The Washington herald., 1910-10-11
THE NATIONAL.
"The Girl in the Taxi"

The Girl in the Taxi" adapted by
stanislaus STANCE from play by An
thony Mars and under the direction Of
a H Woods. served 10 draw a capacity
audience TO the National Theater last
evening Il is a typical French farce
with some OF It's "frenchiness" fumigated
out OF it-not ali OF ii by any means
and its locale hinged to New York. Fun
ny and farcical 1t undoubtedly is. and II
certainly won applause and laughter in
generous measure last night. No one
could accuse the play of being dull,
though. perhaps ii might be pretty hard
TO tell just what all the action is about
or why it happens .
II Is played. too for all Il is worth
by a company of great cspability. headed
by Garter De Haven. clever and nimble
comedian who made the biggest individ-
ual hit Of the evening, especially when,
IN something Of the old Hoyt comedy
manner. he introduced a couple OF songs
and a clever dance. 1t did not matter
much that these were dragged In by the
heels. as il were. they were sufficient
Justification IN themselves, and Mr.. De
Haven quite merited all the applause he
won aud the encores he received.
But Mr.. De Haven Is by no means the
whole show. There is Dallas Wexford.
the demonstrating British comedian
whose very appearance is enough 10
evoke laughter. But when he speaks
though in this play he has all teo little TO
dot is not the matter of what he says,
but his delivery that is the very acme OF
rich drouery. Then there is that sterling
actress Jessie Milward, who manages 70
dignity the part she plays and make It
stand out. as she usually does. no mat
ter how lacking the material may be.
jeanette Baseard, as clever and piquant
as ever. has a part that just suits her as
the French maid. chic and saucy and
dainty. Frederick Bond. another very
clever comedian, is also we'll suited
as the banker, inclined 70 be gay. and
he plays the part with that peculiar
JUNCTION and rollicking good humor that
always has stamped his work. Through
out the cast is an excellent one, every
part is played so as 10 make the most
Of II, and the team work. so important
III AdttEt - EAAtllNi4l. IArtt y ItliUHt
Benton, in a capital character; Laura
Guerlfe, who Is The Girl In the Taxi"
Grace Walton. who plays a vaudeville
artist; Max Freeman, who plays the part
Of head waiter; Katffyne Smith. Morgan
Coman-an Of them playing distinct char
acters and lending them distinction.
But when YOU have said this much in
praise OF The Girl in the Taxi YOU
lave said all that can be said in its
favor. Il is a laugh-produeer and-that
lets it out. At many points II betrays
its French origin. It's story is not
savory and il has no morals 10 speak of
The basic idea OF the fun is banker
and his young cub OF a son sneaking out
Of the house 10 the private wine rooms
of a New York restaurant TO meet
actresses, the girl who was in the taxi
the wife OF a policeman. and the wife OF
q perfume merchant. Father and son
meet. laugh at each other, and congratu-
late themselves on their delectable occu-
patton. The last act sees them back In
their own home. frankly lying to the lady
who is the mother OF one. the wife OF
the other.
OF course. you cannot consider such
play as this seriously II is not an i'm
moral play-frankly, 1t hasn't any morals
at all Its dialogue is often bright and
smart, sometimes a bit suggestive. and
insinuating things that could not very
we'll be put into speech. But It evokes
laughter. and-there you are. 1t is not
az all the sort OF play that a young
person should see; for the adults it IS
merely question Of taste. If play
like this, which makes a mock of most
Of the virtues and which glorifies a
spree, is the sort of thing that the
people want. why. then, that is what they
want, and no amount OF warning would
prevent them from seeing H.
HECTOR FULLER