The Washington herald., 1906-11-06
Miss Virginia Harmed In "A Brisk
SardOu Farce at the BeIuscO.

TWO hours and over were pleasantly
spent by a large audience at the Belascc
last night IN watching Miss Virginia Har-
ned struggle to happiness through tho
little miserles that are bound 20 beset
ladies-and others-wug Have indulged ir
Irritation and divorce. and who try The
dangerous experiment OF hbbing 10 Their
new-and Of cOuTse-jeal0Us husbands, ir
order TO avoid the W. eek that overt0os
them with the old. Nj IS Harmed had as.
soCiated with her in her entertaining
difficulties I'm Sardous Love Letter such
clever and accomplished players as VII
liam Courteuay. W. J. Ferguson. Albert
Gran. Eleanor Moretfi. Virginia Drew
Tresc0tt, Percy Lyl IA. and Sydney Stir
ling.
That the complications IN which these
people were inN olved in the brilliant
Frenchmans sparkling satrical farce
were Of the most lauzhGble sort need
hardly 70 De said. Perhaps they were
not strikingly novel. but special novelty
is hardly to be looked FOR these days
As presented by Miss Harmed and her
support, smoothly briskly. and with VI
vacious intelligence, they did not invite
criticism. and moved the audience to fTe-
quent Outbursts of genuine. if not bolster
Gus. laughter. and led TO several curtain
calls for the principals.
The story IS Of Florence RevTlIon NIfss
Harned. happily married second time
after divorce from gay but not by any
means altogether bad No ]. Philippe
Jobelin tAIr Ferguson. Revillon. the
"a H.
his jealousy aroused by the discovery OF
an old love letter relating 70 a little fir
tation OF his wife during her first mar
riage. She is very careless in her han
ding Of the dangerous document. a cir
cumstance that detracts slightly from
the interest Of the development, and tries
finally to dIsarm the suspicion Of No. :
by iHventing a little nest Of fbs. To
carry out these tactics successfully she
IS forced 10 throw herself on the mercy
Of No. ]. and out Of this arises new COM
plicatiOns that are farce of the richest
kind. The tangle of deception. which
fails Of its purpose at every turn. through
the giving away Of femininely weak
strands. at last becomes so bewidering
that husband No. is not inclined 10 ac-
cept any evidence brought forward for
tho exculpation Of his distracted bride.
Then the latter falls back on a little ser
monette on the value Of hbbing. in which
she justiies it with a wOman's reasoning.
and finally winds up with a dainty ATTACK
of hysteria. This and an unloOked-for
contribution of new evidence from an un-
expected source at last solves the bewil-
dering problem, and Miss Harned's little
miseries are over.
Miss Harmed made charming Florence.
good 20 see. spirited and delightfully."- ex-
plosive when her mock miseries accumu-
lated beyond the point of patient endur-
anCe and hope of deliverance. She wore
some distinctly stunning gowns and hats
that win not prove among the least at
fractions of the production to her femi-
nine auditors. Mr.. COurtenay played her
cOntempOraneOus husband with spirit and
finish, but perhaps threw into the part
at times just a dash too much of vlgor
for a correct Frenchman Of good society.
Mr.. Ferguson was excellent in the role
of the weak and dainty Jobelln. who
obligingly consents TO aid in fixing the
date of the love letter during his time
Mr.. Gran and his laugh were stimulating.
Altogether the performance was worthy
Of a. work of SardOu in his light and
rolicsome mood, when he uses the me-
dunn Of refined farce to point his little
morals and expose the dangers of divorce
and white lies The three stage sets
were pretty and appropriate. The Love
Letter viii run all the week at the
Belasco.