The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1904-05-10
" CaptainL etterblair" Pleased
q Large Audience-"The
Singing Girl" Well Re-
ceived at the Lafayette.
ISIS Hopkins at Academy.
Vaudeville at Chase $
Rabbits Foot at Empire.
Burlesque at Lyceum.

Edwin Arden and company began a
summer stock engagement at the Co
lumbia Theater last evening. The en-
.eIprise attracted a large audience,
which was plainly there to be pleased.
and which, moreover. was equally SUI
Cessful in finding pleasure. Recalls
were frequent after each act, especially
so after the second. when Mr.. Arden
could have made speech, without par
ticularly stretching a point, had he
been so disposed. He had the cool
sense. however. not to yield to the
temDtation.
The play was Captain Letterblair,'
four-act comedy by Marguerite Mer-
Ington. which f. II. Sothern and Vir
sInia Harmed once used with some sue
cess. 1t is not a great work in any
sense of the-word, and it scarcely
needs a wOman's name on the play biIl
: 10 make it apparent that it is the work
OF woman. though. as a matter OF
tact, all womanish plays are not writ
ten by women. as witness that viaduc.
+ OF fearful sentimentality. Camille"
The Womanish Play.
When we say that Captain Letter
3 lair" is a womanish play. we mcan
thst il lacks stamina, genuine force
) and conviction: that its emotional ap-
{ peal is sOppy rather than straightfor-
( ward ana honest: that its sentiment is
: OF the cambria handkerchief, rather
dian OF the stalwart bandana type;
that its pink tea romance Is motived IN
artifciality and developed by means OF
s the dollhouse conservatory of dramatic
2 art In short, Miss MerrngtOn IS q
fsithful follower of the Tom Robert
son ''teacup and saucer" school of
comedy. a very good school in its day.
bur that day was a good thirty years
ago.
However. this class of drama, which
: demands a minimum of thought and a
maximum of susceptibility, IS of dis
s su-amer season, when mankind and
WCmankind turn away with relief from
all mental and physical labor After
one has packed away his seriousness
In mothballs and camphor with his win
ter overcOat. ii is real effrOntery for a
> theater manager to demand that one
2 trying his best to escape. the fatiguing
process of serious thought.
s Why Success Was Logical.
Therefore, it was not strange. but
entirely logical that such a himsy
: dramatic product as Captain Letter
9 blair should have proved distinctly de-
nghtful 10 last evenings audience.
5 They found in its airy, fairy inconse-
quentiality a. reflection of their own
seasonable airy. fairy inconsequential-
= ity. They enjoyed it's pseudo-romantic
atmosphere. and they fell quite in love
with its typical Dion Boucicault Irish
. hero. lifted by Miss Merrington from
sod and placed into what she would
Z doubtless term fashionable society. the
{ rollicking. happy go-lucky. devil-may-
= Hr~a1Hr = -
irishman, whom everybody thinks is
4 the only kind OF a real Irishman, not
3 Wlthstanding that no one ever saw
3 such an Irishman in the flesh.
3 AS a play Captain Letterblair''
& smoothly pursues its way without espe-
cially disturbing the regular action OF
the pulses at any point. Its plot deals
with forced combination of circum-
Z stances whereby the hero Is cut of from
{ his property by the heroine, who loves
: him and is trying her best TO aid him.
{ 7 his. together with the Vaccinations
OF the polished villain. gives rise to a
misunderstanding. which is comfortably
= cleared up considerable time before
p the maj curtain falls. II IS a verit-
q able tempest in a teapot with only the
minutest Of serious interest. but the
Characters are cOnventionally pleasing.
the situations often have cOnsidera bic
continental charm, and many of the
. lines are bright and fetching Conse-
quently, the effect OF the whole is pleas
ing: At least, last evenings audience
plainly found IL so
The Company.
Considering the fact that the perform
anee was the first In which the com
pany had appeared together. the acting
was fairly good. The organization en-
braces some excellent talent, and should
make strong impression as soon as II
gets shaken down a bit
Mr.. Arden's Captain Letterblair was
{ snappy and racy, delightful Iovemak er.
and acted throughout with a telling
tOuch-and-go effect. Miss Oliver was
thoroughly capable as Fanny Hadden
the heroine. though sh5 requires a part
or rather more pronounced character
70 bring out her best work
William Levers Merivale the villain
whose chief business IN this play Is 10
oNerhear conversations, was we'll done
Both Mr. Ellis. as the unsOphisticated
dean, and Mr. Herbert, as the old law
yer, made hits with their character
studies. Mr.. Duncan and Miss Scott