No doubt "Puddin'head Wilson" is the play of last week that will have the longest life and, in the end, the greatest fame. It is not a particularly good play, speaking according to rule, for it is absurdly ill made, and full of superfluous stuff. Who are the twins, anyway, and why did they go to Dawson? They look like a new kind of "song and dance team," and doubtless they have meaning and identity--but in order to understand them one would be compelled to read Mark Twain's very latest story, and that is expecting too much of anybody.
People stopped reading Twain with zest after "Huckleberry Finn." That was the last flower of his genius in the eye of the public. Of course, to him belongs the credit of creating the character of Lawyer Wilson and the man who wanted to know what on earth Lawyer Wilson could go with half a dog; and what possible legal defense he could make after he had killed his half, in the suit for damages brought by the owner of the other half, which would surely die. Mark Twain's sense of humor is still potent. But after merely glancing through his stories of the hustler at the Court of King Arthur and the bank-note wager, the multitude found that he belonged to a past generation. Everybody has read "Trilby" [a competing play playing in New York] and everybody else pretends to know all about it; but positively nobody, except a few tens of thousands of voracious readers of all sorts of fiction, know Mark Twain's story of "Puddin'head Wilson." Wherefore an elliptical "dramatization" of the story, in the manner of John Brougham, was a mistake.
But Mr. Mayo has not measurably improved upon such plays as Brougham's "Dombey & Son." He has, to be sure, invented a sentimental "element"; but he has not made nearly enough of the emotional side of Chambers. A strong scene in which that supposititious [sic] darky, thirty-one parts Caucasian and one part Ethiopian, should boldly declare his passion for Roxy, human nature asserting itself in spite of prejudice and environment, would vastly improve the play. Chambers is by birth white and aristocratic. Following Mark Twain, Mr. Mayo has made the pseudo Thomas a Becket a glaring example of the influence of inherited traits. He is vicious, because of a training antagonistic to his nature, cringing and cowardly. Similarly Chambers, on his part, might well develop other traits than courage and honesty. The domineering spirit of a race of rulers might show itself in him.
Mr. Mayo is sometimes too profusely explanatory; at others he depends too much on a general knowledge of the story of his play. As an after-thought it may be stated, as the opinion of one peculiarly gifted in the matter of hind-sight, that the prologue in 1836 is quite unnecessary. It established the fact that Roxy, an octoroon slave, had charge of two children, both by the same father, and of one of which she was the mother, and that she sent the wrong one to the christening. This could be explained in a few words. In the first act the robberies have been discovered, and Puddin'head Wilson was [sic--probably "has"] his clue, before the twins arrive in Dawson. He tells his sister of the darky girl who climbed into Tom's room, and the subsequent apparition of Tom's face at the window. The arrival of the Italians and their installation as boarders at Puddin'head's are later incidents of the act. Yet we are solemnly informed afterward that the wonderful knife, with a history, was stolen from the twins on the night before Puddin'head got his clue.
There are droll moments in the first three acts, and one strong scene, before the ruined mill, but nearly all the genuine strength and vital interest of the play are condensed in the last act, which is admirable. The play will probably grow in popularity in its present shape; but it would have a still better chance if Mr. Mayo would boldly employ a practical playwright to help him make it over, dispensing with the prologue and the jesting scene about the twins before they have been seen by the townspeople; and making the love of Chambers for Rowy [sic] a stronger element.
It deserves a chance, for Mr. Mayo's portrayal of Puddin'head, the slow-going, sagacious philosopher and humorist, is one of the best pieces of character acting we have seen in many a day, and the acting of Miss Shaw, Mr. Henley, Mr. Edgar Davenport, Mr. Odell Williams, Mr. Whiting, Miss Graham, Mr. Harry Davenport, and, for that matter, all the others, is uncommonly vivid and effective.
The unquestionable success of the dramatization of Mark Twain's story, "Pudd'nhead [sic] Wilson," by Mr. Frank Mayo, may be credited very largely to the individual work as an actor of Mr. Mayo himself. That fact should not diminish in any way the full meed of praise due him for his work as a dramatist as well, for out of a book full of epigrams but meagre and diffuse in plot he has constructed a play of coherent dramatic interest.
He has turned conversation into action--not accomplished as great a transformation as might be desired, perhaps, but still done wonders. It is safe to say that everybody who has witnessed the performance at the Herald Square Theatre during the past week has been agreeably surprised.
Mr. Mayo plays the part of Pudd'n'head [sic], a role that dominates the whole story. Mr. Mayo is an old actor, with many successes to point back at, from "Davy Crockett" on, but in none of them have his artistic abilities shown more brightly than they do in the impersonation of the long suffering, clear headed, sunny tempered and witty "Pudd'n'head [sic] Wilson." There is a certain slow smoothness and dry humor about his work that is delightful. Even that well worn story of wishing to own half of an obnoxious dog, so that he could kill his half, sounds fresh and new again as he tells it.
Even the ladies in the audience laughed when he said:--"Circumstantial evidence is generally wrong. You see a woman sharpen a pencil. You know she did it with a knife. If you didn't see her you would be willing to swear she did it with her teeth."
The play is a novelty in that it depicts life in the Southwest at an era never before utilized by dramatists. The art of the actors and the cleverness of the costumers have done much toward making this a strong feature. The evils and characteristics of slavery days were perhaps never more honestly and justly set forth.
Mr. Mayo has been very fortunate in the selection of his supporting company. ... [transition to another review].
Mr. Frank Mayo appeared last night at the Herald Square Theatre before a small audience in the initial production of his dramatization of Mark Twain's "Pudd'nhead Wilson." The audience seemed to be made up largely of the friends of the actor, an observation which applies, in point of time, only to the prologue and a portion of the first act. After everybody in the house had become the intimate of Pudd'head, and the demonstrations of approval, at first merely friendly, became enthusiastic. Mr. Mayo's dramatization has preserved the flavor of the author's humor, and a real character walks the stage in the person of the client and [? microfilm marred] country lawyer, with his shrewd philosophy and his contempt for the village blockheads who have made him the butt of their bucolic wit.
The play is sufficiently melodramatic to give Mr. Mayo opportunity to employ the methods with which his long experience has made him familiar. If anything, it suffers from a little too much plot, involving a little too much "talky" explication; yet this defect is easily susceptible of correction. The action hinges upon an identification by means of the thumbmarks of two persons, the scientific study of which has been Pudd'nhead's hobby. This identification brings his enemies to confusion and the play to a triumphant close. One of the most effective situations is that at the close of the third act, when the investigator believes his cherished theory exploded, its effectiveness being gained by its extreme simplicity. Wilson's forensic oratory in the last act, also, is excellently conceived, having neither too much nor too little of the spirit of the backwoods advocate. Mr. Mayo was supported by a competent company. Miss Mary Shaw as Roxy, the white slave-mother, acted with force and generally with good judgment. Mr. Henley was weighted down with the part of a very bad villain. Most of the actors were remarkably consistent in the use of their Southern accents. The play is a refreshing contrast to so much that has been produced upon the New York stage this season in that it is absolutely decent.
Mr. Mayo was obliged to respond to repeated curtain calls during the progress of the play, and at its close was obliged to speak his acknowledgements. He read the following dispatch from Mark Twain: "Cable me the jury's verdict." The audience cried in answer: "A success!"
To-morrow will begin the second week of "Pudd'nhead Wilson," Frank Mayo's dramatization of Mark Twain's novel, at the Herald Square Theatre. The play is mounted in a lavish manner, the scenery having been painted for this production under the personal direction of the manager, Mr. Evans. The engagement is for six weeks.
Brief mentions of the play in the NY Times' theater column give tid-bits of information about the production, including the inability of the reviewers to reconcile their spellings of Puddn'head:
20 March, p. 8: The first rehearsal of Frank Mayo's dramatization of Mark Twain's "Puddin' Head Wilson," which Manager Charles E. Evans is to produce at the Herald Square Theatre soon, was held in that house yesterday, and the rehearsals will now be continued daily until the production is made. The play will have its first performance April 8, in Hartford, Conn., the home of Mark Twain.
12 April, p. 8 (part 2): Frank Mayo's dramatization of Mark Twain's story, "Pudd'n Head Wilson," was produced for the first time on any stage, in Hartford, Conn., Mark Twain's home, last Monday. It has been playing in one-night stands this week, to get it into good working order for its first New-York production at the Herald Square Theatre, next Tuesday evening.
9 April, p. 8 (part 2): A strong cast has been provided for Frank Mayo's dramatization of "Pudd'n Head Wilson," which is to have its first production at the Herald Square Theatre next week. It will include Frank Mayo, Edgar L. Davenport, E.J. Henley, Odell Williams, Joseph B. Whiting, Ignacio Martinetti, Harry Davenport, Mary Shaw, Frances Graham, Lucille La Verne, and Emma Brennan. Rehearsals have been in progress for several days, and the players are already well drilled in their parts. Entirely new scenery has been painted for the production, which is to be very elaborate. <./p>