacular spectacular rings and finally a storm that looks like molten lava These phenomena ena are shown on a screen while the stage behind Is being bIng changed from the satirical Usona college of no noto nov r to the resplendence of the allegorical Vassar college of a century hereafter The Man From Now falls right into the midst of a sumptuous ballet One ol of the women tells teUs him that a hundred years have elapsed Tell me he cries was Bryan ever elected 1 That sets the audience laughing am amit and it hardly stops s st ps while Harry Bulger the player of the part is on the stage Bul Bulger Bulger Bulger ger does everything possible tp make th thA role ole amusing except to act Ho He s a 01 n a i droll fellow as aB you know and nd here herer hereIn In r park he ho Into nto numerous vicissitudes vicissitude He gets into such trouble that the chorus sings singe a dramatic and musically ambitious elaboration elaboration elaboration oration of the tho plea Oh in pity spare himl himi The impending peril perU is a penalty p nalty for or having some money moey in his pockets that being regarded as a crime tho the punishment for which is ls to be bo frozen solid soUd by blasts from liquid air guns suns All AH concerned have a tragic mien ml n ex cx except except Bulger who blithesomely leads tho ho orchestra and later sprinkles the floor loor of grass with a fluid uld that makes roses grow right up for him lim to pluck and give to the prima don donna donna donna na and the show girls Of such is |