The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-11-21


choose IN Engiish village tor their
experiment IN socialism.
The girls treat for the children re-
suits In indigestion; her gsnerosity
with money In idleness. drunkenness.
and even theft: her broai.minded
theories about the Sabbath In pos
sibly fatal quarrel between bishop
and the local vicar with wife and
six children to support: and her fas-
cination Of person to what q young
baronet feels to be the utter break
Ing OF HIS heart At the last the
money brought with them. Trades.
men are about their ears with unpaid
bills; and q glass OF sour milk IL the
only nourishment left. The fault OF
this play n inactive loquacity The
ideas are talked about until they
bore the listeners- II r. almost mid
night before princely lover Of the
princess rescues her from her predica.
ment and convinces her that she may
10 more good as his wife on throne
than a. cranky socialist in Issver-
ty
third OF one Of the three hours.
though. 10 given up to teaching FASH
fouable New Workers to be sociable at
the theatre. and they are learning but
slowly, considering the aptness OF our
smart folks. The New Theatre has
a tea room and q barroom. spacious
and beautiful. and the intention OF
the directorate IL that every evening,
between the second and third acts OF
the play these two places shall for
twenty minutes b. modisn resorts for
polite conyiytality. On the first night.
the numerous chairs and tables were
left almost unused. and while the cafe
had men drinking at the bar. few
women strolled into the tearoom with
their escorts, sazed curiously about
and went back to the auditorium thir-
sty. The occupants OF the boxes. now
ever. are betaking themselves to these
ure. refreshmeht and soctabiiity. New
York has law against the sale OF al
cohoifc beverages In q theatre: but
this cafe Is club room exclusively
to members" although In the stress of
starting the institution no one has
been formally taken into membership.
That win be attended to In jiffy, no
doubt. II the authorities undertake to
enforce the statute.
some plays seek safety in sure old
stun. Some take the chances with new
oddly. Some blend the time-tried
things with risky originalities. That
makes a pad on the ground to keep
the fall from hurting much II there Ia
4 tumble from the mid-air flight.
Seven Days" 10 a balance between
safety and danger. 1t puts new wine
into an old bottle. shakes It up hard,
and the only thing that bursts Is
laughter.
Maiden's Pretense the Theme.
thousand farces, mostly Partisan.
have evolved their fun from maiden's
pretense to be wife. That Is used
again In this new piece Of nonsense,
and for the old purpose OF deceiving a
spendthrift. capitalizinR relative. who
enlarges his allowance because she be-
lieves he has q wife to maintain. In
this case. the man has lost his real
wife by divorce, and when the straight
laced aunt comes to town all of a
sudden, he induces girl friend to
pose as his matrimonial mate. She
has an estranged lover who turns up
to be Jealous. and there we are with
two pairs confused In familiar way,
full quantum Of fun Is brought out
from them.
The original magazine fiction by
Mary Roberts Rinehart, from which
Avery Hopwood and Colin Kemper s-is-
sored and pasted Seven Days" made
much of that knot and tanEle by shut
ting up it's ave persons for a week In
q house suspected of containing small
box The young four are Inclined to
ialiisay In their former coupling; 50
the watchful aunt thinks her nephew
and bogus niece. are fiirttng with the
ex-wife and the bachelor. Tnat might
not make the play SO. The noveiette.
though, has provided . new sort Of
matter, too. A psychic young wo-
man Is caught In the auarantined
house, SO is burglar; and all through
the farce the antics Of the hungry
thief in hiding are mistaken by the
young woman for the Manifestations
of her spiritualistic 'control." As she
has q husband, the persons active In
the fun. counting q comic policeman,
are nine. No one. of them IL acted by
: BROADWAY celebrity: SO their names
would mean nothing to you; yet the
performance Is unanimously efficient
and effectual: and to my thinking,
cast Is all the better for unfamiliar
talent
The aunt takes command OF the
Guaranteed company as though they
were shipwrecked on an ocean Island.
She assigns the housework by LOT, and
fun comes of the inexpert service. es-
pecially in the cookery. Comic incl
dents come In q rapid succession. Wit
and numor are abundant In the YER
biage, whether the adept In the
transfer from ma gaxiBe to stage 10
Kemper or Hopwood. don't know; but
anyway he has the dead-and-gone
Charley Hoyt's knack Of deceiving
newspaper sort OF jocosity 10 theatre
cal audiences. For q merc example.
all the prisoners have to submit TO
vaccination. Thereafter. the men cry
ouch" at the bump Of an arm: and
the women, while pretending that their
arms are sensitive, limp in their gaits
to prove that they have located the
soreness where decoilste gowns won't
uncover the scars.
Here Is a serious new thing In sober
drama. Many men under holy vows
have worn infection. like the New Eng
land clergyman in The Scarlet Let
ter" a hidden brand of sexual sin.
Monks Of the Catholic Church. too. have