The Washington herald., 1910-12-27
THE COLUMBIA.



the early dramatists was that audiences
liked stories Of strife, Of heroes, and of
soldiers The war play was the result
Centuries passed and again the play
wriShts found that plays of crime at
traeted the attention and held the in
terest Of their auditors. and they wrote
the detective play.
In the last two decades we have had
! many of each type-'~The Girl Left Be
hind Me" being perhaps as good an ex-
ample as could be found Of the former
class. and Sherlock Holmes and "Raf-
hes" Immediately claim ones attention
in the latter.
But it remained for Robert Payton
/ Carter and Anna Alice Chaplin, the au-
thors Of ''The Deserters." which opened
I an engagement at the Columbia yester-
day afternoon. to combine the two ideas
and give US what might be called a mil
/ itary-deteetive play. That their work
was pleasing TO the multitude, was evi-
dent by the volume Of applause which
greeted the efforts of the actors yes
! terday.
THE Deserters" is novel-there Is that
much in its favor, anyhow 1t has the
flavor OF the new from the very start,
for there has seldom been seen a play in
which the action commences as quickly
! and moves as rapidly as in this one.
| The prologue really the first acts
played behind gauze drop and three
minutes after the meager lights are
flashed on. John Craig has assaulted and
supposedly murdered his superior on
Ger and has run away-become a de-
serter,
The other person OF this class, from
whom the play derives its plural title, is
Madge Summers, the Secret Service wo-
man, who is sent out TO find Craig and
bring him back to justice. Instead. how
ever, she falls in love with the deserter
and begs him to flee once more instead
OF returning to face the consequences of
his act He refuses, returns, and IS
about 10 be eourt-rnartialed when Madge
having wormed the secret Of Capt. Har-
rison's death from the real murderer
/ frees him, and the piece ends with the
conventional scene so dear 10 the hearts
OF the feminine portion OF the audiences
VINO were wont 10 rave about the leading
man when he played In this city lp stock,
namely, with the heroine in the arms OF
the hero and the latter's lips touching
hers in one last, long, lingering en-
brace.
+ This is not the only place where the
play falls sadly into the conventional
The ending of the third act is decidedly
reminiscent Of many emotional dramas
OF the past where the misunderstood
Z hIarr ma FaffN f4ar -
beats franticaIly on the door which sep
arates her from her lover.
But despite the fact that the piece
bears certain signs Of being machine
made TO suit the talents of the star, It
cannot De denied that IL does possess the
ability 70 thrill Besides. its setting and
atmosphere are particularly go0dN The
scene al the army post, the room
IN the hotel IN San Francisco, and.
above all. the saloon on the water
front, are al excellent and worthy of
praise. Indeed, the last named act has
only been equaled in realism by one other
play salvation Nell"
OF Miss Ware, in the role OF Madge
Summers, one can speak but words Of
praise. She at all times managed TO
make Eer lines understood by the audi
ence-this being no mean task in some
placss-and she carried of the emotional
moments in a manner which showed that
the time which has elapsed since she
played here with the ''Kreutzer Sonata"
and The Third Degree has not been
lost Her versatility was well displayed
in the saloon scene, where she sang and
danced most acceptabfy.
Orma Caldara, in the role OF John
Craig, was enthusiastically received by
the audience, who noted with pleasure
that he had divested himself of a num-
Der Of the mannerisms which rendered his
work in stock IN this city a trihe monot-
onous. Ee might enact the ''big' scene
with a little less palpabIe acting, how
ever, without seriously injuring his char
aCteriZation.
While these two really dominated the
play and had a corner on lines, there
were two others ia character studies
whose work compels more than a passing
word OF praise. These were Frederick
Truesdell. in the role OF Col Parsons.
and Eleanor Stuart. as Molly, the habitue
OF ''Reilley's" Howard Hall made rather
a conventional villain, and John Charles
death in the prologue was rather a relief
than otherwise.
Altogether, The Deserters'' is a ma
chine-made, rather commonplace drama
Of thrills. but the thrills are real and
the acting OF the star is well worth
while-so that those who care for the
one and appreciate the other viii un-
doubtedly enjoy the piece. The audiences
yesterday certainly appeared to do so.