New-York tribune., 1910-01-19
DRAMA
" Il Lucky Star" at the Hudson
Theatre.


Dutch. Scotch English. broken English and
Manhattanese. The scene was Holland. and
the theatre the Hudson. And, in spite of
the fact that it is called a farce, it is
funny. Farces are sometimes as lugubrious
as William Golfers manner when he is
making house roar. But "A Lucky Star
is really funny in its lines and its stage
business The lucky star is Collier himself,
whatever notion may have seized the mind
of the person who named the piece. Mr..
Collier is one of the luckiest stars in the
theatrical armament He has all the
strength of a superstition. People have
come TO believe that Collier means success.
There is firm ground for their faith. They
also believe that he is always funny and
funniest when he is least So He is a
fortunate man. Well may he call himself
a lucky star.
Anne Crawford Flexner wrote last nights
farce. May she write another as funny as
this one, for 1t is clear that managers will
run after farces now as eagerly as they
have erewhile avoided them. The farce
fever has set in. and like other severe
fevers, must run its course. 1t is we'll,
then, that there is so clever a farce writer
as Anne c. Flexner to prepare the pre-
ence laughed once in each act, but the
laugh lasted throughout each act Needful
rest was taken when the curtain fell.
Mr.. Collier appeared as an American holi-
day-making in Holland He hires a motor
houseboat for a tour ofs the canals The
ownership of the boat is suddenly claimed
by two young ladies, one of them an
American, the other English Mr. Starr
tCollier), as the charterer invites them to
be his guests on the trip, and te7egraphs
to Scotland for his aunt, Lady McNairn,
to join the party as chaperon. Lady Nc
Nairn cannot be found, and so Starr ad-
vertises for aunt, who must be middle
aged and charming and who must speak
with Scotch accent. He is besieged by
burly Dutch applicants for the auntship.
But presently a youngish middIe-aged Eng
nsh (or Amerfcan) woman, with suspicious
spectaclcs, is chosen And the party starts
with Dutch military cousin of one of the
young ladies and fine-looking Dutch gem
tleman, who must have been born and bred
in Piccadilly, as additional guests. Starr
pays all the bills and while hesitating
over his choice OF his fair guests his new
Dutch friends make love to the latter with
their sweet consent Uncle Sir Alec Nc
Nairn, who has read in the society news
that his wife, Lady McNairn, is with the
houseboat party (for the aunt of the ad-
Nertisement has taken her name) suspects
his spouse of elopement with the handsome
Dutchman from Piccadilly, and he inter
rupts the course of the happy excursion
with the result that the identity of Starr's
aunt Is disclosed to the young ladies, who
become engaged TO their Dutch escorts The
aunt OF the advertisement, discarding
wig and the suspicious spectacles, proves to
be young woman of such attractions that
STAIRS affections Immediately leap to her
and the play ends with the happy pairing
of the several enamoured couples and a.
clearance of all MISUNDERSTANDING, which
are the approved and impossible misunder-
standings and confusions of the realm of
farce.
The play is as bright as the polished
rails of the houseboat. The lines and the
situations carry it quite as much as the
acting. They are rather better than the
acting. but that will serve. 1t is sometimes
difficult to know whether the actors are
speaking Dutch, Scotch or English, but
even in plays not farcical this difficulty has
been encountered. The actors, however.
appear as themselves. There is not much
of an attempt at representation William
Collier plays William Collier with his usual
high spirits and monotone and his GUS
tomary success The others reveal them
selves with similar assiduity. The farce is
admirably staged, the scenic effects being
quite attractive. The minor characters are
sufficiently Dutch to produce an effect of
local color which is we'll sustained by the
scenery and properties. The fun is brisk,
and anybody's aunt may laugh at it.
A. w