Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-05
T Il E I'll E A T E r.
Columbia Theater.

One of the things most to be appreciated
about The Bad Samaritan Is that you
can go home and talk about 1t. There ere
no topics of which you have to fight shy.
You can tell the folks all about fellow on
the stage who was as mean as the man
who kept a tavern in your town when you
were q boy, or about the girl who was as
sassy and stuck up as the one who played
Silvery Waves on the piano. Or II you
chance to be one Of the more Juvenile audi
tors you may refer to the base ball young
sters who filled the stage or to the gilded
youth with the miraculous vocabulary Of
slang. Even man with a stern commercial
soul would be tempted to relax and declare
that Uncle Ike Gridley' ought to be a
warning to people who try to be kind and
give their money away. There is no need
to guard your remarks. There is not a sug-
gestion In THE Bad Samaritan" calculated
to bring blush to the cheek OF the young
person.
The piece abounds in those touches of ma
ture which make the whole world kin. The
little peculiarities of human beings are bur-
lesqued with kindly humor, and the types
are always easy to recognize. THE Bad
Samaritan Is sui generis 1t Is not a drama
nor satire. Yet Is has more dramatic and
satirical suggestion than anything Mr. AIDE
has previously done. The story has some
slight element OF suspense from act to act,
and an occasional good-natured knock
aimed at subjects Of current newspaper dis
cusslon supplies an agreeable dash OF
topical interest. Mr.. AIDES latest work will
md more approval with the student Of
stage technique than THE College Widow"
whether 1t will find the college boys walt
Ing to whoop 1t up as they did for the piece
winch appealed SO directly to their interest
Is TO be demonstrated. Mr.. AIDE is the idol
OF the long-haired youth and many OF
them will doubtless remain loyal
me most conspicuous figure in the cast Is
MI. Richard Golden. who plays the part of
who 1e''r reea,n dealer Ss in hides and taow
proceeds to make up for the years in
which he was prevented from spending any
money. Mr.. Goldens lines are luxuriant In
quaint and homely epigram. There is ir-
resistible appeal to every man who has felt
the ripple of water against fishing
line in the remark, when there's
nothing else left for a man to do
he can always go fishing" or Il don't
want to catch any fish. 1 Just want
to sit in the shade" There Is no ostenta-
tious repartee in most of the dialogue; SIM
ply frank. good-natured sympathy with
moods that are common to most of men.
Mr.. Golden was exceedingly happy In de-
livering the speeches of the title role with
proper JUNCTION and In being funny without
broadening the portrayal wholly beyond
the bounds Of .plausibility Among the
quaint figures who move in constant pro-
cession, each pausing in turn to contribute
some laughable speech or incident, none
were more effective In proportion to their
opportunities than Laura Fr1SDee, the pale
faced, frightened hired help portrayed
by Carolyn Lee. To enumerate all the
clever bits Of character study that were in
troduced would be task beyond the rea-
sonable limitations of space or time.
After the third act, when the play had
demonstrated its unquestionable favor in
the minds of the audience, Mr.. AIDE amiably
submitted himself to the ordeal which Gus
tom has prepared for successful contribu-
tors to the stage, and made speech in
which he paid especial and well-deserved
compliment to the manager, Mr.. Savage,
and the stage manager, Mr.. Marion, for
the manner In which the production had
been made. 1t was one Of the most enthu-
siastic first nights that Washington has
had the pleasure of witnessing.