The Washington herald., 1907-03-26
Ellen Terry In "Capt. Brassbound's
Conversion" at the National.

Il claim as a notable merit in the authorship oi
I lhis play that ! have been intelligent enough %
steal ats scenery, IFS Surroundings, its atmosphere
its geography, its knowedse Of the East its fasci-
mating Cadis and Kroob0ys and Sheikhs and mud
castles from an excellent book Of phiiosophie travel
and~yiFid adventure entitled MogTed-el-Acksa Mo
rocco the Most Holy, By Cunninghame Graham.
Ny own arst hand knowledge Of Morocco is based
on mornings walk through TsagieF, and cur
sory observation Of the coast through binoeular
from the deck Of orient steamer. both later IN
date than the writing Of tie play
That is a paragraph from Bernard
Shaw's .eface TO Captain Brassb0und's
/ iConversfon," one of his Three Plays for
Puritans, which was admirably per-
formed at the New National Theater last
night by Miss Ellen Terry and excellent
supporting company.
Victorien Sardou said Of this play. 1t
Is "a glorious comedy" and the great
French master OF the stage knew whereof
he was speaking. 1t is sparkling with the
keenest sort Of wit; strikingly original
both in its conception and its situations:
Its dialogue fairly bristles with bright
eynicisms-gentle enough after all, even
If they do reflect somewhat Mr.. Shaw's
rather ultrasocialistic views-and it has
Characterization that amaze one with
their cIeverness.
The story of the play is simple Its
scene is Morocco, 10 which place comes
Sir Howard Hanam. British solicitor
general and an upright Judge together
with his sister-in-law. the only woman in
the play, Lady Cicely Waynhete. During
the conversation that ensues with the
English missionary at Mogad0T, the audi
ence learns that Sir Howard had a
brother. whose estates in the West Indies
he has inherited. Sir Howard and Lady
Cicely are determined TO take a trip into
the interior. and are advised to take Capt.
7 Brassbound and his crew as an escort
| This Capt. Brassbound is supposed Go be
some sort OF a pirate. II turns cut that
he is Sir Howard's nephew. and, having
got Sir Howard into the wilderness, he
proposes To turn him over TO the MoOrs
as a captive in revenge for the sights
and cruelty which Sir Howard has prac-
uced ON his mother.
( II is Lady Cicely who is the hero Of the
expedition Absolutely unafrad and per
fectly calm, she soon subdues every menu
! her of the party. The rough pirates Of
Capt BrassbOund's crew she tames so
that they will eat out OF her hand She
! bosses everybody, her brother included.
but always with a Binsome gentieness
/ that is superb. At the last. having saved
/ Sir Howard, and then having saved Capt
! Brassbound and sis crew from the Amer
ican naval captain. who comes to their
rescue, she sets about the task Of saving
Capt BTassbOund himself. II seems at
one time as If she must marry the man to
save him. His need Of her is so great
and her heart is so big that she is about
To consent when-the gun fires that an
nOunces that his anchor IS weighed.
BTassbound-It is farewell. Rescue for you safety,
freedom fol were made % be slmrthing better
than the wife Of BIack Paquito. You can do no
more for me now. ! have biundeTed somehow GA the
seaet Of command al last. Thanks Cor that. and
for mans power and purpose restored and nshted.
And farewell farewell. farewell.
Lady Cioely fn strange ecstasy. holding his
hands, oh. farewell. With ms hearts deepest feel
ing. farewell.
Capt Brassbound-With my hearts nol'Iess honor
and iriumph. farewell. He turns and heesl
LADY Cicely-Hov sorious. And-vbat an escape,
And that ends the play. The question
thai remains. and it is question that
was much discussed after the theater
last night, IS, Should she have mar
ried him. IL Is well for those who love
the theater at its best TO go and see
this play and have the question pre-
sen5ed clearly to themselves.
The part Of Lady Cicely fits Miss FL
len serry with marvellous grace. In
deed, Miss Terry is one of the won
ders Of the stage. A woman well on 10
middle age. she stilI conveys the illu-
sion of perpetual youth. And-the
glory of her voice and her splendid
enunciation.
Nothing about her speaks Of age
The sparkle in Fer dancing eyes seems
4F.
you: she skips about the sage with the
grace and lithesomeness Of a young
girl. And how, with her fine intelli-
gence and her keen sense az humer
i shescam lend value to Mr.. shaws linesl
| Much that Shaw has written in this
play is sheer cynicism; mere railing at
the established Order-Which is always
/ distasteful to him, Tt was good to
hear from Miss Terry. whom we re-
member go lovingly as the best Portia
of her age, Shaw's arraignment of the
English judiciary. She is talking to
RraSsbound.
Bless me- Your Uuce Howard Is cue Of the
most harmless Of men-much nicer than most pro
fessQnal people OF course. he does dreadful things
rs judge: but then II y0u take = and pay
hiIA 5000 year 20 be wicked and praise him for
it. and policemen and courts and iuTies 10 drive
him into it that he can't help doing it. what can
you expeetg
The play throughout Is full of such
Il cyncisEns as that, a little subtle at times
but making their appeal 10 the intelli-
gence nevertheless. And through It all
Miss Ellen TerTy's wOrk-artistic, con-
scienttOus. graceful-was sheer delghtT
The supporting company is uniformly
good James Carew, as BrassbOund, did
some very clever work, and so did George
Elton as the cockney from the slums, one
Drinkwater. Ruge Harding, as Sir How
ard, was excellent, and Mr.. George Ingle-
tons missionary was elear-eut charae-
ter. Even the minor parts were all skill
fully played. AS said before there is
only one feminine character in the piece.
and that Is played By Miss Terry. whose
fine work more than eompensates for the
absence of others of her sex. Captain
Brassbound's Conversion drew ca
pacity audience last night. and il Wash
ingtOn theater-goers are wise Il will con-
tinue to do so the rest of the engagement
Chase's-HouJfni, the Mysterious,
Helena Frederick, and Other Acts.
There is a rafting good entertainment
at Chase's thss week. 1t is varied enough
to suit all tastes, but. as should always
be the case in a good vaudeville show,
the laughs predominate Two audiences
that tested the capacity of the theater
saw the show yesterday The main fea-
ture, OF course, was Houdini a detailed
laccount of his feats is given elsewhere.
Next to Houdini the most attractive
one on the bill was Helena Frederick,
a soprano singer OF great personal mag
lnetism, and with voice Of much greater