The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-11-01
THE NATIONAL.
Anti MntrimnnN.-


Attracted principally by the personality
OF Henrietta Crosman and the memories
OF other years when she entertained them
as Mistress Nell, the Pilgrim, Rosalind
and Katherine. in sham" large audi
cnce entered the National last evening
to witness the opening performance Of
'Antl-Matrimony." the new 'satirical
burlesque, from the facile pen of Percy
Mackaye, who appears TO write "A satire
with the same ease with which he COM
poses classic dramas
II Is safe 10 say that when the audience
entered the tlleater they were prepared
10 laugh, but slip OF paper which the
thoughtful management had inserted in
tho programmes. and which said among
other things, that the audience should
not be misled by the seriousness of the
players They are used to laughs in SEEM
lngly serious situations, and your appre-
citation OF the absurdity of tho serious
ness OF the play will encourage them 10
give more enjoyable entertainment TO
you threw somewhat of a damDer on
their resolution 10 enjoy themselves. No
audience cares 10 be told that IL must
laugh-or thereby show its lack of per
spicacity-and the result was that the
first act of the piece was taken in a
serious manner. and the audience did not
really awaken to the satire and burlesque
OF the play until the second scene was
we'll under way.
But once il did awaken 10 the fact that
this was a satire. and was intended for
such. the audience settled itself for one
Of the most enjoyable evenings provided
"A q local fhaataF i'm
phorically speaking. IL relaxed-it lost its
serious outlook on nfe-and the barbs
Of wit, heavily tinged with satire. found
a ready resting place and as hearty a
response
IL is hard TO classify Anti MatrimOny, q"
so perhaps it is better 10 accept its au-
/ thoT's subtitle and allow it TO remain
a "satirical burlesque." a burlesque il
certainly is-s hurlesQue on the free
thought and free-love theories OF the
German philosophers-and its satire upon
our modern marriage system and domes-
tic conditions is as subtle as IL is de-
/ lightfuI
There is little use in giving a resume
/ or the plot it is as frothy as the cream
| OF charlotte russo. as light as the foam
| OF the sea. But the humor Of the situa-
| lions which arise from the efforts OF the
minister and his wife 20 rid their brother
and sister of their ideas OF free love
acquired abroad is distinctly Shawian
Mr. MacKaye has caught something OF
Shaw's ability 20 make natural people
do unnatural things in a plausible man
ner, ana, while he has abundant 0ppor-
! tunlties to deteriorate into plain farce, he
always escapes. If only by a hair
OF the acting one can speak nothing
but praise. All the players-there are
but five In the CaSt-do excellent work.
work which is quite worthy 20 be- ranked
with that OF the star, long recognized as
one OF the leading condolences OF the
American stage. And the performance
given by Miss Crosman IN this piece is
perfection itself. Every movement is a
delight. every line JOY, and there is a
laugh which enters into and enlivens the
whole. and is itself worthy Of special
notice. In short, Miss CTosman is-Miss
Crosman.
But the work OF the star was no sur
prise that would have come II she had
done poor work The real ind of the
evening was Wright Kramer. who last
made his appearance here as the deliver
er Of the Burton Holmes lectures, and
, who was connected with the Lafayette
! Square Stock Company. in conjunction
with Edwin Arden, John sullivan, and the
rest. Mr. Kramer, In the role OF Brother
Morris. now transformed into .'Morees, %
with all that the change in accent implies,
the apostle of free-love and free-thOught.
takes Ibsen's characters and situations
and hastily throws them together 10 make
play Of his own, was really the surprise
Of the evening. His work was clear cut.
his appearance all that could be desired.
and his enunciation a delight. Let us
hope that we will see more Of this actor.
The other three parts were in the hands
OF Walter Greene, Marian Holcome, and
Grace Carlyle, and the audience had no
fault 70 find with their work
II you care 20 witness a play that is
delightful, subtle, refined, well written.
and better acted. do not omit "Anti-Mat-
rimony" from your list Of theatrical en-
gagement for this week