Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-12-02
SUPPORTING COMPANY POOR.
starts Work Alone Saved the Per-
Satire on the New York smart Set

What pity that Glen Marlborough
ever wrote Among Those Present..
IMore's the shame, howete.. that such
really c.ever arllst as Mrs. LeMo5 ne
should nave ever consented to appear In
sum a weak, simpet lnS vehicle OF play.
.,nen tn.nk OF ner past work IN Stock.
and with Mccoy anu Shannon in the
.,.oth and the Flame. and still la.er
the delightful performance she gave in
>ndt dramatic fragment. IN Balcony.'
t makes me regret that ever allow ed
such memories to be shattered by this
late Marlborough play 1 saw last night.
MIS-. LeMosne deserves better things.
say it was i downright pity that She
was Among Those Present." on the
academy sage last night.
RAPS SMART SET HARD.
This latest dramatic satire aims to
give the New York smart set sharp
rap on the knuckles. TO hold the social
mirror up to nature. as it were.
In doing so. it satires several we'll
known men and women in the 400. "
Harry Lehr, the exquisite, is there with
his rag dolls and cap and bells. in verify
4 court clown. Then Reggie Vanderbilt.
Foxhall Keeue, the Van Rensa .ae1s, the
Pembroke Jones, and other equally Well
known perSonages are pictured on the
mimic stage with just enough change in
their names on the playful to save the
dramatist trouble
They are made to do and say impossi-
bic things to crafty a playwrghts
fancy.
THEME WAS IMPOSSIBLE.
The theme of Among Those Present"
is quite as impossible, in some respects,
as the personases who strut about the
stage. The story tells of the ambition of
Mrs. Clinton. social aspirant. who would
be the Mrs. Clinton of the smart set. In
order to accomplish her silly aims she
forgets home. husband, love and every
thing else that savorS of domesticity and
womanhood. She borrows fiom Wal!
street broker to build a Fifth avenue
palace, and the man willingly lends the
money in order that he. too. may shine
in the butterfly realm. He wins true
woman's heart. and later jilts ner to
marry an alleged Partisan Countess. who
turns out to be woman with a dreadful
past.
The other woman shoots and tries to kill
him for his perfidy. and afterwards con-
fesses the crime to Mrs. Clinton in the
latters unfinished Fifth avenue palace.
The broker. however. is kind enough to
die, and when he. regains consciousness,
says that he accidentally shot himself
while cleaning his pistol. Mrs. Clinton
decides that she has enough Of society.
and goes back to her husband. from whom
she had drifted. and who had tried to
dissuade her from her foolish fads and
foibles
This is the f1imsy fabric that MacDon-
ough5 has attempted to weave into play.
MRS. LEMOYNE SAVED PLAY.
The only thing that saved the perfor.2-
ance last night was Mrs. LeMoyne. She
was natural. convincing and altogether
charming as Mrs. Clinton. and her work
called forth several we'll deserved curtain
calls. The members OF the cast were
uniformly weak. as feeble. in fact. as the
vehicle in which they appeared. large
and smartly gowned audience was pres
ent last night to welcome Mrs. LeA1oyne.
What a pity. what a pity they had to see
her in such a ridiculous and impossible
play. A.