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Show jTHKATHK'AL TOPICS. SAYINGS AND DOINGS OF THS PLATERFOLK. j The llli.i. ,,, ,, hl ire, ..r -n..l.,r llunnliK Ini' la llrlng j I'm a taina Ihe ll,lm " In j WM. h Mr tiMara Julin Ihe I, t. irtun Francis Letter.) V V !f ' , "'"n ur" MM eih WW mm r,:s ik'UX like the new coming sen son. ItlclniMl MallKtleld l lo open hla season sea-son with a splendid scenic production laid In Judea at the time of the coming of the Redeemer. Th.ll's one. W. A llrsdy has taken In hand Clay Oreene's "Nniureth." It will be put on In the east with all tbe help that the scene painter can furnish. That's another. Robert Downing Is about to produce a biblical piny at the Central theater. That's a third, and It's the nearest at hand. "Voice From the Wilderness" Is the name of the piece and Robert Downing Is to take the leading part, that of John the llnptlst. Tbe play waa written writ-ten by Edward Ellsner at .Downing'! request, and was made as big aa poa-slble poa-slble In point of scenes and number of people. tlowalng as John III Hap-tUt, It Is written about the character of John the llaptlat and abides pretty closely by the Scripture story of his career. The exception to this Is In the tale Inserted concerning He rod I as. the consort of Tetrarrh. She Is made In the play to become enamored of John and on thla fart hinges the plot. The first act shows John and his follower! In a rocky wilderness skirting skirt-ing the River Jordan. Mount Olivet appeara In the distance. Tbe sleeping pilgrims are discovered by the Roman guard which cornea In quest of the preacher. Aa daylight appears the pilgrims pil-grims gradually awaken from their slumbers and are held In awe by the preeenca of the soldiery. ' 'met ef the nibu ri,j. The guard, not finding John, promisee prom-isee to return. After their departure the Man of lod appears before his followers and la about to preach to them when they are startled by the approach of a leper. They atone him and cry: t'Unclean, unclean." John rommanda them to desist, and going to the crouching outcast, be gives him comfort, saying: "Never ahalt thou be a scorn In the sight of heaven." The Roman guards then reappear and the captain reads to John the mandato of Herod prohibiting him from prearhlnK. John sends bsck to the rrlnre his determination to carry on his mission and to tell of him who Is to come over under tbe very gates of Herod's palace. A llrllllanl keens. Tho second act upens upon a brilliant bril-liant assembly gathered In the guid 'ns at Herd Antlpas. While feasting and gamea are In progress the assembly denounces John the llaptlat for bis treasons ind bis teaching, which he Is then delivering outside the very gatea of the palace. Herod In anger command! that he be brought before him, but when John appeurs bis commanding com-manding presence and splrltuul bear-lug bear-lug captivate the Prince. He la loth to heed the clamors of his courtiers, and would set him free were It not that John refuses to cease preaching. The nobles and slavee surround him and atrlke him down, and Herodlas. appearing, requesta that he be turned over to her for punishment and torture. tor-ture. She, too, recognises In him a mysterious power which she li unable to resist, and aa her spouse departs with bis court she falls on her knees before the prophet of the Messiah. She begs that he will not denounce John and llerodlaa. her and that he exhibit merry for her. John telle ber that siie must return to her lawful husband and look to heaven heav-en for grace. He spurns ber offer of affection, and In the midst of this scene Herod returns. John upbraids tbem both for their sinful association, and thla rouses Herod to such a pitch of anger and fury that he commands that the conscientious preacher be given over to the tortures until be repents. re-pents. HsrcMlls I'leaUs wllh lllm. The rack la brought In and John Is subjected to Its painful Inflictions. All the while Herodlas, In a frensy, begs of him to repent and forgo his teachings, teach-ings, but John refuses. During this scene, the followers of the prophet have gathered In force and crush In the gatea to the palace yard. They make an onslaught on the guards, whom they drive away, and rush toward to-ward Herod and llurodius, whom they threaten with death. The curtain falls upon the scene with John standing before be-fore his followers, his arms outstretched, outstretch-ed, commanding peace, while the terror ter-ror stricken prince and princess of Ju-lea Ju-lea crouch behind him. The Wunli Hrorned. The third art Is very emotional and opens upon lleroiila' mr gT'lflcentiy furnished apartment In the raMIS The Princess has commanded llulda the slsve girl to Inveigle John the llnptlst to appear before hr unattended. unattend-ed. She has previously arranged wlt.i Ihe Roman guard to fall upon .lohn a followers and destiny them and Ihelr homes In the lowly qunrtera of Tlhe-llas Tlhe-llas If she gives a signal. The signal agreed iiihiii Is a gleam of light f'gu the window of her apartments. When the exhorter from the wilderness appeals ap-peals before her Herinllaa appeals lo hi m for some sign of affection She tells him the story of her life She oliers honor, wealth, fame to John If he will hut signify Hist her affections are not wrongly placed John rejects wllh vehemence her offers S'tiry lit lleru.Ha. I -I ,,. She then threatens hint w th tortuic and denlb and goes towaid the window to draw the drapery that will permit Ihe glow of light lo slglisl the soldiery to do their work of butchery, all of which she bus explained to the preacher, but he ktnndi unmoved Juki as the rurlnln, are diawn and a gleam of r.d flame lUMu.i up signifying that the carnage has commenced. Herod, who has been an uuoliaerved witness of what has tram-plieil. throats aside the draperies behind which he has been standing lleroillaa cowers at the apparition and Herod advances and gives to John his ring which he Is to use to protect hlmseir and his people. peo-ple. tleroit snd llero,llas. When the herald of Christianity has departed there ensues a strenuous scene. Herod, with drawn dagger, vowa to kill llerodlss He upbraids her for her disloyalty and Infidelity to him. and graxplng her by the throat la about to plunge the dagger Into her bosom, llut she Is an adept at dlplo-macy dlplo-macy and vehemently pleads with him and defies him, then proclaims her love for him. In the end she convinces Herod that she waa only tempting the llaptlat. and la again restored to hli favor and affection. A ene la Jerusalem. In the fourth act a view Is given of the market place In Jeru.ulem where John, surrounded by the traders, la exhorting them to a spiritual life and Inculcating In their minds the teach-Ings teach-Ings of the new creed. He Is hidden from view by the popiilsce aa Herod and Pontius I'llnte appear, arcompanl-ed arcompanl-ed by an escort of guards. They decide upon the arrest of John, who ateps forward and surrenders hlnuolf Into custody. There- are two scenes In the fifth act - the flrit representa the castle where John la Imprisoned, and he appears on ths wall loaded down with chain! and attended by a Jailer. Here he ll visited by Herodlas, whom he Tenant-ently Tenant-ently upbraids for her . waatoaaesa, She departs In wrath. The llsfiee at Bwloaae, The second scene Is a view of the Interior of tbe palace, where Salome haa Just completed the historic, dance, which so delights Herod that a! a reward re-ward he promisee her anything that she may wish, even to the half of the kingdom, llerodlss. filled with angel and Impelled to do vengeance, prompts her daughter to ask for the head ol John the Baptist. Herod at first refuses, re-fuses, as he admits helnv teanlM fascinated by John, but upon being ROBERT DOWNING AH JOHN TUB BAITIST. reproached for breaking his promles he orders the execution of the Imprls oned exhorter. KINIIK TOH AMI OHCIIKHTHA. When Richard Wagner waa conductor conduc-tor of the Royal opera In Dreaden, the orchestra of that Institution, though one of tbe best In Germany, waa far from being aa good aa It Is now, and Wagner had a good deal of trouble In making It follow his intentions. Borne years later, when he waa living aa an exile In Zurich, he undertook to train the local orchestra. After a few attempts at-tempts be exclaimed: "Gentleman, you have Just given me a great pleasure; pleas-ure; you have played exactly aa badly aa the Dresden orchestra." TI.e Zurich players laughed, and the Idea that they might play better than tba royal musicians In Dresden so fired their seal that they actuully succeeded In doing It. SOIHHKTTK TO STAK. Alice Warren Is a clever aoubrelte, who haa for the past two seasons been connected with Phillips' Lyceum Stock Company, Brooklyn. She Is now having hav-ing a three act comedy written by a well known author. In which she Intends In-tends to star season of 19U1-1U0S. Miss Warren la also credited with creating a number of aong hits. Owing to Inducement In-ducement she Is still retained this season with the above named company. |
