The Night the Jay Rial Company Insulted Spokane Falls

There is a class of traveling theatrical companies that have an idea that the people living in a town remote from large cities know little or nothing about the drama, or stage performances, and so when billed for such places make it a practice to palm off the merest trash upon the public, no matter how large may be the audience. Even organizations that are pronounced good by experienced critics, consider it proper to cut down, mangle and cut off in interior stands. Among those that can be numbered under this head is the Jay Rial company. That there are some fine artists in the troupe we do not deny, but the manager rules, and with a very short-sighted policy puts in force that system of carelessness and indifference to country audiences that we complain of. The company was billed for Wednesday night, at Cannon's Hall, in "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and if the play has ever been more poorly rendered, taken as a whole, the actors participating ought to have been executed. It would seem that Jay Rial would have taken some pains to please, seeing that every seat in the house had been sold by seven o'clock Wednesday evening, and that he was greeted by as intelligent an audience as he ever appeared before, ladies and gentlemen who have witnessed the acting of the best stars before the footlights. But no. The play was full of sins of commission and omission, and no doubt Mr. Rial thinks he did a smart thing, as he pockets the proceeds of the entertainment. It may be thought we do Rial an injustice, for he has a large company, pays his bills promptly, and has a reputation for doing good work on the stage, but he failed to please here, and it was no fault of the public. Fortunately all traveling troupes are not classed under this category, as our people know from experience, and it is not just to withdraw patronage from other entertainments because one may fail to come up to the proper standard.