New-York tribune., 1907-11-02
THE DRAMA In LONDON.
Light Comedy on Artistic Lines Pre-
sented ON the Stage.


Economy Of lire. material and incident char
acterizes Mr.. Hubert Henry Daviess light
comedy construction. There are only four char
acters in the new play. THE Mollusc.' at the
Criterion. and there is little going on during
the three acts: yet there is a charming spark
ling comedy. with human nature drawn from
the life, with dialogue that does not seem to
have been artifcially invented for stage use.
and with wholesome common sense behind the
satire. There few strokes. but each one is
definite and decisive. and the characters stand
out like the figures in Whistler's etchings, with
an individuality of their own. There is the per-
fection Of deftness in the treatment of a simple
theme, and the story, slight and unpretentious
as it is. has the vividness and vivacity of pas
sage from real life. The Baxters. man and wife,
are mollusks in a country house near London,
and spend their time I'm inventing excuses for
not doing anything. The wife is the more in
vertebrate mollusk, employing such energy and
shrewdness as she possesses in persstng in re-
naming where and she is. and in Offering
resistance to every effort to overcome her help
lessness The husband has ceased to struggle
against her amiable Incidence and habitual In
validisrn, and he has lost much of his buoyant
hopefulness and will power. The children's gov
erness is the only thoroughly alert and efficient
member of the household. and the neurotic wife
is dependent upon her willing and unselfish SER
vice, ana the uuSDduu Is III lu0 way VI 4eAAAAiAS
in love with her and she with him. The mol
lusk. as charming dainty and lovable as Miss
May Moore can make her-and her success is
assured in a part OF this kinds the uncon-
scious foe Of the peace Of the household.
Who is to offer combat TO this subtle adver-
sary? Obviously Sir Charles Wyndham as the
nollusk's brother. returning from breezy Colo
rado. where he has led life Of resolute action
and shaken off the family tendencies of slug
gishness and sloth. He undertakes to bring his
sister 10 her senses by forcing her to do for her
self what she insists upon having others do for
her: but she rebels against the reformatory
movement, and succeeds in vanquishing him IN
the battle over the flowers, which she refuses to
arrange unaided. Incidentally he falls in love
with the handsome governess and wishes to
take her back with him TO Colorado, and this
plan is temporarily blocked by the mollusk who
cannot spare any one so useful in waiting upon
an invalid and in looking after the children.
The reformer makes better progress when he
discovers that the husband and the governess in
humoring the hypochondriac have been drifting
into love, and he succeeds in exciting the wifes
jealousy until she leaps from the invalids lounge
and bustles out of the room in search of the low
ers When the husband sprans his ankle and
the governess takes compassion on him and
seeks to make him more comfortable the mol
lusks energies revive. and she dismsses her
rival into the hospltable embrace Of Colorado
Tom. The cure has been effected through jeal-
ousy operating upon a shallow mind. VIII 1t be
the final and complete transformation Of the
helpless and selfish wife into the self-respeCting
and Efficient woman? The reforner seems to be
in doubt this point for he asks the governess
whether the miracles OF healing in the New
| Testament were permanent. The spectator as
he turns homeward shares the skepticisn, for
Tla
sterner and not SO handsome. after the depart
ures for Colorado. and suspects that the mollusk
from force Of habit will revert TO her former
state Of dependence upon everybody around her.
"A clever character sketch. but not q salts
factory play"' the reader may excaim after
reaching this point: and II VIII be a superficial
judgment. With equal reason the Whistler
etching might be condemned because there were
so few lines and materials for picture. In one
case as in the other. there is mastery OF art in
the economy Of means. With Iightness Of touch
and subtle insight in the denotement of char
actcr there is delightful little comedy with so
full an evening Of mirthful entertainment that
the curtain raiser Concerning a Countess"
with Mr.. George Giddens masqueradlng
Earl's own valet, seems superhuous, Mr.. Davies
Is artist who plays with his paints. yet
knows how to use them with masterful pre-
cision; and with naturalness OF dialogue and
simplicity OF treatment the humorous sketch or
molluslSry becomes a study of life definite
and Illuminating than is ordinarily supplied
when the stage is crowded with figures and cos
tunes. The four comedians need to be true
artists, on their guard against overemphass
and vagaries of farce burlesque They, too,
must play with their paints, for single false
tone or too heavy a stroke will mar the deli
cacy Of the art Sir Charles Wyndham is as
resourceful and as vivacious in his denotement
of the impetuous. Americanized bachelor as he
has ever been the stage. and Miss Mary
Moore as the laborously indolent mollusk. has
as good a part as she hope to find in modern
comedy and enacts 1t perfectly. Mr.. Sam
Sothern makes the bewildered and hopeless
Baxter as real homely human nature can be;
and a newcomer Miss Inescort. imparts ten
derness grace and true womanliness to a gov
erness OF the Jane Austen type. Altogether 1t
Is as artistic performance as It is delightful
and wholesome. l. N +,
a rrc zrTTTvUn3y ETNUEC TNnAV