New-York tribune., 1910-12-31
THE DRAMA
Henry Arthur Jones's New Play
at Nazim0va's Theatre.

| experienced hand being that Of Henry
Arthur Jones. quotation from George
Meredith appears the play bill: ~ Oh
many distinguish them by favorite
| phrase, Surely we are not so bad.' and the
| remark, IT that is human nature, save
us from it, AS II 1t could be done!' Mr.
Jones may think ii can't BE- done, and on
i the whole he's right albeit he sends the
two leading characters of his play to South
! America SO that they be saved from it.
! quite the last place il the world, you might
think, where human nature of unlovely
| kind may be lost to sight and influence
| But. al any rate. 1t won't be a repetition
of that type Of disagreeable human nature
which makes up the country house parties
| OF the Quarnby Royals Of England at the
| opening OF the second tenth of the. twen-
| tieth century. One would hope not. For
st Quarnby Royal, Lord Carnforth's place
| in shire, the house party is COM
| posed of persons who FOR the most part
find it as difficult to keep out Of the police
| reports as If they were young Napoleons
of Finance o. Black Hand gentry in this
! bleak New World. One of them steals
necklace. another is described by an elderly
| aoy rs an Uncertain gentleman, who
never knows where his bedroom IS; he's
guests murder regulations and the one
real man of the lot begins to long, we'll
he may, for the company of the black
guards and scoundrels he left in Argen-
tina. AS for the woman who is consid-
cred by this cheerful group to be the worst
of the lot, the target for all their poisoned
arrows of scandal. she is really one OF the
best women in world largely inhabited
by human nature. No wonder the man
from Argentina nlarries her and carries
her back to that distant land. The infer
ence, OF course, is that In the rich old
garden we call England there is no place
for flower whose bloom has been touched
by the breath Of scandal. The inference
may not be justified, bur there it Is, and
you may make the most of it,
At Quarnby Royal Mrs. Engaine. a rich
young English widow. who has lived ten
years in the United States is. with her
stepdaughter Violet. a guest Of Lord and
Lady Carnforth. Lord Carnforth, it is
quite refreshing to add. is quite respectable
When found in a contemporary play a
spectacle nobleman should be made a.
note Of But Lord Carnforth is not only
respectable he is colorless. He is the sort
of person that heaven, or the other place,
puts into the world to be fooled by his
Nilc duu otl1eT people wives ana nus
bands. He doesn't approve OF his wife,
wherein he is sensible; he doesn't approve
of her guests. but he permits her and them
to make gambling shop of his house and
to incur big debts over big stakes There
comes Sir Ralph Newell. Lady Carnforths
cousin. home from the Argentine. He In
PRODUCES the beautiful Mrs. Engaine and
her stepdaughter. He has met them on the
North Atlantic voyage. Lady Carnforths
brother. a Mr.. Fulks Bissett, a bounder
without shred Of decency, determines to
marry the girl for her fortunes sake. In
cidentally he steals her mothers pearl
necklace. He is hard up. An elderly
male gossip named Topham Bargeny
recognizes in the lovely rich widow
a Nora Shard who, a decade ago, ran away
with Harold Furnival, an unhappily mar
ried man eminent in political and social
life. Furnival. a day or two after the
elopement, was killed in an accident. Miss
Shard, after a burst of publicity. coroner's
inquest. illustrated papers and so on, dis
appeared. There Is mistake: Mrs. En-
game is Nora Shard. In America she be-
came a nurse. A millionaire patient mar
ried her and died. Now then. declares that
blossom of the aristocracy Lady Carnforth
now then. Mrs. Engaine, permit my
brother, F'uIks Bssett. to marry your step
daughter, or I will expose you as the Nora
Shard who ruined Harold FurnivaI Mrs
Engaine declines the bargain. Sir Ralph
Newell proposes to her. She tells him who
she is. Sir Ralph was FurnivaFs dearest
friend. Mrs. Engaine's revelation bewilders
him. He must have time to think. How
can she love him, having loved FurniyaI as
she did?
You don't understand" she means Il
think every woman has two hearts to give
a girls and a womans. l gave him my
girls heart But / have a woman's heart
TO give you I'm not the girl who loved
Harold Furnival. Oh, the woman's love is
the best Won't you take ft?"
He leaves her, but returns next day. He
has heard the cries of the gossips. Their
sickening cackle drives him to her, to pro-
tect her. He sees her as she is, in truth a
very noble woman, the one white soul
among this tainted crew. And SO their
story has a happy ending.
1t was quite much the art of the
actress the art of the playwright that
from the audience a splendid tribute
Of applause. Miss Katharine Kaelred re-
vealed a rare and tender quality of emo
tional power last night. She was quiet
restrained, delicate, where actresses are
usually noisy demonstrative even gro
tesque. She was touching, sWeetly pathetic
yet always dignifed and strong Indeed,
her work in this play deserves and will
receive. far more consideration than can be
given to 1t in the rush of midnight chron-
icle. Suffice it to say for the moment that
Miss Kaered is a refreshing surprise II
the dramatist triumphed, SO did She
The play will probably be considered the
strongest that Henry Arthur Jones has put
forward since Mrs. Danes Defence"
There Is striking scene between the two
women Mrs. Engaine and Lady Carnforth
In the second act. But the best scene in
the play, best in conception and In play
craft, Is that between Sir Ralph and Mrs.
Engaine, scene in which, if ever scene
revealed II, womans soul is shown
Mr.. Nye Chart, a new conner to these
shores. made a good impression as Sir
Ralph. The other parts We're we'll, II not
brilliantly sustained. A later review will
dwell upon passages and points which must
eral measure of public attention. And Miss
Kaelred will win a conspicuous place on
the stage. A. w.
CAST OF WE CAN'T BE AS BAD AS ALI.
THAT"
Mrs. EIigaine ........--..-.. Katharine Kaered
Lacy carnfurth Charlotte Granville
Violet Engaine ..---..-.-.-...-. Frances Jordan
Mrs. Fred Chimney Mrs sam Sothern
IGdy Katherine Greenop. Kate Phillips