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A DRAMATIC CRITIC
be substantially true. The manager was
very anxious for the triumph of the new
play, hoping for a reestablishment of pros-
perity upon the basis of its success, and,
in order to increase the strength of a very
strong cast, purchased the reluctant con-
sent of Mr. Sothern to accept the unim-
portant part of a stage fop by giving him
full leave to " gag ; " that is to say, to en-
large and vary his assigned text with new
matter of his own interpolation. Out of
this acceptance and this license a unique
histrionic product was evolved.
Even at the first representations of the
comedy the public eye and ear were taken
and filled with Mr. Sothern's extraordinary
action and speech, and the other chief play-
ers, of whom several ranked with the best
in the country, in spite of their cleverness
and the greater significance of their parts,
found themselves relegated into the back-
ground. The scheme and perspective of the
author were much impaired, indeed almost
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