The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1909-11-30


ticed. There are so many laws,
so many loopbOles through which
TO evade these laws, so many
ramflcatiOns, so many interpre-
tatiOns. so many delays-its all
law, law. laW-delay. delay. de-
lay-the question Of equity and
justice is completely lost sight
OF in the chaos of procedure. The
letter Of the law is there, but the
spirit is sadly wanting.
Pretty prosy material that for a play?
Good STUFF for magazine article, but
unsuited TO the stage? Lacks human
interest, and love motive. ana that
sort Of thing
We shall see.
Chayles Klein worked the police meth
DDS OF our great American cities into
a play that was wonderfully human.
In that play he visualized the methods
OF inquisition he showed the third de-
gree" as IL Is applied. But the materials
Of this later play were not adapted to
stage reproduction; therefore, he could
portray them only through their ef-
fects. And he did this so successfully
as TO make greater play than THE
Third Degree and a better play than
, The Lion and the Mouse.
The Next Of Kin is the title of this
new drama, and IL had its metropolitan
premiere last night at the Columbia
Theater.
That elusive bird, Good Luck, which
comes seldom and stays briefly IN stage
land, has been unusually Chummy with
Mr. Klein. For his Music Master he
had a David Warfield; for his Third
Degree he had talented company; for
The Next OF KIM he has Miss Hedwig
Reicher, Frederick Perry. Wallace Ed
diager, Grant Mitchell and a dozen
others of exceptional ability.
Elements o. Play
The opposing elements Of this play
are represented by the lines of John
Ricsby. quoted above. and this SEN
tence, spoken by ex-Judge Bascom
Cooley;
4 can take either side of any case
and win
person than President Taft minated
that they do. many persons are bound
10 suffer and the concrete example fur
nished here is Paula Marsh. who is
through the Chicanery OF a scheming
uncle and corrupt, attorney.
Mr. Klein, like the writers OF half a
dozen plays since THE Witching Hour"
has recognized tho value Of mental
suggestion as dramatic material, though
his brand is more after the '-Trilby'
: order than OF the Augustus Thomas
type The idea is made so true 10 your
experience and to nine that its appeal
rs Instant ana gripping. 10 seems only
natural that this young woman, when
toned by those about her, when she
has been told daily for weeks by a.
SvenEali-like physician she is near
the danger point, when she IS made
10 associate in a Sanltarium with nerv-
Gus wrecks. should begin to fear for
her reason II seems just as natural
that the buoyant Todhunter chase, boy
lSnr breezy and matter-Of-fact, should
relieve the tension whenever he APP
pears.
Artist-like Contrasts.
The play is one Of fine. of artist-like
contrasts In no instance are those
contrasts brought about by exaggera-
lion. Instead they are emphasized BY
the clever juXtapositiOn Of variant char
scteTs.
! think no better example OF cba~ac-
ter contrast is TO be found than that
~ the first act between the Paula Marsh
Of BedWIg ReiCheT and the Harry
Parkes. IAN architects assistant max
ing Si.lO0 a ~year. with unlimited pros
poets He IS neat. well kept and SO
IS the furniture OF Mrs. Parkes' parIor.
Eut hers is a secOnd-CIass boarding
mouse and her son is seCOnd-class
OF the sixteen roles At least a dozen
are worthy efforts Of characte portray
a. The superintendent Of Sea Rest,
, To,@luenekc. and the waiter might east
~ have been puppets, but each Is made
To- stand for an idea. The character
OF the snuttarium Is shown I'm a twink
ing when the superintendent quits his
examination Of patients records at the
first sound Of the luncheon gong. The
waiter tvphes 90 uicetv the democrat
izinS effect Of the tipping habit. Prof
Bodlcy. or Che insanity board, is a re-
hinder that in the quest Of the psychic
common sense has Occa SionaIlv been
lost sight Of That these characters
do not detraCt from the interest of the
main line story. but work together for
Its development Is tribute to the
& frfrn -
80 their crest ion is a tribute 10 his gem
ius
Praise Not Extravagant.
All this sounds like extravsraDt
praise. II IS not. Il Is carefully con-
sidercd appreciation Of "a remarkable
achievement achievement % a
seemed 20 many Of AS at the Columbia
tlian any Of Mr. kleiu's plays. save
THE Music Master And those who
appreciated this playwrghts motives
must likewise have been alive 70 some
Is OF moment, some Of them may be
!. remedied: others are inherent and must
: be accepted with the play. A few Of
Them are:
8 climax THAI is not AT all In keeping
with the dignitied measure OF all that
went bcfJTc--a sort Df s-gctting-late-
let's wind-it-up-noW' ending.
4 character in Dir Zachau VINO does
leHtuatpd iH tho midst Of so many 9TH
or realistic DOrtrsysls.
4 first act that dTags but that IS 50
fuli Of meat that Il can easily be recon
structed.
Al Interpretation Of the law relating
10 insanity comm iss.Ons that seems
stretched TO meet TN purposes Of the
plaV. I know Mr.. Klein must he surer
~ his ground than any Of us who saw
this PLAY less than twcntv-fJur hours
tcc bat I said seemed" stretched, AMI
though the author can cite case after
case Of similar procedures the scent
ing Is what counts with lay audi
cncc
A. much as an this should be said
of Miss kaicher's acting. This young
woman has been compared 70 another
foFeiEn actress who learned our Ian
-NaBe To- play &c English audiences and
INC comparison oOes not need a close
reproduction o. NaZimoVa's gowns Co
rear II out Last night tie newcomer
earned consideration OF her own ac-
count in the first act she seemed diff
'uent, iu the second her acting was a
Sheer delich1 and i'm rhc third she dis
PiaHed the repression and the art or
Suggesting rather than pOTtrayiug that
stamped her as an artist She IS tall.
-ilhe, possesses a wonderfully EXPIRES
riNe lace. retains foreign accent that
- forgotten IN the power Of her actints
ana mas a knock Of making thc audi
Sngr tesl exactly what she tries 10 con