The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-10-04
IN ID LOCAL
j LAYHOUSESl



DETROIT OPERA HOUSE
v Porter Emerson Brown has great
= faculty for creating disagreeable
characters. Last season he gave az
y the repulsive, snake-like vampire wo'
man In "A Fool There Was" the 70
collection Of which still causes ones
lips TO curl In disgust. Now he Of
fers. In The Spendthrift," woman
- who. though not 80 low IN the moral
\ scale, II almost az disgusting. There
may be q good lesson In The Spend
thrift" for some OF our women folk.
In that case II will have justified ito
creation In some measure, but other
wise II will have to depend for what
success may come its way on tho I'M
common histrionic abilities of such
/ excellent artists az Edmund Breese
and Miss That's Magrane. for In less
\ capable hands II would be . rather
B tnsipid entertainment.
'The Spendthrift" was given it,
first local production In the Detroit
" Opera house, Monday night, before .
<zrepresentative audience. Though ito
<execution was faultless. except, pos
nibly. In a few minor details. its re-
\ ception was far from cordial. A few
there were who took out their hand
r kerchiefs when the curtain rose on
4 the fourth act and disclosed poorly
Furnished room In striking contrast to
} the gilded settings of the proceeding
y, periods, with much-chastened and
VERY wretched woman In the center
OF the picture. With the inevitable
h reconciliation close at hand. she faces
the awful prediciment of living on an
X income that has been reduced from
tx, 900 TO $4,000, with q rich old
N aunt standing by, ready to lend what
\ support IL necessary. It's q truly
pathetic situation.
Mr.. Brown might have called his
play How to Go Broke on $4,000 q
Year" At any rate, the title fits.
Richard Ward is prosperous New
h York broker. He loves his wife,
Frances. and like q dutiful husband.
6estows ON her liberal share of his
y earnings. This, however, ID not
enough TO satisfy her extravagant mo-
tions She thinks only of her own
Gelllsh pleasure and has no sense Of
responsibility whatever. When her
husbands income fails to provide for
her wants. she borrows from her
aunt until the latter calls q halt;
&<)Jl0 o00 Iuub IutO uSOl, 0uu, 40 y
lat, resort, pawns her jewels.
When the play opens. Ward 10 on
thny verge of bankruptcy - the
natural result OF his wife's foolish
oxtYavsgancies. He tries to reason
With her and she jumps to the con-
cluston that his love IL growing cold.
Than . happy thought strikes her.
II know what's the matter, dear"
~ ~ s4Vr1S vaaA vDot Wov1
:. close up the town house and 60 to
\ Europe"
A,Reek passes. Ward has made all
preparations to declare himself q
baq1wunk on the morrow. The wife
eu4nED, gArbed like princess Her
q clonn1m ere aglow and her eyes big
n W11h1 daIlght a. ohe delves into her
81 p9so1pant1 produces . fat roll OF bills.
y 410Noos She turns It over to her hus-
bard, 011 except couple of thousand
she has-uaved out for pin money, with
the explanation that she has borrow
ed e from her aunt to tide him over
hin di0culties- It's 4 lie, a. the hus-
band very soon Ands out Then there
= TIN 6qpc4 70 nv. y q 49,
Th6 9cene phifts to the wife's lux
ufict1 }ttud0frs She has retired and
ri the lights are turned low. Ward en-
tiers, bent on learning the truth. He
n forces her to confess that she has
obtained the money frcm Suffern
Thorne, young millionaire club man.
The. husband doubts her earnest
prptestations that she gave nothing
4 Ia tetstrT. He forces her to send for
Thorna and the latter comes to the
bed chamber, expecting to find her
alone. Confronted by the husband,
Thorne corroborates the wife's state
ment. He had given her the money
because she attracted him, he ex-
plains, but there has been no wrong
at least not yet. Wards first I'm
4 pulse Ia to shoot Thorne. but instead
he discharges the weapon into the
floor with the remark:
Whats the user"
In the final picture, AZ already In
dictated, Mrs. Ward is seen In new
surroundings. She has left her hus-
band and has gone to an obscure part
Of the city, where she 10 making her
own living by acting a. q governess
Five months of bread and water"
Ahave taken the extrayagant notions
7out OF her head. and when the hus-
band finally gets on the trail and
seeks her out she Is quite ready to
return to him on q reduced income.
Mr.. Breeee, as the husband, gives
evidences of the finished talents that
have, charterized his work In other
and more advantageous roles. Miss
Magrane's conception of the spoiled
wife and the pampered society queen
I IL entirely adequate, even though the
role Is not one calculated to endear
her to her audience. Matte Fergu-
son. as Aunt Gretchen, contributes a
splendid bit Of character acting. Miss
Gwendolyn Piers invests the role OF
Clara Van Zandt, Mrs. Wards sister.
with girlish charm, and Sumner Gard
as Monty Ward. Richards brother. r.
well cast. Others in the company.
who make the most of small oppor.
4 tunities, are: T. Daniel Frawley. an
an attorney; Robert Cain, az suffern
Thorne, and Miss Alice Kelley. A
Elise, the maid.
0ARRiCk.
The mischief that gossiping tongues
can do is given exposition In "The
World and His Wife," which William
} Faversham presented Monday even.
ing, In the Garrick theater for the
first time In this city.
The drama has been adapted from
1T