The Washington herald., 1909-01-26
THE BELASCo.
aThe Return OF Eve.r

!
and this subtitle fits fl rather well, save
for the fact tnst the reality part Of It
is not so insisted upon by the playwright
that many people are persuaded 20 be
leve In It.
II is a strange play II has a bully idea
back of IL, and a splendid first act, buS
after that act one is made to feel that
the author has not lived up 20 his theme
and the promise has been so great that
the weakness in the latter end is the
more Disappointing
The central idea Of the play Is fan
tasttc enough. but it IS promulgated so
well in the first act that the audience is
convinced that If it is not true it might
have been true, and. after all. that IS
what really matters. The play opens
IN the home Of Mrs Tupper- -BelIsmy. in
New York -drs. Tupper-Beuamy' &c
centric brother. a very rich man. has. for
an experiment. taken two children from
a founding hospital and placed them on
an island estate OF his in Virginia. which
ne has named Eden. He has called the
two children Adam and Eve. and. save
for an old wO0dsman. whom they call
"Old Winters" they see TO human beings
and remain in absolute ignorance Of So
( called civilization until they are Of age
i At that time they come into enormous
fortunes left them by their guardian
The play opens the day after Adam and
Eve have arrived in New York and there
is considerable fun made cut Of the utter
ignorance Of Eve Of the ways Of the
world Adam and Old Winters are there.
too. but one glimpse OF the world Of
fashion is enough for these two. and they
go back. leaving Eve TO taste Of the
! worlds delights. She is rot willing 10
80 back because she has FELT the first
I tremors Of love, inspired by an utterly
unworthy cad. a sort Of professional rOue.
The second act is three years later II
takes place ar Ewes country villa She
has been making ducks and brakes Of
her fortune. and as a crownIng folly she
gifes what remains 20 her Cousin
/ Clarice. as II 10 test the affection or the
roue. Seymour Purchwell who has been
making love 10 both girls. As she ex-
( poets Seymour, finding that Clarice Is
! rich, at once proposes 90 her, but Adam
comes back, and imagining that Seymour
4 has compromised Eve. forces him public
/ " 20 declare that Eve has consented to
+ be his wife
/ The last act is at Eden. where Eve has !
returned She is bored 10 death with all
4 this nearer % natures heart business. (
I and longs On her soul fOr. something she
( knows not what. perhaps IL is the CAV
! world again. But she has been brought
/ up 20 believe that Adam was her brother,
I ard now old Winters has told her the
4 truth, that there IS 10 blood relationship
/ between them; and so Eve finds cut that
I she loves Adam. and the play ends with
I her in his arms
The nrst ACT Of this new play Is gen
timely interesting Il has bright and
( snappy dialogue. keen satire. and con
siderable wiz Also the action j. direct
and promises 20 De interesting Here are
some samples of the dialogue In the first
act:
I Mrs- Tgpper Beilsny-Erv, Hnt yo7r .fvre-. sr5
/ Tat them on It isn't des1t 70 be ssen without
/ them
/ Eve-Deos1tl What IS dscs-t7
Nrs- IupTsr- Beilazay-Un, That's burning quss-
ton nowadays. TO Mrs- Conybesrl Alice. What Is
6ecert2
air- Coaybsar-I an sure dout know I u.,a
ny ETandmother used q know
AIRS T--B--S0 did mine 50 sIa sre-xtS-5v A.
they ask rs 70 believe n herpafty.
/ MrN T-B.-An yC1 need is riors-atting oo-.ets
+ ETe-COTsets' don't ike ths word. What are
I they
Ms T-B-Ths ranpa-ts q sOas,y.
N1z T-B-Do you remember uho lived in The
Garden - Eder'
Ms. cOaybear-of oouse, dsaz, tas serpent
Eee TO Mrs. Coaybear-Tou are saeA SLY
Eou-an. Yoa talk Ike a bluezy.
Trizie-ws must have yoa IN or eaan,y theat-i-
Gals rext winter.
Eve fpeTDsXedl-Cb
Trixie-Yes. don't yOu understand Doing fo- 4
others We are glad they are not able - Go for
n Il Is very useful Il coEe7s Ugltrude of si1s
n our set
Caro- VAN you In tine. he makes love to
EFe-You make I7Te! You can't make love. can
you Il Just Genes.
But after that first act the plav falls
away in interest Indirectness and fnde-
cision mark It for their own and it is
talk. talk, tax. without any apparent
goal. without any sustained interest. If
is an error Of the playwright which is
likely TO prove fatal 10 his play
The acting was all that could be de-
sired. Miss Galland has a striking ana
most pleasing personality. She is al
cOnsummate actress and mistress Of her
art. There are few women on the stage I
who have greater command Of facial ex-
preston, who understand the wonderful L
possibilities Of gesture, better than she /
does. And unreal as the part OF Eve IS.
she yet invests il with character per-
sonality, and life. and II the playwright
had only given her a little more real hu-
man matter 10 work with, one can see /
how her return 10 the stage would prove
a veritable triumph But as il is one
seems TO feel it pity that so much effort
Is to be wasted, for the lack OF the hu-
manity in this play IS so marked. its note
Of insineerity so strident that & fails +
to interest-snd that, in this day and age.
Is fatal defect. No play, however big
its theme. however clever its Idea. how
ever powerful its moral can hope for
success If II strikes the note Of bore
dom. Nor can you excuse The Return 4.
Of Eve" BY explaining that Il is a sat
ire. OF q fantasy. OF what-you-will: in
spite Of its clever acting. its f.e scenic
investment, its moments Of interest, does
it stir you, appeal TO you, move you. en-
tertain you? II the answer is no. as It
must be in this case-what remains 10 be
said?
Miss Galland has a good supporting
company. Very clever is the work OF
Maude Turner Gordon as Mrs. Tupper-
Bellamy. OF the world. worldly. Fanchon
Campbell as Clarice makes the most of
small opportunities. Frank Losee as Old
Winters does conscientious and able |
work and Lester LOnergan as Adam was !
strikingly good. 4 very good bit, too II
was the Trixie Of Eleanor Lawson. II
But when all is said. good acting will
not save a play. and although The Re
turn OF Eve" is rot a bad play il is
an inept play; il does not quite reach.
HECTOR FULLER.
While you think OF It, telephone your