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AMUSEMENTS.
THEATRE ROYAL.
The first production on any stage of a
play by so eminent and successful a dramatist
as C. Haddon Chambers, was an event
in the annals of the local theatre which
was well calculated to arouse the interest
and excite the curiosity of all
playgoers. The Australian dramatist first
won his spurs in London with his cleverly
written drama "Captain Swift," in which a
certain phase of colonial life was treated
with a masterly hand which gained for its
author instant popularity. Strangely
enough his next venture, "The Idler,"
which was an immeasurably superior play,
was rejected by London managers, and it
was not until it had achieved a great success
in New York that it found a footing in
the metropolis of the world, and there met
with even a more generous measure of favor.
It is comparatively recently that Adelaide
audiences were introduced to Mr.
Haddon Chambers' charming comedy ''The
Tyranny of Tears," and therefore it was
only natural, after witnessing such a fine
trio of dramatic successes that expectation
should run high with respect to "A Modern
Magdalen,'' even apart from the fact that
Adelaide was to witness its original production.
And having witnessed it, what is
the verdict? Mr. Chambers has been by
no means mealy mouthed in the language
with which he has endowed most of his
characters, nor has he stopped at mere
suggestions in many of his scenes, and to be
equally outspoken and critically can-
did it may at once be said
that he has produced a play
which is frankly and brutally immoral.
And cui bono? To a stage which has already
seen "Camille" and "Magda," surely
such a play is superfluous, and particularly
so when it lacks the finesse of Dumas, and
the philosophical acumen of Sudermann.
Mr. Chambers is credited with having
founded "A Modern Magdalen" on the
Danish play "The Jensen Family;" it is
matter for regret that he did not leave
Denmark unvisited, and rely on his own
originality and pleasant wholesome humor.
As it is, he has chosen to depict a phase
of life which undoubtedly exists, but
which in its inherent ugliness and gilded
squalor is scarcely to be paraded before a
mixed audience, bent for the most part on
simple entertainment and pleasurable excitement.
So-called problem plays, which
for some time enjoyed a considerable vogue,
at last proved tiresome; the average human
being has sufficient worry and trouble
crowded into his own personal existence
without going to the theatre to ponder
over the supposititious idiosyncrasies and
moral infirmities of people in whom he can
have no possible interest, and who simply
rob him of the little peace of mind he has
left. Certainly he can admire the intel-
lectuality and ingenuity of the dramatist,
when such qualities are in evidence, but he
seldom enjoys himself. The problem to be
solved in "A Modern Magdalen" is not
clearly apparent, the story is sordid and
unhealthy, the characters for the most part
meretricious and unpleasant, and, most
singular fact of all, when remembering the
former literary flavor imparted to his work
by the Australian dramatist, the dialogue
is for the most part as commonplace as the
narrative.
To come to the story. Dolores Garburn,
the daughter by his first wife, of Herbert
Garburn, formerly employed in an insurance
office; but, when the action of the
drama commences, an utter degenerate, is
by reason both of her poverty and her
beauty pestered by all manner of equivocal
attentions. Of the nature of these advances
on the part of her male admirers,
the dramatist with brutal frankness already
observed leaves the audience in little
doubt, for at the very outset of the play
Dolores is approached by Albert Lindsay,
who, while offering her his love and protection,
incidentally mentions that he is a
married man. She indignantly repulses
his advances, and he retires after leaving
his card, and an address, which does not
correspond with that at which the real Mrs.
Lindsay is to be found. It is gathered
that there are many such eager suitors, the
more prominent of the latter being Jacob
Beddington, a retired storekeeper and
money-lender, whose less honorable proposals
are supplemented by an offer of marriage.
Dolores is anxious to escape from
her squalid surroundings, but her desire
for wealth is actuated by a finer feeling,
her overpowering love for an invalided sister,
whom naught but careful nursing and
a more generous diet can restore to health.
In order to save her sister she is prepared
to sacrifice herself. Her father, with an
eye to favors past and to come, urges her
to marry the wealthy Beddington, but she
refuses this distasteful, albeit more honor-
able union, to secure the fortunes of the
married man, of whom she knows little and
for whom she cares less. She accordingly
leaves home, and to all, save her father,
her whereabouts are unknown. Coincident
with her departure the fortunes of the
family improve, due ostensibly to a sudden
activity in insurance agency, but owing in
reality to the generous contributions of
Dolores, thus furnishing the edifying spectacle
of a father knowingly living on his
daughter's shame. Three months have
passed, and Dolores, yearning for a sight
of the sister she so passionately loves, and
for whom she has sacrificed so much, returns
home richly attired and glittering
with jewels. Here she meets Bed-
dington, who has been vainly search-
ing for her ever since her mysterious
disappearance, and whose love or passion,
call it what you will, has increased during
the interval. It is significant that this time
Dolores meets her former persecutor with a
hail-fellow-well-met demeanor, which is
eloquent of her new environment. Absence,
which proverbially makes the heart grow
fonder, has had the opposite effect upon
the affections of Dora, Dolores' sister, who,
schooled by her vulgar and vixenish
mother, greets her unknown benefactor
with cold contempt, and answers her passionate
appeals for love and caresses with
questions which are obviously distressing.
To such a woman as Dolores this scornful
treatment of the one pure passion she possesses
can have only one result; reckless-
ness succeeds to love, and her previous
transgressions against the laws of society
are transformed into a whirlwind of excess.
A supper, for which Beddington is
responsible, is given at her rooms, and
while this is in progress she learns that
her protector has robbed his wife and
children of the money he held in trust for
them, in order to keep her in luxury. He
is sent abroad to avoid the ignominy
which would follow public discovery, and
it is then that Beddington, who has long
waited his opportunity, and who has
assisted in the downfall of his
rival, renews his suit. In all this
unworthy congress of men there
is but one who is stanch and true, Allan
Hargreaves, who has loved Dolores with a
pure and holy affection from the beginning,
proving at last her guardian angel.
He saves her from committing suicide, and
rescues her from a life of shame by procuring
her a position as nurse at the front
in the American-Spanish war, and the
spectators are led to believe that at the
conclusion of this trial the troubles of the
twain will cease in the calm of matrimony.
This is the story which is filled in with
a wealth of unpleasant detail. Of all the
male characters in the play but one displays
a spark of true manhood. Herbert
Garburn, the father of Dolores, is the most
despicable of men, a father living in ease
on the proceeds of his daughter's shame.
Albert Lindsay, a married man, who squan-
ders the fortune of his wife and children
to maintain an unholy union with a woman
with whom he is infatuated. Jacob
Beddington, who in his own fashion is
madly in love with the same woman, but
whose passion is largely the result of pique
and the knowledge that his wealth cannot
command all he would desire. Truly a
pretty trio. They may perchance, and
doubtless have their counterparts in the
world, but translated to the stage they
serve no good object. In addition to these
there is a long-haired journalist, who serves
his paper by enquiring into the seamy side
of New York life. Mr. Haddon Chambers
has had sufficient experience of journalistic
life to know that this puppet is the purest
burlesque, and that the character is most
inartistic. An up-to-date newspaper would
certainly not employ an individual who represented
a combination of Deacon Skinner
and Amindal Sleek to carry out nightly in-
vestigations into the existing evils in a great
city, and although such a creation may provoke
laughter amongst the many it cannot
but make the judicious grieve that a writer
of the calibre of Mr. Haddon Chambers
should resort to such cheap and inartistic
methods to create laughter.
While little can be said in praise of the
play, much remains to be said in praise of
its presentation by Mr. George Musgrove's
new English Dramatic Company. First to
be mentioned is Miss Nellie Stewart, who
in the character of Dolores gave still further
evidence of her marvellous versatility. After
a long career in burlesque, pantomime,
comic opera, and opera of a more lofty
stage, Miss Stewart surprised and delighted
her admirers by her piquant and charming
impersonation of the heroine of "Sweet Nell
of Old Drury," and still later eclipsed that
success by her sweetly simple and quaintly
pretty embodiment of the character of
"Little Britain," in Mrs. Riley's romantic
comedy, "Mice and Men." As Dolores in
"A Modern Magdalen," Miss Nellie
Stewart has a role entirely distinct from
anything she has hitherto attempted. It
is a character in which humor finds little
scope, from beginning to end the storm and
stress of life is painfully apparent, and the
demand upon the emotional powers of its
exponent are practically unceasing. Under
such circumstances it would not have been
surprising if Miss Stewart had failed to
come through the fiery ordeal unscathed,
but the result was another veritable
triumph. In the earlier scenes she played
with a quiet force, which made the succeeding
ones more effective by contrast.
The love of Dolores for her ailing sister
was eloquently displayed, and later, when
the sacrifice had been made, and she pleaded
for a return of that love which she had
done so much to win, there was a genuine
note of yearning and true pathos, which
proved infinitely touching. Equally effective
was the reaction which followed on
the frigid scorn and contempt which
greeted her overtures of affection, still
more powerful was her treatment of her
lover, who attempted to visit his own sins
on the woman he had wronged, while in
the painful scene between daughter and
father, in which Dolores accused the author
of her being of having wilfully encom-
passed her downfall, until he who boasted
that shame was an emotion that he had never
encouraged, slunk silently away, she completed
a performance which won her the
universal admiration of the spectators. The
ordeal was a most exacting one but Miss
Stewart came through it with flying colors,
and made a success of which her compatriots
are justly proud. Mr. Harcourt Beatty
appeared in quite a new sphere as Herbert
Garburn. The character is as has been
mentioned a most despicable one, but it
was so inimitably presented by Mr. Beatty
that one partly lost one's contempt for the
man in witnessing the triumph of the actor.
In attitude, gesture, and facial expression
it was perfect, and although the
character seems to hover between the pessimism
of an Eccles and the optimism of a
Micawber, the actor gave to it an individuality
all its own. It was a most masterly
performance, and despite the distasteful
nature of the character found speedy
recognition for the excellence and originality
of its treatment from all sections of
the audience. Mr. Albert Gran, too, is to
be congratulated upon a sterling performance
as Jacob Beddington, the wealthy
money-lender, who finds that money is not
the only talisman in this world. It is not
easy to elicit sympathy in a character of
this sort, and yet this vulgar, purse-proud
Israelite in the moment of his despair com-
manded the pity of the audience in a marked
degree, this feeling being solely due to the
actualities and force of his acting. Mr. Sydney
Stirling as Adam Lindsay, the protector
of Dolores, played with care and discretion;
and Mr. E. Webster Lawson as Allan Hargreaves,
although he looked altogether too
boyish for the character, was so earnest and
sympathetic in his acting that he won general
favor. Mr. Alfred Tapping as George
Strange, the long-haired journalist, was sufficiently
"strange" to satisfy the requirements
of the author, and was cleverly humorous;
and Miss Edith Stewart was seen to
advantage as Dora. "A Modern Magda-
len" will be repeated to-night and throughout
the week.
On Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock a
matinee performance of "A Modern Mag-
dalen," will be given at the Theatre Royal.
This will be the only matinee of the season.
$