OCR Text |
Show Hgfl l)$L ' - n I - '" '' "' ' " mi urn i, . i I.... I I i. . i. in .1.1. I IM.1,1 .c- ,-,-,,i I .-..mi III 't&Pith the Firtft-JVfijghterj iS H 1 i; (I "MARTA OF THE LOWLANDS." H II ' After seeing "Marta of the Lowlands," on H I ff wonders why Miss Roberts did not produoe this B i J!' beautiful story by Angel Guimera on the opening H J m night. Her portrayal of the unfortunate Tess suf- H I H fers by comparison with the Spanish drama, al- H m though as the wronged Marta she has far less H ! W play for her great talents. H ) if "Marta Jpf the Lowlands" is the llay with H ' it which Mrs. Flske vattempted, With but indifferent HI R success, to enthuse New York, a thing very dlffl- Hifi cut to understand indeed, In view of the really H' tH strong and beautifully staged production In which H f Miss Roberts is starring. Probably Mrs. Plaice herself was not much enamored of the play, for S Marta is but a lesser light In the drama and fur lad, light-hearted Manelich of the goat herdB holds the center of the stage. 'h sBBBs&iBBBBBBBBBBBBHHEtS hi IHeB -vHi 3$ifjw9flsBBsBB K GEORGE TH VlVHJiK IN I HK CULJiNTY CHAIRMAN Hjh l The Play is & ot the flaw of dullness of lines Hj) and poverty of situation. Although there is noth- H I ing in Manelich's dialogue which is reminiscent of F Justin McCarty's florid lines, it is all very force- h ful, with the simplicity of the high hills always B? maintained In his words. Hobart Bosworth Bfr achieves something to be remembered as the H: sheepskin mantled Manelich, who makes a strlk- K ingly picturesque figure as the mountaineer and K . is natura and forceful throughout In a roll which B,; presents giany temptations for over-acting. K. Tuo V&vt of Marta probably gives Misa Roberts B, the least trial of her powers of any character in K' her repertoire, although ' jBhe appears to advan- R" tage as the dark-haired Castllian beauty, and the B absence In this role of many of her little man- B nerlsms is a pleasing variation. But Miss Rob- B erts never overlooks dramatic possibilities, and B was always admirable in the emotional scenes. Hi- In the character of the despotic master, Mr. Kf Lucius Henderson did all that was expected of Ri "Ira, which was mostly to look very mercenary HH; and very fierce, and to threaten in tones of great HB stridency. Oliie Copper showed rare talent, sur- BHb prising in one of her years, as the little peasant HH Klrl Nurl, and played the part with an ease and BB naturalness worthy of a wintered thesplan. BSBSBHl ' "TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES." Some day, let "us hope, that plays of the type of "Toss of the D'Urb'ervIlles" will no longer be seen on any stage. The distress and sorrow, and awful tragedy of every situation, should be too much for even the weepy woman who snuffles through the powerful scones, and certainly there is nothing In suoh a drama that can appeal to the better side of human nature. What of the cheerfulness cheer-fulness of the world can be found in such a terrible terri-ble picture as that of the life of Tess? Deception, tearB, perfidy, tears, poverty, tears, drunkenness, tears, murder, and more tears, and after three hours and a half of dire sorrow, you go out into the night, light of heart, and "fawncy free" perhaps. per-haps. And admitting that Miss Roberts is a good ac-tross, ac-tross, whose interpretations are usually of a high order, it was impossible to keep from comparing her performance with that of Mrs. Flske, and Miss Roberts suffered by the comparison. The price was just half, however, and that is one of the reasons that it was that half. In the last scenes of the play, especially Mrs. Fiske was infinitely superior in every way. Lucius Henderson was even worse in this play than in past performances, and that is saying enough for those who did not see him to wonder what he could have done. As Angel Child pardon par-don Angel Clare, he was the finest imitation of wax works ever seen outside of a gallery, and he does much to detract from Miss Roberts' strongest strong-est scenes. Hobart Bosworth as Alec D'Urberville was very good, as a very bad man, until his last scene, which let him down greatly. Both of these men were so much superior in "Marta," that to see both plays, one could scarcely believe the people playing them were the same. Oille Cooper distinguished herself as Abraham. In this remarkable child, we have seen one of the cleverest youngsters upon the stage today. But, away with such gruesome exhibitions as the life of Tess portrays. It is a pretty good world after all, and there are tears enough to go around without forcing them with such harrowing pictures of sorrow. O vV V "THE COUNTY CHAIRMAN." "The County Chairman" will be produced at the Salt Lake theatre on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and matinee, under the management of Henry W. Savage. A good deal of interest is being manifested In this production, for it is Mr. Ade's first venture into the field of straight comedy. He has handled comic opera libretti successfully, and theatre goers hero are ourious to know how he has treated a dramatic theme without the aid of a musical setting. The story relates to a rural political contest for the office of state's atorney. Ellas Rigby has . been nominated for the office and Jim Hickler. the county chairman, to bring about Rigby's defeat, storms the convention of his party, and secures the nomination of his junior partner in the law business, Tillford Wheeler, without the latter's knowledge. Wheeler has asked the daughter of Rigby to marry him, but Is forced by his partner to make the race. However, he promises the girl that he will not make an open fight against her father and keeps his word until Rigby openly assails as-sails him at a publio meeting, when he mounts the platform and denounces the old man in strong language. This breaks the engagement Through the county chairman's manipulation of political wire Wheeler wins the fight for of- flee and also gets the girl. The scenes and incidents inci-dents relate to the early '80s, and the costumes represent the prevailing styles of this period. The scenery is typical of Mr. Ade's theme. In writing "The County Chairman," Mr. Ade has worked out a typically western comedy, rural it atmosphere, but avoiding the conventionalities of this form- of entertainment. Ho has made a promising selection of characters, and has garnished gar-nished his political theme with a love element quite different from anthing he has ever before written. Mr. Savage has given the piece adequate production pro-duction The scenery possesses a strong sugges--tion of local color, and the company will be a large one. The cast is headed by Theodore Roberts, Rob-erts, and includes George Thatcher, the well known minstrel for whom Mr. Ade has written some oapital comedy lines. Mr. Thatcher will appear ap-pear as a colored politician, commonly known as a floater. "The County Chairman" is characteristically American, and bright and wholesome throughout, BILLY VAN WITH HAVERLY'S MINSTRELS. It is by a young man whose name has become a household word all over America, and who is recognized rec-ognized as the foremost young humorist of the day. If you misa this product of his clever pen it is your own fault. 4V &V O HAVER LY'S MINSTREL8. We all know th.at Haverley's Minstrels will not be here next week but W. B. Nankeville's "Haverley's Minstrels" will be here on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Salt Lake Theatre, with a matinee on Wednesday, and Billy Van is in the troupe, and Jimmy Wall Is with them, and from everything that can be heard regarding the organization, organ-ization, we're going to see a gooa minstrel show. We're all hungry for such a performance to slip in betwixt musical cpmedy, gloomy dramas, and light comedies, and It is certainly cheerful to hear in advance that a lot of new ones are to be passed to us from the men at the end of the line. For Instance Billy Van has one that runs something some-thing as follows: "I went to the morgue, and identified the father of a friend of mine. Somebody wiggled the corpse, and a fine set of false teeth fell to t&a floqr, That made the identification worthless. The darn fool, if he'd kept his mouth shut he'd had a hell jjf . a, fine funeral." ' " Besides this "assassin of sorrow" it is claimed that there are ten or twelve other comedians who , are all worth the money, and there surely should be some fun in such a bunch. So you probably have a good laugh coming the flrst of the week. |