The Washington times., 1909-04-06
Thomas Play Obtains Re-
ward Such as Capital
Rarely Bestows.
PEOPLE OF NOTE
IN THE AUDIENCE
President Taft and Family Head
Distinguished Patrons of
Benefit Performance.

The Witching Hour" has been scented
from Washington as a dramatic sen
sation for more than a year. AS the
latest play from the foremost of
American dramatsts-Augustus Thomas
and as a play which managers had
hesitated to produce because it's plot
was builded upon telepathy, there has
been here and everywhere something
of doubt If this wide attention was
justified. Last night at the Belasco
this skepticism was locally dispelled.
The play then obtained such an award
OF increasing interest. of suppressed
excitement, of lasting impression. as
the American Capital rarely bestows.
To have been one of the audience is
something of a distinction The house
had been purchased by the Pierce Guild.
Through the energy of the ladies active
an its charities. all the boxes and seats
IL the more expensive sections of the
theater were sold weeks ago to those
who give washington its social pre-
eminence. Near the stage, behind a
stand of colors and the shield of the
United States. sat the President and
three members of his family. AS they
entered the orchestra struck up 1.-THE
Star-Spangled Banner and the entire
assemblage arose and stood. amidst
handcIapping, until the Executive had
taken his seat. The Gridiron Club OBJ
served the presence in the cast of Miss
Julia Hay, daughter Of the late Edwin
Il. Hay, an anectiOnately remembered
member of the club for many years, by
taking nve rows of the orchestra chairs.
Near 10 these newspaper correspondents
and their wives sat members Of the
Cabinet, Senator's, Repre- and
men and women prominent in other
tields OF Capital life than the Govern
ment As Lord Macaulay might have
written OF u. here was an audience cal
culated 20 excite the emuiations Of the
actors OF any stage.
John Mason's Forte.
Possibly there was a reflection OF this
in the performance. Mr.. John Mason,
Miss Amelia Gardner. and Mr.. Russ
Whytal are its most important figures,
and the first of these has been remark
able in the estimation Of fellow crafts
men for refinement of method Actor
critics as far apart as Mrs. Fiske and
Henry Z. Dixey have given him the
highest praise; and from the front
there has seemed to be so much of this
sand-papering and repose that some OF
his later representations nave been quiet
10 the degree Of stohdity and Ineffective
ness Yet last night IN a role which had
its foundation in self-controL he shout
ed, John Mason shouted, not once, but
twenty times. The effect may have been
disappointing TO those who come to en-
gJy the restraint which Mrs. FiSke and
g4r- DiXey find so admirable. But II had
a direct value in the performance.
The role IS that OF a gentleman gam
bier closely modelled upon the late Mr..
Garfield. Even the name is Brook
field. In lieu of the formers notable
collection Of Whistlers, this man is a
EaIheTeT Of COrOts, MBrises, Winslow
Homers, and Monets- The one lived
in New York, the other in Louisville
Both were towers in politics and both
~ ff en4lf, ra-srr in
enough to play the game square which
seems, nevertheless, In some judgments
TO balance all the Offenses in the cata-
1ogue- Brookfeld rsdiates personal
power, has an assertive mind, is subject
10 frequent and severe headaches, and
in Mr.. Mason's impersonation, while
he has kept his nerves effectively in a
grip OF steady strength, ne yet reveals
n quicE-mOving eye-lids a superficial
yielding to the effecss Of some drink
immoderate excitement, and habituaI
late hours
Motive Of Play
This is known TO be precisely the per-
sonality Mr.. Thomas conceived as the
means of expounding his own growing
faith in the phenomena of thought
transference. A member Of the United
States Supreme Court, calling 20 see
Brookfields COrot. chances to demon
strate the possibility of impression re-
ceived at a distance without the normal
operation of the recognized sense or
gans- Brookfeld is thinking or the
price he would ask. "Sixty-five thou
sand dollars asks the justice rs
that the price you paid for Il or the
price you viii ask me2'' A moment
Inter the justice speaks the single word,
washington" without any apparent oc-
casiOn. WHAT exclaims Brookfeld
= thought you asked me where
lived" IS the explanation.
Without this element The WitchfnR
Hour would probably have had much
the career OF ''Puddin' Head Wilson,
as A play A young architect. betrothed
10 the niece Of BrOOkheld. has killed a
rowdy IN the gambling house. There
are two trials and the evidence has in
relation 70 the youths horror Of cats
eve somewhat the stage value Of 'sPud-
din Head s. knowledge Of thumb prints
Whatever Mr.. Thomas writes is enIiven-
I'd BY many glints Of real humor and
constructed resourcefully and compact
y. Here. as In Arizona" he has Obtain
Cd abundant interest out Of normal types
Of American life.
Interest Intense.
But with this element the interest
IS intense. Some critics have called
TIE steady development Of Brookfeld'g
psychic control melodramatic II is. on
the contrary, the very antchesis OF
melodrama- The one depends upon in
animate objects-a saw-mill. q pistol. a
element Of danger which induces slIs-
pense. This depends upon the authority
OF personality alcne. In one situation
the two ere directly and avOWedIv on
posed One character stands with a
revolver held against another's breast
But the interest has little so DO with
the reviewer. It is all centered on the
much more potent weapon which the
other man 9as-a mind.
Some there viii be who will pOoh-pooh
the whole assumption. That will not be
strange Crystal gazing. table-rapping
and general "dippey" frauds have made
us ali suspicious. But such as will read
the journals Of the British Society for
Peychical Research VIII find that Mr.
Thomas has not gone the length Of re-
corded human experience, and that
chance and coincidence are in its obser-
walton outdOne by direct manifestion OF
mental power over distance 40 times 10
ono.
What Mr. Thomas has done has been
70 teach the lesson Of his own advancIu1
acceptance Of new psychological theorY
IN story OF marked dramatic vfgor
ara rare sentimental charm a piav-
wright alone might have conceived the
plot without its telepathy A Scientist
M m