The Washington herald., 1910-09-06
THEATRICAL SEASON OPENS


morist with such a reputation as Mr.
Herford. Dialogue. removed from the
conditions which surround II, is often apt
10 sound dull and improbable. but here
are few specimens culled as the play
went on:
Publicity is the height Of wgarty."
He knows how to manage a wife,.
husband"
Maria is invalid, and an apartment Is much too
quiet for her.
Il allow him IS a week for pocket money With It he
buys boxes at the opera. tons Of flowers for ladies'
miles Of taNicabs and halfway suspect he's keep
ing a-netr
Why don't you LOOK where you're drinkingf"
That's dirty Irish trick and no one but
Dutchman would do Il.
Pin your faith to me with a safety min. 3, that
it'n stick"
Il have an idea. Herr. that some day. in some
remote age. you must have had ancestor who
lived not very long way from Missouri"
When l sang Now / lay me down 10 sleep in
London music han the police stopped me.
The first time met you I had a futteriug Of
The heart, Just like comstarch pudding"
Those are a few samples They lose
something Of their SAVIOR at being sen
arated from their context but thsy at
least give hint of the flavor OF Mr.. Her
ford at his best
The plot of the comedy has 10 do with
Cornelius Pinkney. nephew OF United
States Senator Pinkney Cornelius is
living IN Berlin and as his uncle allows
him only s. a week pocket money. he has
to live by his wits He has organized the
firm Of "Con & Co." which consists OF
himself and his partner ,Hobson, a re-
formed actor, and the way these two &C
quire ready cash is a wonder to behold.
The first act takes place I'm the resi-
Gence Of Herr Director Won SchefeI. who
has invited some friends 10 witness from
his balcony the passing Of the Sultan Of
Zanzibar. Con. being without funds. tells
the director that he has taken the liberty
Of inviting some friends 10 be his guests.
and the friends are welcomed II turns
out, however that Con has taken a fee
from these people to admit them 10 the
balcony. and after sundry complications
a policeman enters to arrest the director
for renting seats on his balcony without
a permit The director pays 500 marks 10
save arrest and when he IS gone II turns
out that the policeman is Hobson. the
Co. who divides the 500 with Con.
But another complication has hap
pened- There is an Englishman, the
Hon. Frederick Balchester. who has
fiirted with Mrs. Won Schemel in Berlin
two winters before. He has her picture
In his pocket and when II drops out her
husband gets il. The Brltisher explains
that the picture is that Of an actress
who bears a strange resemblance to Mrs.
Won Scheffel and Con & Co. are called
upon to help out.
The second act shows the apartments
OF Senator Pinkney. Con has taken
possession Of them; has secured wig
and new clothes for Mrs Won schenei.
and when the jealous husband arrives
his own wife greets him, dressed IN
strange clothes and clothed in a French
accent. He not only doe not know her.
he falls il love with her. flirts with her.
and loses all his money TO Con In a bac-
carat game. OF course Senator Pinkney
comes in. having an engagement with
anothc,- lady. and there is a funny COM
plication from which the genius Of Con
& Co extricates him. But the funniest
episode Of all Is when Won Scheners
wife. disguised as an actress. drops the
/ n
tea. so that ali his suspicious are aroused
again. and he insists on telephoning TO
his wife at his house. He, in one room.
is connected by telephone with his wife
in another. and the conversation that
ensues is a cream.
In the third act Won Schenel IS stu
not satisfied. and insists On going to the
kindergarten to hear the supposed ac-
tress sing. OF course. Mrs Won ScheffeI
has to keep up the illusion. and she
does a turn" on the stage with her
husband looking on Finally she man
ages 10 escape and change her costume.
coming back to the theater in her proper
clothes. righteoUsly indignant that her
husband should be consorting with &C
uesses at music hall. He promises
to be good. Con and his partner have
made a lot of~money and had lot OF
fun and so the comedy ends with every
body happy.
Clever as the work Of Mr.. HerfOrd has
been in this comedy. and generous as
Mr.. Savage has been IN giving the piece
elaborate settings and fine scenery. the
piece owes no little measure OF its sue
cess to the fine work OF the players.
Miss Maude Odell has the greatest part
Of the burden 10 carry, and her work is
little short of brilliant. She has always
been known as a clever artist, but sell
dom in her career has she had such an
opportunity as the present. She Is the
life and soul OF the piece. and her work
as the music hall artist even down to
hn~ dot cir 81
song. was brilliant. Next in the funmak-
ing comes William Burress in the pro-
team part of Hobson. the GO" Whether
as policeman. fireman, mother. or serv-
ant, he was always funny: the funnier
because of curious suffering effect
which. purposely, he carried over into
every character.
A fine piece of character acting was the
Senator Pinkney OF Tom H. Walsh. His
you Are Juliet and 1 Am Romeo" was
a greet hit Harry stone as Con was
good, but was not half so easy in his part
as the others. Ben Hendricks as Won
Scheffel was very natural and good. and
much of the comedy depended on him.
even II he did not voice IT, Mr.. Gilbert
Douglas as the Englishman was not re-
markable for the cleverness Of his work.
Outside OF Miss Odel the cleyerest femi-
nine work was that done by Nelly Ro-
land as Lulu. Her work was truly In
formed with the comedy spirit Grace
Franklin as Mrs. Hopper did we'll in
small part as did Susette Gordon as
Lima.
The play is well cast. well staged. well
written, well produced. It has about II
all the elements that go to make a big
popular success. Tried last night for the
first time, It went with vim and dash