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Show ORPHEl'M The word 'silence Is tha keystone In the arch of a skillfully built characterisation by William H. Thompson, the clever character actor. In "The Wise Rabbi." which la running at the Orpheura this week. With rare art Mr. Thompson delineates delin-eates the restraint of words and conveys con-veys by pantomimic expression what he wants to sav In part until he reaches the climax, when he can utter the word to which he was restricted. Tha story of the play is one that could be well adapted to mowt of the situations in life and teacheB the value of a single word. It Is based on the persecution of the Jewish people by the Russian government. Tha wise rabbi has vainly been seeking a personal interview with the chancellor of the empire, to Intercede In-tercede for his people. He Anally succeeds suc-ceeds through the paid Intercession of a gardener, but only on the condition that he will confine his words to a single ore and that every word In excess ex-cess of that shall add so much to their persecution and to the punishment of the gardener who brought the rabbi to hhn. It is also brought out by the chancellor chan-cellor that the emperor's council Is divided di-vided on tha Jewish question and that the deciding volufe la that of the chancellor. chan-cellor. The rabbi accepts the condition of the interview and with gesture and facile expressions shows the emotion of restraint re-straint and also pleads for his brethren. breth-ren. So faithful Is Mr. Thompson's delineation de-lineation that he holds the attention and arouses full curiosity as to what the spoken word Is to be, until the chancellor chancel-lor Insists on the word, which finally .cornea .with, akillful dramatic effect, "al- The chancellor promises to keep -lent as the curtain falls. Something "deuced ly English, you know," Is "The Dandles." a musical melange me-lange and burlesque hv Henry J. Corner and company. The skit la a novel one and goes with snap. In striking contrast with the artistry' of Mr. Thompson's personation of the wis- rabbi la the buffoonery of tho Wilsons, Wil-sons, fharles and Adelaide, in "The Messenger, t he Maid and t he V'loll n." They apparently caught the crowd. The Wood brothers offer something different on the flying rings, and Incidentally In-cidentally exhibit muscular develop, ment. In keeping with their announcement announce-ment as Irish athletes thev do their stunts to the .accompaniment of good old Irish tunes. Patsy Doyle, the funereal humorist, has added some new songs and Cass to his monologue. Although Dsn Burke hair Is white, his legH are stilt nimble, mM he leads a danoe. assisted by Molly Moller and six wonder girls. Mlsa Moller and the girla also give a novel musical turn which consists of pholng a string of hella with their feet while lying on their backs. The hill aho include F.)n Ward, the versatile vocalist." a moving picture and a selection by the concert orchestra. COmxiAL-Falt Lakers have an op-porl.mltv op-porl.mltv of seeing the big. gripping iST-T!r B"rrl-'"-M m Rex Beach ? novel of that name, which began an en-fYntn!. en-fYntn!. at lh Gonial theatre last night before an audience, friendly and generous with applause. The plot convincingly con-vincingly deals with an Alaskan story of Intense human laterest snd sends home a moral that makes von think. Norval Mae. Oregor, Kleanor Haber and Lea Miller take good care of their parts. Mac-TTiTor-.w." in vnr respect satisfying as John t-Jale. the big. rough handed, noble hearted squaw man. and In playing the roll of Necla. the girl In the story. Eleanor Elea-nor Haber won frequent applause. 8 he acted her toy scenm with rharm M feeiln. While le Miller, aa the army officer. me to hln many dramatic altua-tlona altua-tlona In a vlcoroua and maaterly manner, he waa not eo perauadlnir In love niaktnff despite the fact that h la supposed to he a spirited southerner. Mr. Miller bas undeniable talent and should he able to make a more ardent lover. ,Rrvce How-atson How-atson as Htark. the miscreant adventurer la convincing, and Oeore Cleveland lvea a fine portrayal of Foleon Dorret and won ready sympathy as a devoted lover with no chance. The balance of the troupe do very ood work and the play la sprinkled with jusr enouah comedv to make It pleasing. The tableaux are all effectively done and the ending la of the happy sort. "The Barrier" la as g.iod as any of the plays of the northwert country, and should draw to capacity houses. |