The San Francisco Dramatic Review (1908)

line 13, I9H THE SAN FRANCISCO DRAMATIC REVIEW 9 Golumbid Theatre After a year or more, during which has been presented throughout the ngth and breadth of the country— nee March 14, 1913, to be exact, hen the first experimental matinee as held in New York — Damaged Mods, E. Brieux's sociological drama, is come to the Columbia Theatre, lie play puts before the public for ^ consideration one of the three great icial conflicts, that of the Individual _;ainst Society for Freedom, and pic- ires with cold, relentless realism the avoc that follows inevitably in the ain of the individual who forgets lat the only secure basis for personal reedom rests in the recognition of iithority outside and beyond himself, !i!(l that his responsibility toward him- ■If must always begin with the lar- . r responsibility toward the social or- rr and the race. The particular in- lance which M. Brieux .selects to il- i^trate his general thesis is that of le individual, who, accepting as his critage the right to indulge his phy- ical instincts as his fathers have done cfore him, either willfully or ignor- nlly regardless of the consequences, ca])s disaster even to the third and urth generation, and in the story of Icorge Dupont he embodies a search- in' study of venereal disease; its ause in the lax moral standard and he social evil, and its effect in the iiire menace to the future of the race. :\ot a pleasant theme surely, nor one ilesigned by the author to amuse and •ntertain in the usual sense. Rather, It is a preachment presenting, under jhe guise of drama, certain incontro- rertible facts about life and living ;;^enerally obscured by the convention- jl veil of silence and ignorance, but vhich come clo.se to being fundamen- als whose freer discussion will ul- imately make for betterment. And its issential lesson is that we must guard ind guard again the children before .s well as after they are born. We ;nay question the structure of the play, Ivhich is one act prologue, setting the (vheels in motion ; one act acute, mov- jng drama, the revelation of the iheme. and one act corroborative de- ail, objective evidence if any be need- ed, that drives home the truth of the wclation, and is therefore no play at ill according to accepted standards. \\ c may question the sincerity of a ilay that by opportunely appearing at he psychological moment, so wittily I l ined Six O'clock, lays itself open I ihe imputation of pandering to the lie curiosity of a morbid, sensation- ')\ing public; more, whose commer- ial success will let loose a flood of alacious and unscientific plays pat- Li ned after it, true to type but not to iilcnt, which will retard if not per- iianently endanger the .success of the .ause. We may call into question lie quality of Brieux's workmanship, he exaggeration which is almost in- vitable in the particular example, but ivhich as inevitably leans toward the- itrical device and melodrama, and the luthod which is frank to brutality, md stuns and stupefies instead of stimulating unprepared audiences. On llu' continent the decadent social sys- eni may demand drastic reformatory iiu asures; here it is not yet too late I'lr gentler means to-be effectively in|)loyed. Say. for example, from the ^tage, Percy MacKaye's poetic if lu lodramatic exposition of these same unfortunate conditions in Tomorrow, which has created a wave of deep in- terest on the severaF occasions it has been read before San Francisco audi- ences ; in the hands of a capable pro- ducer it might be made immediately beneficial, reaching that portion of the public that shrinks from the stagger- ing but no more frank blows of the French playwright. Damaged Goods is corrective, not as vet constructive; the masses are not lead altogether by horror and consternation. But all these objections are non-essential be- side the great les.son of the play; there is no getting away from the children and our infinite responsibility toward them; nor from the necessity for pub- lic opinion to sanction any eugenic mea.sures which will help to realize those responsibilities. As Sheldon puts it, We arc the servants of the comiui:^ generation, and if out of the production of Damaged Goods there grows up in our national conscious- ness a sense of the sacred duty we owe ourselves, and why, we cannot ques- tion its timeliness nor the potency of its mission. The play, as might be expected, is easier to see than to read ; there is relief from the tensity of the case as stated in the touches of comedy —which are perhaps too strongly em- phasized — and the waves of human tenderness that come out in the i)er- formance. Also in the acting; Dam- aged Goods is admirably acted, with dignity and earnest sincerity and a sense of proportion. Louis Bcnnison, who comes back to us in the role of the Doctor, the healer of mankind whose watchword is To understand all is to pardon all. does perhaps the finest work in the play, certainly the finest work of his career. Flis per- formance is marked by infinite sym- pathy and dee]) underlying tenderness ; he is gentle and firm and patient, even with the cons])iracy of silence which is more the misfortune than the fault of the people he would help. Mr. Ben- nison more than realizes his early promise, and with his success in this great role, achieves reserve and tech- nical control, directness of attack and style of execution ihat bespeak h's growth. Another remarkable charac- terization is that of Elsa Berold, who plays the woman—it is the mo.st piti- ful, the most hopeless, the most cruel portrait that I have seen upon the stage. Technique has disappeared, leaving only the simple poignant sym- bol of suffering. Adrienne Morrison gives a fine study of the girl of the streets, light and helpless and utterly tragic; and George Moran comes in for a moment with a pathetic plea for the boy shipwrecked at the outset of his career. All these dramatic bits in the last and mo.'^t absorbing act—• the summing up of the question. In the second act, which holds the play proper, Olive Tenipleton is Henriette, the happy young wife, stricken down with the overwhelming horror of her sudden awakening; Maud ]\Iilton, the aristocratic Mme. Dupont who would sacrifice the wor'd on the altar of her family, and Florence Short is the peas- ant nurse, whose physical strength is needed to build up the waning, de- l)leted u])per classes. All are faultless and ])resent a ])erfect ensemble. Ben- nett himself is George Dupont, the weak emotional victim of his environ- ment and its fal.se social ethics. It is one of the best cliaracterizations that Mr. Bennett has yet given us, the l)layfulness with Henriette, the ten- derness over the baby cap and dress, and the transition from the happy se- curity to the grim, awful realization of the results of his willful blindness and self deception, are wonderfully fine. Like Otis Skinner, Mr. Bennett is falling into the habit of over elab- oration of detail which mars both the strength and the spontaneity of his conception; he is too good an actor to lose the ideal of simplicity and mod- esty. Cort Theatre William I lodge will resume his wanderings over The Road to IIai)])i- ness after tonight's performance. The two weeks have afforded very pleasing entertainment to our theatregoers. Dick Tully's newest and most spec- tacular play, Omar the Tentmaker, will be the new offering tomorrow. Alcazar Theatre The summer season opened most auspiciously on Monday evening with Bessie Barriscale and Thurston Hall in All-of-a-Sudden Peggy, a frothy little comedy first made known to us by Henrietta Crosman. Like most of her successes, it is full of clever lines and surprising situations which are in- tended to bring out the possibilities of one or perhaps, two characters. There are two in thi.s—the impulsive Peggy, with her freakish changes of mood and her talent for getting into tight places, and the breezy young Jimmy Keppel, the flower of generations of fine old English gentlemen—and in them the two co-stars find an excel- lent opportunity to shine. Perhaps Bessie Barriscale's opportunity is a trifle bigger, but Thurston Hall's (|uict, good style helps to keep it within hounds and to make it the fin- ished piece of work it turns out to be. The part of Peggy suits Miss Barri- scale down to the ground, and with every temjitation to make it boister- ous, she softens it until it is just exu- beranity young and charming. She has improved in her method even since her last visit. While retaining her attractive spontaneity, she has gained in authority. Her light and shade is well handled and she speaks clearly and distinctly, although she has not yet masterecl the modulation of her voice. Speaking of voices, I wonder if Thur.ston Hall realizes what a fine* one he is blest with ? He uses delightful English and is able to ex- press every shade of emotion. In Jimmy Keppel, he displays the modest, simple directness and quiet good breeding that made his former work so interesting, and to it he adds a greater effectiveness gained through his enlarged experience. As the scientific Lord Crackenthorpe, How- ard Hickman has his opportunity and is not slow to seize it. After these months of wallowing in villains' parts, he throws himself into comedy with an ease that shows where his talent really lies. Fdmond Lowe has a small part in Jack Menzies, but he manages to leave a distinct impression, though so much cannot be said of Burt Wes- ner with his larger part of Major l'lii])ps. Like Louise Urownell and her Irish, he is overwhelmed with the wei.ght of his luiglish accent. The rest of the cast rounds out the i)ic- tnre. S. A. Burton and Cliff Stewart are the two butlers. Pearl Cook and Dorcas Matthews make very pretty honorable ladies, and Adele Belgarde looks stunning- in .some very up-to-date gowns. Gaiety Theatre The last week of The Isle of Bong Bong will terminate tomorrow night, and will be succeeded by A Knight for a Day, which has been pleasing' Los Angeles theatregoers. The Bong Bong players will open in Los An- geles Monday night. Charley Gunn Coming Home for a Short Rest Charley Gunn, the brilliant young leading man who has made the East sit up and take notice, will be in San Franci.sco next week, and will make a few weeks' stay here. lie has worked so hard that he felt the need of a lay-off. Mrs. Gunn will accom- pany him. Mr. Gunn comes from Cleveland, where he has been for sev- eral weeks, after transferring from the Orpheum stock in Cincinnati. Personal Mention ZoE Bates and Armine Lamb have decided to remain with the Helton Inter-Mountain Wagon Shows. George Johnson joined the Cla- men Company in Chico last Wednes- day, and opens tomorrow in A Woman's Way. Mrs. Tom North, accompanied by her mother, got back from C'hicago last Wednesday, and "father" is smil- ing once more. Mrs. Richard Bennett, who has up to the present season been known as Mabel Morrison, has changed her name to Adrienne Morri.son. Catherine Countiss has taken the place of Eva Lang with the Wood- worth Stock of Denver. Miss Lang is seriously ill in a hos]Mtal. Lewis Stone is detained in Boston and was unable to take his place as leading man of Elitch's Gardens Stock when it opened its season in Denver, June 6. Bruce McRea took Mr. Stone's part temi)orarily and opened in The Spendthrift, a play which made Thais Magrane, who is the first leading woman. Later on Jane Grey will take the position. Charles Cherry, who is to be one of the big special company to play a limited season at the Columbia The- atre, will make one of the biggest jumps on record to join his coin|)anv, he having arranged to come here di- rect from London, England, where he has been playing. Cherry was one of the most popular players some years back with Henry Miller at the old Columbia Theatre. Jack Lait, who edits a bright the- atrical newspaper in Chicago, and writes short plays, long plays and travesties on them all, Is to spend the suninier at Los Angeles, where there will be two new plays from his i)en produced by Oliver Morosco. His most successful play has been Help Wanted, but Mr. Moro.sco, rated one of the best judges of dramatic play;*, in America, thinks he has one which will "repeat" the success achieved by 1 lelp Wanted. Dates Ahead CL/\M.'\N CO.—Oroville, week of June 15. DR.'LORFNZ (W. 1'. Leahy).— Gilroy, June 14; Hollister, 15-17; Tres Pinos, 18; Salinas, 19; San Luis Obi.spo, 21-23; Santa Maria, 25; Paso Robles, 26.