The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-01-15
BELASCO IN PLAY AND PICTURE
THE WEEKS PLAYS-STDELIGHTS
AND AFTERTHOUGHS.
Augustus Thomas and Mrs Leffing~ells
Boots'--"Ad rea"--Mrs. Leslie Carter
n and the Tragic Muse--Pfnero's Part
y Of Sweet Laycnder-Then and Now.

nre apt TO pride themselves most on the
one faoalty they do not possesS, then Au-
Rustus Thomas is probably enraptured
with thu technical skill with which he has
tc'I no story Of "Nrs. Leffngweil's Boots
| CuS to the casual OBJ 'rver what ne mas
given us at the Savoy seems not so much
IN farce, comedy or drama as the chaotic
materials for any or all OF these things
The central idea, or the idea which APP
,psrently should be- central, is that man
normally honest may be turned into
bughouse scalawag by the chance dlsloca-
ton of ono of the bones Of his spine and
be restored TO normal sense and morals
ms soon az the bone ia snapped back into
iplace. relieving the strain his medulln
loblon pata. Presented az an extension OF
tthe modern fad Of osteopathy the idea IL
tnot unplausible. and It's potentialities in
bcomedy and drama are obvious One OF
1.-The inventions Of Airsiso's scalawaggery
lis TO put on the fire escape Of an old school
friend the boots OF a woman whose hus-
sband, Le1tnotoeH, In VIGOROUSLY Jealous.
and by means Of them to levy blacnnail.
The situation il enhanced by the fact that
the victim, one Corbin by name, is engaged
leo be married 10 the sister OF the man whose
dlslooated vertebra has dlslocated his
morals. Poor Corbin, the mark at once
OF the jealousy Of his fancee and Of hlre.
'refingwell's husband, Is prevented from
righting himself by his natural unwilling
ness 20 expose the villain TO his sister and
70 the world. Under skilful manage
ruent tho emotions in conflict and the
characters in contrast-the strands OF
comedy and of drarna-might he woven
into an ever Frightening web OF life az
tending from the first curtain to the last.
Equally promising is the milieu Mr. Thomas
has chosen for his action-a suburban
dinner party, frustrated by blizzard that
keeps away the welcome guests and drives
In the unwecome ones, holding them storm
bound in an involuntary house party, like
a geological happy family. until the various
Threads OF the plot have been snarled up
and unrsvelled.
Granted freely that there are no such
things IA laws of construction. or oven
rrtlles. it atill remains IA fact that in order to
be Interested in plot characters or ideas,
lit ia necessary for the poor, weak human
understanding to be aware of what they
nre. Mr.. Thomas has given over almost
the whole of the first OF his three acts to
the superficial humors of the dinner party
sud The blizzard. We learn much Of the
pride and the HIS Of the hired butler.
a. cocktails. The characters of the guests
vino never come and do not matterl the
lur. ose for which the dinner was given;
he hoatess's ruses for economlzing cham
psgte all these are exploited I'D mfn-
TIN il not dd nduseam. But meanwhile
the necessary questions OF the play are
sadly lost sight Of.
90 say nothing OF interest in the main
I'D nf bxyf for uf-
fairs it is barely made evident who and
What they are. 1t took post mortem
'7yy',.igation after the curtain fell to reveal
the fact that the scalawag Ainslee was
probably of his nut, and that it was he
who had put up tho game on his prospeo-
tive hrother-in-aw in the matter Of Mrs.
Lc9fnguelFs boots and the fire escape
am more willing 20 dwell on these de-
feet Of what is. after all. an amusing play,
because they are characteristic AZ it seems.
Of Mr. Thomass best comedies. The
Other Girl" in which the fun was much
fresher and brsker. and the character much
more humanity interesting. was almost
equally blind during the first half Of the
first act Even after that the story wa1
one too forcbly told. All that matter Of
the Two young women and the automobile
nlopement fell rather fiat. was repeatedly
evident in the holy calm that bIouued
IN the audience Al the second curtain
evidently planned rs the dramatic and
comedy crisis. The great and deserved
SUCCESS of the play was due 10 the force
and humor of two OF the characteristic
inevitable. inimitable ND Gorteg and the
rutscularly unchri-tian parson. Perhaps
ouo should reckon also the characters Of
the Young swell. though this scored mainly
iu The matter of "a delectable ether jag,
a1a or the amusing truthful reporter.
In the present play there i no character
nf any such comic proportions. and In fact
none Of any particular saliency. 4 comedy
the programme calls it; but at best tho fun
Is achieved by farccll means-a fountain in
the centre OF the dinner table that becomes
disarranged and squirts ful in the face
and the shirt front Of the butler: maid
whose frozen ears are parboiled, stuffed
and filed full OF oil, before the properly
i'll smelling lniment Is applied; an artists
mannikin. which is treated in a dozen
ridiculous ways reminiscent OF Palais Royal
farce. OF any really comic idea the play
is as innocent as it Is of sustained dramatic
interest--though both are latent In the
rough materials at hand. The saving
eracs OF the vhole--if it can be called a
EfaCt-lS MI. uOIldN = vigorous, IuhHNu-
line exuberance of fun. II he were to
pull out tho chair from an transporting
sitter he would do it so az TO make US all
l7uGh His only offence l. that OF several
others OF our best playwrights-t the offence
Of being all but first rate.
The play Is very much in debt to it,
actors We have heard much dsparage-
rnent Of the modern custom OF making
stars out Of talent Of the tenth ma gnitude
Let US be duly grateful when these return
20 zubstellar spheres. Az falling stars they
-hne all the brighter. Jessie Busley az
-'le Irieh maid showed again that her COM
iaaud Of certain phases Of broad character
comedy is absolute and irresistible. Fay
Davis gave value and a charm to the
iealops fiancee which was much more
part Of herself than Of thu character, At
no final curtain, where Mr.. Thomas has
risen TO a brief moment of real drama.
ne a gain showed that in her field Of comedy
md emotion, which is by no means a mar
row field, she il master Whether Dorothy
Hammond lthe hostess). j. H. Barnes (the