The Washington times., 1909-01-26
Miss Bertha Galland Atones
for Weakness of
the Play.
THEME IS FRESH
IN CONCEPTION
Author Undertakes Contrast Be
tween Arcadian Freedom and
New York Society.

little OF "The Forest Lovers"
little OF .The AmaZ5us." and r. little o-
nothing less than Paradise Lost are
the ingredients OF THE Return OF Eve
which was given its hrst metropolitan
production at the Belasc5 Theater last
light Eve is Miss Bertha Galland,
and she is in a double sense returned
For it has been three years since this
wilful and wfnsOme personality was
DISPLAYED for the pleasure of Wash
iugton, and the attitude of keen interest
and hearty favor which marked her
Monday night audience made il clear
that her absence has been genuinely re
-retted
But Eve" returns on a wobbly cloud.
IT. IL keeps afoat it would appear TO
be because Miss Iiailand is dramatically
a sister of Isrus and flies with wings
o. her own. The play In spite of in
Eenuity, several new and pleasing sit
uauons, and mueE terse humor. coold
hardly foat unaided i'm the scaut atmos-
Ysero of these unethereal days
The author is Lee Wilson Dodd- He
has undertaken a contrast between
frank artlessness of manner as fos-
tered by a he OF Arcadlan Ireedoins
and the highly developed aTLlnCe OL
gHutessea New York society. His lead
ing characters are reared in a cabin in
the mountains OF West Virginia. They
aTe Introduced TO Gotham. They return
90 their Eden.
Dramatic Possibilities.
Ihe dramatic possibilities are obvious.
in Nj Piuero's THE Amazons." sim
Gar Comp5ncuts were kneaded into
much comedy and Ieavened into some
passable sentiment. In THE Return OF
EEo they are rolled thin until the
plot cracks and the bread board shows
through The result lS-an 'Ct OF rustic
g-ace-m an urban frame; an act of de-
Fclepiug liSdain for society. an act or
restless longing for the Illusions that,
Jt.-c course can never return OF diSSat-
lsfactlOu with the old Paradise, OF cross
firing between Eve and her primitive
mate, and get of happy outcome.
Hiss Gailaud lis an actress by intui-
ton, Her impersOnatiOns have the
charm of an aiiuuaE personality, apt
~ expressed within the circumstances
of her roles A smile, a pouL light
laugh, G. gay dance, whatever the mood
and whatever the purpose, the heart OF
lne GudTshce responds 10 hers. In The
Pride Of JeuiC0,' THE Forest Lovers, '
and Dorothy Vernon of HaddOn Hail.
this temperament had opportunity more
or less abuudanL. and her success I'm
those plays was directly proporUonate
so that opportunity.
Iu THE Return OF Eve her oppOr-
tunity is OFFSET by burden. He must
have hard nature. Indeed, who is not
caught Dy the ualEeIes the pure natur-
alaess, the sweet JOY and Renuiueness
uf the spTiTe who dances into the drst
act. Miss GaIIand has never done any
thing better calculated TO win her Jhe
love OF the many. And she has never
fulfilled an opportunity better.
Crudely in Play.
But even here and more and more
notIcesbly iE Che last scenes, the actress
is weighted down with crudity iu the
play The text is a strange mixture
Of wit and Journalism. .If you simply
must be sincere" Eve is told, go back
20 Eden. New York is no place Tor
you." "Corsets." says another chaTau-
ter. ARE the ramparts OF society" And
these are speeches when stand beside
such phrases as ut shall never be-
and out upon you.' spoken by our
own kind and In our own time.
The play would be much helped by an
editing. Indeed there Ks too much that
Is good in 10 90 see II drag along an eE-
iEteuce crippled and numbered. And 10
IS an unwilling Judgment that IL mu4.
50 nc dragged along Dy Miss GallauC
unless certain changes are made some
what along these lines
That the dialogue OF the second and
third acts be entirely rccast, SO that u
shall bear relation to our colloCua
rather than our classical tongue tlla
The acting ot1eI than tual OF the SJai
reflect the uaLuTauSUc tendencies OF on,
generation and TO that end that there
be chosen for the role OF the profession
al rOue a personality which seems ap
u~0Drfate 10 the social life represented
that the motives or the several Charao
rers be made more plain; that an attor
new shall look ana bear himself like
modern New York man Of business iu
stead of like q circuit-ridinC clergyman
f1at the whole company. save Miss Gai
land shall cease pounding their speech
Much Merits Approval.
U is au unfortunate circumstance o
criticism that the suggestion of im
p~ovcmeutz. o. the qualifications o
nraise. seems to create an impression O
general critical disaFprOvaL lu thl.
case for example. the performance was
Eev.arded with frequent and hearty
laughter with general Interest ane
with honest favor as indicated lu many
curtain calls. The play has much H
IA tHat i= good Miss Gailaud has ueFeI
seemed SO beautiful and SO winning, al
fu the first aud last acts. And it UOui'
be uuquestioua5Ie injustice not 10 re-
cord these circ INSTANCES
Yet g. would be- equally UNJUST Hoi ID
measure the statement or these meriL
AGAINST that which ought TO be mad'
uf the present dement's of the prOluc
rion AND as that is done the coHClu
sion forces itself upon the mind that b
fhIs plav shall live it VIII DE not be
cause q dramatic composition has Dee'
proven compact, fOrcerul, natural. aIi
interesting, but because lt AFFORDED Mis-
Bertha GaIland a passable medium fol
the display Of EeE personal sNeeJnez,- ~ s