The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1907-02-26
NEW YORK IDEA"
SEASONS SUCCESS
Unqualified Triumph for
Mrs. Fiske and Her
Company.

THE New York Idea" certainly the
most abundantly humorous thing the
| seasOn-or many seasons-has prod iced. I
was presented at the Belasco last night
| by Mrs. Fiske. and the best company
| in America before about the most dis
tinguished audience Of the wlnter-an
audience which Included the President
and Mrs. ROoseve. {, Mrs Nicholas Long
worth. Secretary Taft. and many others
| high In official life
The play IS a ripping satire on the
| divorce habit. almost too good to be
true. 1t has. TO be sure. It's moments
! OF farcicaI exaggeration. its moments
even of burlesque. but its bunonery IS
| delicious, its humor trenchant. its exag-
| gerated situations rich with breezy
hu-nor. And while one must admit the
| absurdity OF some highly improbable
| scenes, they certainly DO happen IN an
! effective dramatic way, and give an al
most perfect company rare opportunities
( II IS the most American thing that the
stage has seen-an American theme
| seen from an American point Of view
developed by characters American in
temperament. and idiosyncrasies ex-
pressing themselves in American idiom
And modern! It's as modern rs next
week,
The New York Idea" is defined by
one OF the men as progressive poly
! andry." As another explains H. it is
! marry for a whim and leave the rest
| TO the manor the divorce court As
set forth in the play, It appears 10 be
Divorce in haste and repent at leisure"
The story is that OF Cynthia Karslake.
who has divorced very lovable hus-
| band In a moment Of temper and is
about TO marry a very bOresome legal
luminary who has divorced his wife for
no particular reason She is a man
eating. body-snatching sort Of a person,
shifting the battle from afar when she
sees a wedding ring" Her selection OF
John Karslake for her victim brings
Cynthia to her senses, and TO the rescue.
She bolts from the very altar. hurdles
the conventiOnaIities and arrives once
more in the arms of the husband she
has houted. And that's about all there
Is 10 il, except a delicious Englishman,
wealthy, sentimental, blessed. with
brains and a sense of humor, such as
are rarely allowed TO Briusher on the
American stage, who begins with
amused comment on American cOndi-
tions, but Is swept away in the swift
tide Of American matrimony.
These and half a dozen more are
; woven into the most delicious comedy,
the most brilliant satire that has so
far come from the pen of an American
, playwright. It sparkles along through
four acts with a Wit that is fairly iri-
descent. And in this ripping wit, in
the keenness of the satire. in the de-
Hghtfully whimsical uneXpectedness OF
its situations, it is suggestive of Ber-
nard Shaw, though its unfailing good
nature is grace that Shaw never
aspires to. The audience fairly ripples
with laughter for three hours, and has
to suppress one laugh before il has il
half out, for fear of losing the next.
J And vet the whole structure is so pre-
I posterous in places the situations so
{ farcical the extravaganza and eXag-
5 geration so entirely absurd that. han
= died by any less artistic company. by
/. PLAYERS the least bit less adrOit, il
would collapse before the end of the
, first act Mrs Fiske and her COM
e pany make it not only plausible but
convincing.
, Cynthia Karslake is Mrs. F'iske's first
( comedy role in some years, and it is Z
a ioy to see her in il. She does the piquant
, little termasant. capricious, inconsistent
Z imper1Ous, lrrauonai, yet WnOliy cllaTll'
: ing, full of humOr, yet alive with sensi'
o billy as only Mrs. Fiske could do it
e with eyes that smile through tears, witt
: lips that culver as they smile.
= John Mason was welcomed last nigh
Z quite as warmly as Mrs. Fiske. He Ia:
5 one OF the plausible parts in the play
r and he plays it with a seriousness, al
2 ease, a mellowness. and a finish that ar,
{ all his own; and in the last act, with
4 tenderness that is mastery. His sym
4 pathetic responsive comedy, his gentle
n handling of the final love scene, and hi!
Z delicious graceful Irritation in the secOnC
o act are delightful.
George Arliss lends his peculiarl,
e vivid personality to a rather absurd part
r As Sir Wilfrid Cates-Darby, recently
: landed, falling in love at first sight witt
C both Divorces, ready to snatch the on,
d from the very Jaws OF matrimony--l
II pirate ir a frock coat and mOnOcle-ac
e cepting with good grace his seCon,
o choice, whose second choice he also is
It in all this absurdity and exaggeration
n he is frankly impossible but inimitabl,
d funny. And somehow George Arlis
r makes you believe in him.
If And Marion Lea, as Philimore's di
J. vorced wife, languorous shallow societ
woman, flirting with everyone but tn