Show I t r NEW PLAYS SEEN ON 2 BROADWAY I BY FRANKLIN N FYLES New York Nov 29 Seldom indeed does doel one week bring two J plays lays so near to the extremes of safety and danger as ONeill of at Derry the Irish drama d ma made for Chauncey Olcott ann and The of the most at daringly peculiar comedy since Peter I Pan It Is written In such a naive spirit of so 50 nearly de devoid deold devoid void old of common common sense so 50 utter In the childishness of Its sentiment that harles Charles Frohman deserves a courage medal for tor presenting It In cynical Broadway Peter Pan had the th prestige pres prestige prestige tige of J 1 M Barrio Barrie and Maud Adams to authorize Its whimsical The new play Is from Austin Strongs generally unknown pen and Its central actor Is S W J 1 Ferguson noted ever SQ so long as an expert In crisply seriocomic characterization but no charmer of the senses yet here assigned to the role of ofa a man who shows sixty years In his face tace while neither his mind nor his hla heart gives out s q g sign of having grown grownup grownup up above ten For a quarter of ot an hour The Toy maker of ot Is like the gar garden garden garden den scene In Romeo and Juliet with witha a boy and a 0 girl giving their love to each other over a garden wall The remainder of the tho first act resembles The Cricket on the Hearth and more too Strongs of being still sUII more guilelessly affection affectionate ate ato than Dickens toy maker of Ot London This sweet silly old fellow tellow Is the fa ra rathe fathe father the ther of ot the new Rome Homed his employers daughter is the new Juliet and when the action passes along to a resemblance resemblance resemblance blance of ot Dickens the new Caleb Plum Plummer Plummer Plummer mer is discharged because he wont turn from the tho making of the tho dolls he ho loves to the Teddy bears he despises gk The refuses to adapt him himself himself himself self to the shift from dolls to Teddy bears He lie regards gardS r his dollies dontes as fit creatures for children to love loe but butas butas butas as to petting ugly why wh he is no such as to countenance countenance countenance ance It ft His gentle obduracy brings on ona ona ona a money stringency and the old op Is gloomed to pathetic pessi pessimism pessimism Strongs diction is as plain as a primer the plot as sim simple simple simple as a nursery tale the construction no more studied than a pile of baby building blocks and the action not less naive than tha that of ot the dolls The all In the initial audience were nuzzled at first by b the artlessness and tried Tied for tor awhile to construe It as an problem next they were a little Inclined to disdain it but soon they yielded to Its charm Finally an automobiles honk broke the spell and they heard the stopping of ot a motor car A door was flung open and into the quaint old toy shop through the window of which the fat face e of ot famous clock was vis visible ible strode a man in the garb garbot gar b of ot a sporting motorist He was a long absent elder son BOn Ho He caught up his hi mother In his arms hugged her kissed kisse d her and cried out vociferously Tin I your little boy mamma your little baby boy No one in the theatre e laughed There was the applause o ot o ef f approval but not so much as a titter of derision Author Strong tron however or It may have been Frohman as h his he his e is said to have been himself the of this play of ot unique pleasure fixed Shed the tho limit of adult Juvenility at a a dozen repetitions of mamma by the th e i returned and let him call all his father papa So the merri merrl merriment mer ri tent ment come until it was meant mean t 11 to which was when the big fellow de der dared lared r that he ho had returned from America enriched by making and sell sellIng selling Ing Teddy Tedd bears That stopped the th e bankrupt auction sale of the I ers era home and made the marriage marri ge of ot the German Romeo Borneo and Juliet possible T l Jj Ie jt The contract of t safety in ONeill of ot Derry Is wide Chauncey Olcott mak making making making ing his New York debut In a theatre of ot fashionable standing acted his ills usual Ing ng Irish hero In n a good goodnew goodnew goodnew new melodrama Still he does doea vary yary the entertainment by running It through an intermission He showed promise of f rivaling Frank Daniela Daniels and De Wolf Hopper as a comedian who may be belo looked lo ked to for by making a witty speech in his own character Having in the third act of ONeill of Derry come triumphantly through five distinct and retained the love In his heart with the song on his lips unimpaired and being pelted with bouquets he was forced to make a speech At the start he lumbered enough in his efforts to utter thanks to convince me of his sincerity In hold holding holding holding ing back Then when he got warmed up as he frankly expressed It ft he turned to anecdotes What the news newspaper newspaper newspaper paper critics might say was on his mind First he told of at a morning at atthe atthe atthe the Lambs Iambs club with an actor who had appeared In a new now play the night be before before before fore and looked dejected as he read the morning reviews Do they say bad things about you au asked a friend Many was the answer Do they say good things More Well Nell put in the he friend look out for the day when they dont say anything Olcott became more personal with astory a astory astory story about himself In Minneapolis where he discussed with a Journalist friend the opinion of ot a Detroit paper that an actor should keep In the press even if it he has to irritate to do doIt doIt doit it It Olcott Inquired what was the best way to annoy writers to that end md Do you really want wait to irritate them he was asked Mildly said the actor Well Vell the Journalist concluded Just keep right on acting as you always have ha vo There is nothing to Irritate anyone in Theodore Burt Sayres ONeill of ot Derry Der Derry Derry ry Sayre has had much experience In writing this style of play for tor Olcott and Andrew Mack It ventures no in innovation Innovation innovation novation upon the form torm and character of the conventional genial saucy ro romantic romantic mantic mantle melodrama of or Irish popularity A 4 young cavalier of Ireland singing when not blarneying of ot rescuing ladles ladies in distress his own especial colleen in particular Is not fighting a cruel Eng English lish landlord this time nor has he a group of children or a dog to sing to but he does end all his difficulties in inthe Inthe Inthe the beautiful ruins of an abbey which we see however In the gray of ot dawn instead of ot moonlight He is lighter hearted than many m ny of his sort because all his tribulations tribulations come really from being mistaken for a rebel friend who has returned secretly to Londonderry to see his old sweetheart now the wile wife of the Cromwell governor of the town So we can contain ourselves when we wesee wesee w e see ONeill captured and taken before e the leering governor and even when that wicked man sneaks across the th e stage to stab him in n the back fortu fortunately dropping dead from heart fail failure failure ure ore Just as he has the knife lifted There Is ONeill in greater danger than before lest hp be accused of murder murdering murderIng murdering ing the tho assassin The only way of ot es escape cape ape Is through a locked door guarded on fife ther side by three armed men ONeill carries out a pretty plot to marry the governors wife now happi happl happily ly b widowed to the t e man of her first choice ONeill Nelll shoots off oft the lock of o othe the door whereupon the three guards rush In and at the ladys direction I pursue her supposed assailant into In an an adjoining room Now ONeill is hid hidIng hiding ing behind that opened door so that when it Is closed behind them he es escapes escapes escapes capes down the now unguarded passage pass passage passage age For ONeill Is tricky as well as brave In the cases of two plays las brought bOUght out here The Girls of Hollan Holland and Dr Wakes Patient there has ha been enough of hope deferred to make the authors heart sick Take first the musical comedy In which the girls mentioned In the title are not all of Hollands girls as might be Inferred from the title but only three of ot them who sing and dance with three stu students students students dents while passing through courtship Into wedlock edlock Several years ago when Pill Piff Pall Patt was new New NewYork NewYork NewYork York laughed at Eddie Foy as a sand sandman sandman I man In a scene at a seashore he lay I down to take a nap on the beach and busted busied himself in the sand so that I when discovered he was mistaken for forone forone one of those Images that wandering sculptors mould for small coin at seaside sea seaside I side resorts It was In that show that Foy Fay won non on over New York to an agree agreement ment meat with Chicago that he was a funny fun funny funny I ny actor The writers of the play I Stanislaus Stange and Reginald de deKoven deKoven I Koven decided to put their pens pans p ns to together I gether In a work for Foy and call it The Snow Man olan because he would i I come rome out of a snowdrift as the other I wayfarer had out of ot a sand dune Foy I like it when it was done and it was tried in n several cities with an another another another other comedian and without any an suc success success success cess That the tile end of it how ever exer for the authors wrote It over again gain this time basing it on a Dutch legend of own origination I suspect of a man coming down from the north to chill chili everyone who come c me near him until love lit a aflame aflame aflame flame In his heart and he melted away Now not The Snow Man Ian for that title had meanwhile been used by a lyceum show but nut The Girls of ot Hol Hoi Holland Hoiland Holland land comes to the big theatre of which de do Koven is a n part owner It Isa is isa Isa a bright melodious and rather rather rathe active show but The Snow Man laughable and the authors remain i heartsick from their deferred hopes to Mr Ir and Mrs Raynor Mackay Macka Lon London London don linn wrote two years ears ago a o a comedy in which a Dr Wake dressed I the arm of a Lady when she was thrown from a horse That en encounter encounter encounter counter was In the doctors parents and they parted lovers yet know each other so much as by byname byname byname name How they met again at his London office where she was sent by her mother to be treated for lovesick lovesickness lovesickness lovesickness ness and how the course of ot their true truelove truelove truelove love as at length made to sun I smoothly over obstacles of social caste were set forth divertingly Dan Daniel DanIel Dantel iel tel Frohman bought the play for tor use i iby by his wife Margaret Illington and she was getting ready to act in it when along came remarkable drama The Thief with a particularly particularly particularly suitable role for Margaret So the Mackay hearts were sickened by bythe bythe bythe the deferring of their hopes At a matinee performance of Dr Wakes Patient though with smooth and plump mp Grace Elliston as the pa patient patient patient tient and Bruce McRae as the doctor the authors figured as comedians too If It you have ever eer seen Bruce McRae and Charles Wyndham also has their strong resemblance struck you That comes of their being uncle and nephew McRae now looks and acts Just about as thirty years ago In Inthe Inthe Inthe the audience next row in front of me were his aunt sister and wife of Bronson Howard also Uncle Bronson and Mrs Irs McRae As the object ob object object of ardent wooing in the play Grace Elliston was in size con configuration conI configuration figuration and style much like Mrs I McRae the wife wire had a rare opportunity opportunity opportunity to see how he and she had looked when in the process process of or real betrothal he hugged and kissed while telling her how why and how much ha ho loved lov d her McRae Is the heartiest of make behave bellve lovers and I wondered as I watched Mrs Irs McRae and she ahe watched Mr Ir McRae but the use of guessing at such a problem A magazine stor by Anne Warner entitled The Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary contained a wealthy New Eng land old maid who dotingly mothered a nephew and came to New York to help him out of ot a scrape with a girl While here Aunt Mary fell into the th kindly yet jovial hands of the nephews chums who made madea a a sport of introducing her to the manners and customs of the Tenderloin At a supper sup supper j per er which they gave in her honor she thought a crab was an over overgrown OV overgrown r grown spider that champagne was bot bottled bottled bottled cider elder and that oysters in their shells were meant for Jokes on her strength of stomach She took to city ways however and carried them to her country home This character looked IO ked to Miss Warner and May Mar Rob Robson Robson Robson son like a good one for Miss eccentric style of acting The core of New York the center of life that rises above the normal ninety eight in temperature temp and stays fever feverishly feverIshly above a hundred is after all a village unto Itself a big and very so sophisticated sophisticated village yet one In which everyone knows everybody else by sight If not by acquaintance In this community May piny Robson Is a consider considerable considerable considerable able figure figurea a cutup in short a the theatrical theatrical theatrical May Is no relative to the dead Stuart Robson nor to the live lire Eleanor Robson and I dont suppose she is known at all throughout the country but to the Broadway public she is a familiar personage As an ac actress actress actress tress her specialty Is eccentric make makeup makeup up She keeps so thriving a boarding house that she need to work on the stage for a living and so she has acted only when some manager ma wanted her at a week As she been worth north that off oft Broadway she a professional tourist Her deferred hope and Miss Warners may ma be realized but they erred In making the play themselves Instead of turning the story over to some expert farce writer and so 50 it Is s weakly amateurish where It might be professionally strong It was all right however to the mind of her friends who composed the first audience They laughed at atall all ajl the fun and even tried to weep at the pathos Skill In eccentric makeup as I said Is Miss peculiar value She Introduces the old maid at her home as us an Abigail Prue like Neil Nell Burgess In The County Fair in dress irascible in temper but kindly at heart In a second act In her neph nephews nephews nephews New York bachelor quarters she is a feminized Uncle Josh Whitcomb resembling in her initiation to tu city elt ways the adventures of Denman Thompson In The Old Homestead and In the third act back at the farm house she Is la original with the rejuvenation rejuvenation rejuvenation venation of Aunt Mary Iary When the curtain goes up UD she Is In bed with a headache from her visit to her nephew Her hair is Js in curl papers and her night gown is plain so that when slip she gets up the figure she presents Is still But as the action pro proceeds proceeds proceeds point after atter point of change In her Is ia disclosed dl closed She smokes a cigar cigarette cigarette cigarette ette and drinks a cocktail before break fast has ha a maid dress diess her hair in the latest mode and throwing off the unadorned un unadorned unadorned adorned nightie steps forth In the gid diest outfit of lingerie that ever a belle of the Tenderloin wore Miss debut was one on of the fenny stage Incidents of a dozen years yean ago In girlhood she had done some dancing and she hired out to be merely one of many In the ballet chorus of an extravaganza Skit dancing was at that time a fad tad and one of its experts was as to be a |