The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-01-09
THE THEATER IN NEW YORK
1.-THE Commanding Officer The Fires of Fate" Cock
fighting in a Drawing-rOOm- don" Is Gloomy.

New York Jan. 7.-COmpetitiOn among
authors in devising odd agitation is sp-
parent In the new lot of dramas. Each
of these plays starts with something cal
culated to at once engross the audience.
To give impetus to the action in ''The
Commanding Officer" an army wife is
shown in her bedroom. Her husband,
the colonel in command at the Nevada
post, has gone hunting She sits in her
nightgoWn at the middle of the night and
in keen expectancy. uniformed figure
slips In as though lodging observation
from outside. II is not her husband. OF
course, nor nocturnal wOOer OF wicked
purpose. but her own fond chum in the
clothes of an officer. These friends, girls
in aspect, are as slightly as you may
imagine Gertrude Dallas to be IN
cavalry togs and Isabel Irving in slumber
fun They rush to hug. and for the
moment are taken to be sweethearts in
a night tryst, but it quickly becomes
clear that the fond chum went on a
night ride horseback disguised as
cavalryman, lost her way didn't reach
the place she started for and fears she
was discovered. Now, this scene proves
Theodore Burt Sayre. the author. TO be
equal TO older playwrfghts in the inven-
ton of original situations for what We
see from the auditorium is TO some OF the
stage characters, supposedly. a shadow
graphic misunderstanding; for on the
window shade they watch the army wife,
and not seemingly her fond chum of her
own sex, but some rakish officer, In
shadow pantomime of silhouettes On the
curtain That's a novelty, eh? and of
quite serious import, too.
But Sayre wisely hasn't dared to use in
action. but lets it be told Of. the Incl
dent on which the plot is founded. The
army wife meets her giTlhOOd lover. now
a mine owner. in the woods: but they
90 nothing worse than kiss: and no
trouble would have come of tiff
blackmailer hadn't snapshOtted them
with a concealed camera at the moment
OF lips-to-lips conjunction. Spectators
would be sure 10 laugh at that; but the
result Of tia demand by the sneakIng
photographer Of s.. 600 for the picture and
the films taken very seriously. Stage
sacrifices are excessive sometimes. and
here we have the resOlUte fond chum
bravely trying 10 save the weaker army
wife and taking on herself the obloquy
belonging to her friend and benefacress.
Situation Is Ensrossing.
Now. all this complication. interesting
as it progresses. leads toward a scene
that takes the third act to its climax.
Playgoers remember in Mrs. Danes De-
Tense" a most engrossing passage, which
dramatists bear in mind as a model Of
technique for piling one agony upon an
other until the spectators are carried to
a high pitch of anxiety The situation is
that Of kindly but ultra-honorable man
cross-examining an overwrought. hys-
terical. pitiably scared girl No one has
done il nearly so well as Henry Arthur
Jones in Mrs. Danes Defense" but
many have extracted moving scenes from
it. Sayre may be complimented for one
of the latter.
The colonel is fond OF his wife's fond
chum, and on returning from the hunt,
is Mortified 10 find her the center of
scandal that is narrowing about her.
There has been a murder. too, and cir
of his officers; so he must probe into the
matter though IL breaks his own heart to
do il. Examination eliminates ali but
two officers from suspicion Both love
the fond chum. Neither proves an alibl
The blackmailer. who is the murderer.
inVents a confession of being the man"
whose shadow was seen on the window
and asks to marry her Then ensues the
third-degree dialogue between the colonel
and the fond chum, in which she evades
his questions. becomes confused and
drags her good name down to save that
of the army wife. II is all meIodrama.
The characters fit in Just where they be-
long, coincidence lends a helping hand
and when the author can't maketa de-
sired thing happen quite reasonably. he
let's it happen as plausibly as he can
But melodrama is not 10 be sneered at
when it Is bully good melodrama.
"The Fires of Fate"
A young army colonel visits physI-
clan to find out what is the matter with
him. He has singular sensations. and as
he is just off duty for a furlough. he may
as well get fixed up. The physician puts
him through some simple physical tests
like hitting his crossed knee. at which
there is no responsive jerk OF the sus-
pended foot, and standing him heels to-
gether with eyes shut whereupon he
loses his balance and lurches forward
and al once tells him he has a spinal dis
ease that will kill him within eighteen
months The colonel is dumbfounded
Can't the diagnosis be mistaken? Not
possibly. Is recovery absolutely beyond
hope? No cure is known. It is said that
a great shock once overcame the maIady.
but no medical man believes il.
That IS the way Arthur Conan DovIe
himself q doctor, gets an audiences
instant attention TO THE Fires Of Fate"
The colonel has soldierly bravery. It is
part OF his training TO face unexpected
death. With perfect calmness. he asks
what IS the quickest and easiest poison.
He has no relatives to grieve or i'm
poveri5h by suicide. Why should he die
lingeringly. painfully. instead Of going to
oblivion with a Whit Of prusslc acid?
The physicians brother. a clergyman,
persuades him that suicide is murder
that he has no right TO throw away the
life God has given him-that in the taper
ing year and a half left 10 him who
knows what good purpose he may not
serve?
The authors device is effectuaL The
colonel stands up so sturdiy under the
awful blow, and is made so progresses
ing by Hamilton Revelle. that the audi
ence takes him to its sympathetic heart.
The scene has William Hawtrey and
Edwin Brandt for the clergyman and
the physician. too. aud it ends with the
doomed man going with the brothers
on a trip up the Nile. You don't have
to guess twice at one thing that viii
happen on that excursion. The colonel
will fall in love with girl who will love