HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

Evening Star, Issue 13001, 21 December 1906, Page 6

HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

TfeE 'VTBGINIAN. It is not likely that anyone who goes to see ' The Virginian' will afterwards regret tho time consumed or the money spent. The play is thoughtfully fashioned by two men, one of whom is tho author of the book and therefore the first authority as to its adaptation for stage purposes, and it is a play of some literary value. One respect in which "The Virginian' differs from tho general run of dramatised novels is that it makes no attempt to cover tho whole area of the book. The stage tale begins with the christening and the disarrangement of the guests' babies, and the situations in the first act are limited to the incidents of the dance, the fascinating influence of Mollie Wood (the school teacher and the only single girl for miles round) upon the uncultured bat honest, fellows of the Wyoming settlement, and the beginning of the love scenes between Mollie and the young Vireinian "ho ss-ved her life when the coach horses bolted. In the second act wo *ee Judge Henrys ranch, the engagement of tho Virginian as overseer, and the preparing of the black list of cattle thieves. ThR third act deals solclv with the capture of the thieves and the lynching of Steve and Spanish Ed. Tho tourth act takes the onlooker to the end of the book, and show 3 the necessary duel between the Vireinian and Trampas, the latdeath, and the great scene in which the Virginian determines to risk even his lady's love in defence of his honor, with the marriage as a climax. The method of the twain playwrights is to take certain pieces bodily out of tite tale, supply in full all the sidelights needed to give an adequate survey of the surroundings and the mode of life in the frontier settlements, and to let the audience fall back on the book for anything else they may desire to know. This- is quite at variance from the usual procedure of dramatists, but Mr Owen Wister and Mr Kirk La Shelle have completely justified their plan, and given a plav which, though neither great nor wr-nderfnl, is clear, picturesque, natural, and entirely free from those forced situations tltal tempt to satire and guying. The one problem of the drama is whether tho Virginian io doing right in hunting Steve. These men have been mates. The Virginian, brought into contact with Mollie, is elevated by her love and directed to the summit of VirtueHe, in fact, has all his good qualities developed. Steve, who, by the way, is one of the rejected suitors, takes to whisky and bad company, falls under the thraldom of Trampap (a blackguard and a bully), and has his name placed on the black list by the indignant settlers who have been losing therr cattle. When the Virginian is appointed overseer 'on Jndge Henry's ranch he 13 authorised to lead the expedition to capture Trampas, Steve, and the rest of tho gang. Quite naturally he has endeavored to persuade Steve to cut free from-Trampas. That effort has failed. Steve is outlawed. The question then is whether the A'irgii'iaii v/jll simply do his duty to the Judge or co-fuse to track Steve. Eventual!)' he decides to go through with bis duty according to the ways of the West., where he was brought up, and he leads the expedition that surprises and lynches two of the thieves. The playwrtgbU frankly present this situation as a puzzle for the audience to guess—whether the Virginian does right or wrong in this awkward dilemma, and so little suggestion is given one way or another that the audience last night wero taking sides about it, sumo conue..,ning the Virginian and others applauding him. All this, however, helps to make tho play interesting. Perhaps it is a meditated artiSee to provoke discussion, and thus help to gel the drama talked about. Anyway, the device is uncommon, and that may be said about tho play as a whole. The stage arrangements are also a little off the beaten track. It is a new idea, and a good one, to preface the plav with a couple of pictures on the curtain showing leading incidents in the action that is to come on. Conventionality is also thrown to the winds in the development, of the scenes in the play. The chatter of the christening party makes its own jmuscraent, instead of'being'used, as commonplace writers would use it, as mere, babbling through v,h:ch the principals in the front would declaim long speeches at each other. And when th: chiof characters come o-i they da not nionrpolise the stage and awe the rest of the persons engaged into silence, but everybody goes through with his part :u5 -n life, so i.hal if any of the audience preferred to listen to the backwoodsmen and treat the hero and heroine as a pair of unimportant persons there is nothing to prevent surh a mistake. cNcept the commen seiise of the " house. -This is admirable playv/righting. Wo have in the pa&t been irritated by the way that the principals thrust themselves into notice in defiance of all ideas about precedence, and such a scheme is apt. to bree.i resentment towards the leaders and a despising of the other actors who allow themselves to be so eclipsed. Mr Wister's way is infinitely preferable. He trusts to the wit. of the audier.oe. to siirht the main track o: the ;ale, and allows each character to go on naturally, instead of planning hushes for the mere purpose of securing the hero's prominence. Treated on these lines, the minor pans are encouraged, and have some chance. Thus wo get a great lot of good work in the subordinate parts, llr Carey, as the Judge, is permitted to get tho hearing that a Judge is entitled to. Mr Edwin Lester, .is the father of the twins, has a show to lead a nice bit of fun at the christening. Hr Rapley Holmes, who did so well in ' The Squaw Man,' is not interfered with m his development of another and equally interesting type of the Western settler, air Cyril llackay's manly and altogether original candy of ihe luckless Steve stands out distinct and sharp. Miss Ada Stirling's sketch of the indolent lady is seen and appreciated. Mr Arthur Lissant s impersonation of the preacher is not by anv means crowded out. Even the small part "of the. blustering but faint-hearted S>aniard comes fully into view. And. meanwhile, for those of the audience who possess eyes and cars the principals have abundant scope. Mi- Waldron's acting as the Virginian is a great success, absolutely free from noisiness and posing—some think rather too quiet —and relying entirely upon natural methods. So is the impersonation of Mollie by Miss Ola Humphrey. This is not an easy part. Mollie has very little to say or to do. Sue is called upon to giggle, and look shy;' and fool about, and cry. and then dispkiy ecstatic joy. and never a speech of any kind comes her way to assist. With such a round of duties, many actresses would find no escape from being superficial in the early scenes and violently tragic at the end. Miss Humphrey sees deeper into the part, and, understanding it, she contrives, in her own artistic and clever manner, to make everybody in front in love with her. We desire also to highly praise Mr Hardee Kirkland's acting as Trampas." It is a wonderful study, one feature of which is that the disgusting accompaniments of drunkenness are quite left out. This actor is undoubtedly clever and original. In conclusion, we thank tho orchestra for their appropriate and wellplayed music. 'The Virginian' is to be repeated this evening.