Show I PERCY HAMMONDS HAMMOND'S LETTER NEW YORK TORE April 2 During the preliminary performance o or of Mariners Miss MIlas Us Paulino Lord th the star and Guthrie tile the tl director debated tho manner In n nIn In which tho leading character charade should hould be bo played This was wis that tha of or tho sinister wife of 0 a mec meek British h churchman whoso whose du dull rabies Tables resulted In a a. tragedy M Mr was of o tho the opinion th that Miss Lord should modify tho the mad mad- maddenIng maddening denIng lady lad with subtle applications of 0 her lIeI art and thus rEnder remit her Ier less leS liable to the hatred of ot au nu au- au For Tor a II time Miss Lore Lard L rd was nas In agreement with Ith him ar arher and her impersonation was attuned 1 t to sympathy Upon Its bitterness l sh she sprinkled d the powdered sugar ot of o otho tho the theatre and made mado It almost almos palatable But the artistes artiste's soul her that silo she was betraying her Iler- herself herself self seU and her author Miss 1 Clem Clent- Clemence once ence D- D Dane nc bv by this sentimental en- en entering co and on on tho the threshold o of New w York sho she discarded compro compro- mUes ml Therefore by b the tho time th the second act was ended on Monday Monda Mon evening at the tho Pl Plymouth mouth she ha had become so abhorrent that It I there ther had lad been en a rope In the house sh she would have haie been lynched Like the bond bankers I do not guar guar- guarantee guarantee antee the accuracy accuracy- of ot the above statements but they the come como from Crom sources which I suspect to be re re- re liable At least let they are as true tru as anything tiling else In the theatres Perhaps ere the foregoing new ne news fhe reaches you jou OU Miss 1 ss Lord will wUl have ha changed her mind again Unknown to us angered first she sho sh may mar have o accepted our advice ice and relieved her role of o some of Its ob ob- obnoxious obnoxious obnoxious noxious elements We e of ot the First Tirs Audience are arc but dogs dos upon which the tho ho new plays arc are tried and often nten wo we are so EO thoroughly h U that we e never learn the result o otho of tho the experiment For all ill that we 0 know Miss Lord may now bo be just Jus another hapless woman of the drama raising the devil with he her own life and that of 0 her neigh neigh- neighbors nel neighbors h- h bors but doing so 80 In a fashion that tha does not inspire playgoers with a wish to cut her throat On Mon Mon- Monday Monday on- on day night she was completely a disagreeable person selfish whining whining whinIng ing cantankerous vulgar and half hal witted She left nothing undone to tomake tomako tomake make mako herself friendless Compared ed to her Craigs Craig's Wife WICe was a n. winsome angel The Misses Dane Dano and Lord probably proba ably akly a l put too great a task upon our ur sympathetic understanding Drama lovers are notoriously notorious merciful to wicked women wonter and the heroines can commit few misbehaviors that we 0 do not condone We Ve feel reel sorry for Cor and interested In the tIle murder murder- murderesses murderesses esses the tho adulteresses and the les les- lesbians lesbians blans and we start tho the fountains every ever time a n. lady Jady performs a crime But such uch pests as Lilly Cobb in Mariners l fill us with withfUl fury furj fUl and we hang han around the stage door daring her to 10 come out out In Mariners Miss lIss Lord Is to tobe tobe tobe be seen slen as the wife of ot an English clergyman clergyman-a man a former maid bar 1 w whoso whose tawny tawn hair hall and md white skin had tempted him into a marriage beneath him In his youth he had ha been tho the most promising fellow tellow at Trinity but his passion for fo- or tho the pretty numbskull was ruinous though h noble For twenty years jears ears I ho hI had lovingly endured her sulky tantrums As the rector of 0 a it tin pots parish In a rural back baek- backwater backwater water he h was vas embarrassed by her ler ragging bully her envious lous con con- contempt contempt contempt tempt for tor his Ills religion and his parishioners parishioner For ever e coo sh ehe ga gave gae e him thero there were twenty fish Ish fishwife fishwife wife curse On one morning after afler she had locked him out all nigh ht because he had tarried too long a n at practice choir she boasted tha that she had erred erre 1 before b tore her h r ma mar mar- marrIage with Uh one ono of ot his best friends friend That was the most human humm thin thing sho she did In all her bothersome ca reel reer Miss U Mary ar Kennedy Kenned as Joan Joa an honest sprout sproul o othe 01 the new generation seemed t to agree with Miss 18 Dane and Mis Miss Lord lArd that the distressing Lilly de deserved deserve served servel serve consideration She advanced ed ell tho the Impression that poor 1001 thin thing had been In love o with her hus hus- husband husband band but that silo she had been un un- unfortunate unfortunate unfortunate fortunate In the manner of ot express express- expressIng expressIng expressing Ing herself There were moments on Monday night when hen Miss Ken Ken- Kennedy's Kennedys Kennedys Kennedy's nedy's believable acting almost almos convinced us that hat Lilly was mor morn morto morto to be pitied than censured Still StillI I think that at Dot the end lId when LIU Lilly was found dead upon the grave grae o oher of her persecuted husband most o ous of ofus ofus us regarded 1 her demise as If I have 13 0 the tho saying right a L good rid rId- riddance rIddance riddance dance of bad rubbish Miss IS Lords Lord's skill in denoting morose ladles of the t Drama Drams was wa never more moro diligently employed than In the tho sullen harridan ot of o Mariners They The say that she Is In private life a cheerful person Upon the stage however It is he her practice to be morbid and to be beso beso beso so In a way wa that to us timers old-timers has become a n. little familiar Miss Wright another Idol of or the deep thinking playgoers acted an elegant spinster who WIO was as thinly In Inlove inlove love ovo with the gentle preacher That popular actress one fears has become fond of o floating her syllables until they the resemble swallows lows swooping up Ul and down and meaning little but gracefulness i In tho the old ohl days das I r suspect su Miss Mis ss Wrights Wright's method would have havo been described as that of ot a scene- scene chew chewer er erI I confess an Ignorance as to the derivation of 0 the title Marin Mariner Mariners ers er ers It is obviously from Crom a aChurch aChurch aChurch Church of 0 England hymn which was being rehearsed by the village tillage choir as the curtain ascended Al- Al Although Although though hough I have spent tho the afternoon telephoning to 10 my Episcopalian acquaintances to ask them w what whal hat 1 It itis Is is s. s none nono of 0 them can Inform mo me Herbert Asbury Asbur a Methodist and the he author of Hatrack et ct cetera suggests that it ft may may- maybe be beYe beYe Ye gentlemen of oC England That live e at ease Ah ih Little do you think upon Tho The danger of the seas I Ask me another Reviving the spirits of oC the dis- dis discourAged show business Is the tho spectacular propensity of 0 The Spider an overflowing mystery melodrama at Chanin's theatre In sixth Forty street This entertain entertain- entertainment entertainment ment Is so full Cull of 0 actors that they get et et under your our feet Ceet and drop upon you ou from the chandeliers Nearly earh all ill the front chairs arc are occupied by y players and If IC your our broker has been vigilant you ou may find your your- yourself our self elf adjacent to the villain or the heroine This for- for fortune fortune tune une placed him next to a bulky bulk comedienne whose errand it tt was to rise arise every ery few tew minutes and shout embarrassing Inquiries Near Nl by byas b was as the hero heto he o Mr r. r John Halliday and nd also police Inspector the reporter for Cor The Graphic the king Ing ot of the dope ring and the man who ho committed the murder The final nal act was played with the aisles by 11 officers with withdrawn Ith drawn rawn pistols and the tho assassin was Va as arrested Just as he lIe was about to o crawl between your our correspond correspond- correspondents correspondent's ent's nt's legs It was an opportunity to o nob hob with the performers I without having to go to the Lambs Lambs' or the padlocked clubs You Tou may mar guess from Crom the fore- fore foregoing going that The Spider Is what is known kno lown n as a a. novelty A very cun- cun cunning cunning ning ng one too loo replete with tricky chills ch lills and fevers ers None one of o the dramas drama's routine laws hamper Us lis authors a couple of Harvard men en In their aspirations to dl- dl vert crt They The begin casually with a vaudeville show show show-a a news nes reel graceful grace CuI feats In roller skating an amusing musing team of ot face black song and nd dance men and Chatrand the thereat Great reat a necromancer assisted by b Alexander lexander the Boy Bo with the Radio Ra- Ra Rao dIo o Eyes Ees While Alexander is reading mind the number on your Insurance policy the lights go out a revolver is fired and your our neighbor with whom you you may have lave been chatting topples from his s seat scat with lIh a bullet In his bos bos- om m Immediately Immediate the theatre Is loud oud with excitement A doctor Is 3 called for from the audience and hurries to the dying mans man's assist assist- assistance ance Uproar prevails pre ails and the tho shrieks of 0 hysterical persons persona dis- dis disarrange disarrange arrange tho the air The Tho Spider is iso no o place for an expectant mother It then becomes the duty of Mr r. r Halliday as us the magician to fer- fer ferret ferret ret et out the mystery He lie Is the pink of or prestidigitators polished quietly Jocular and conspicuously tailored He lIe can turn an nn Ameri- Ameri American can an flag Into a a. bowl of 0 goldfish and nd put them both Into his waistcoat waist waist- waistcoat coat at pocket When they handcuff handcut him m on the charge of 0 having killed Carrington the morphine man he slips from his fetters as easily easily- as or an eel tel Being In love lovo with ith CarrIngton's pretty ward he not ot only on I proves No by b his magic that her cr brother is Innocent of the crams rime but that thal he himself and almost most every everyone one else elso in the audi audi- audience enco ence is similarly guiltless Since Mr 11 r. r Halliday asked us all nil to keep quiet ulet about the tho way he does It It t Is courteous only to say that he stages ages a a. spiritualistic containing con- con creeps and shivers enough to o thrill Sir Oliver Lodge Of 0 course ourse to do so he has IM to be bo an au Ingratiating actor which ho he is isAs As an example of ot the question question- questionnaire questionnaire aire or secret drama The Spider excels most of ot the tho mystery shows with which this reviewer has been Intimate Impudent to the point ot of t daring It tells its tale vividly and md with an occasional o flash nash of ot humor Its actors are arc good 1 At melodrama and Its stage direction Is 3 audacious and graphic Goose Goose- Gooseflesh flesh esh and smiles alternate In The Tire which is the tho work of 0 Fulton ulton Oursler the novelist and Lowell Brentano the publisher and bookseller |