The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-12-20
MAXINE ELLIOTT
HERE WEDNESDAY,
THEATREGoERs HAVE A TREAT
IN STORE FOR WEDNESDAY
NIGHT, WHEN MAXINE ELLIOTT
PRESENTS THE INFERIOR SEX
COMPLIMENTARY NOTICES.

Maxine Elliott said to be the most
beautiful woman on the stage, comes
to the Fargo operahouse Wednesday
evening. Her new play is said to be
one of the best in which she has ever
appeared. The Minneapolis Journal has
the following about the performance
there:
None can equal the English for the
dexterity with which they spin the
silken threads of their dramas until
they have evolved a gossamer garment
of delicate hue, wholly unsubstantial
and useless, yet beautiful in itself. The
American playwright requires worthy
theme, or he is likely to make his
points clumsily and heavily; his
British brother, however, can turn and
twist the highest situation until 1t
shines with dialogue of enforced
humor, springing so naturally from the
months of the characters that one does
not grasp the unfaltering technic I'M
til the play is over.
Like many another English teacup
comedy. The Inferior Sex, which Max
inc Elliott brings to the Shubert, Is
crisply delightful A woman hater
starts on a two months cruise for the
sake of finishing a book Of essays.
The yacht picks up small sailing
vessel in which is found a beautiful
young woman clad in fresh, unspot-
ted and unwrinkled boating costume,
although she has drifted at the mercy
of the waves for thirty-six hours. The
man is forced to give up his cabin to
her, much as he disl1es the thought
he de AZ
fectIy comfortable and at home in his
quarters. He refuses to put her ashore
until his cruise is over, and she, in re-
venge, plans a mutiny in which the
crew demand "the casks Of brandy un-
der the cabin floors and the gold in
the lockers" Unfortunately the NUT
my turns into reality, and it is only
after one of the crew is wounded that
the others are driven below the
matches are battered down and the
English valet mounts guard with a
pistol. Then, like many another wom-
an hater, the essayist falls in love with
the first woman whom he encounters.
The woman-hater is always the easiest
sort of victim. In the present in
stance the author has avoided the
common place, ending by giving mere
ly the hint of romance, and the cur
tain falls without the expected en-
brace.
1t is in the verbal duels that the wifi
Of the author, Frank Stayton, flashes
forth. There are practically only three
characteristic selfish bachelor, the
woman, and broadly eccentric valet
yet they have been SO manipulated that
there is no sense of dragging action
until the last act, which is a decided
drop in continuity of interest Mr..
Stayton's untangling, of the web is
surprisingly awkward as compared to
the skillful manner In which he has
formed it, yet this is true of most
| farce comedies. Throughout 1t is
quietly done and there is a careful
avoidance of the risque which many
playwright would have seized on,
given the same opportunities and the
same situations
There is no particular demand upon
Maxine Elliotts histrionic abilities in
the present part, yet she is irresistible
in her feminine changes of mood, her
cajolery and her outbursts of temper.
The only woman in the cast, she nat
urally dominates nearly every scene
and she has vivid and clear con-
ception of Eve that accords well with
the farcical spirit Of the play. The
somewhat inflexible methods of Fred
erick Kerr are excellently attuned to
the role OF the selfish yacht owner,
and he manages the role with rare
naturalness that brings out the heavy,
opinionated. yet not wholly unlikable
bachelor. A gem in it's way is the
valet of o. B. Clarence, an English
man who slightly suggests Dallas
Wexford and who contrives an oddly
amusing Characterization that is one
of the best things seen here this sea-
son. The other roles are decidedly
minor, the only one standing out
prominently being that of An Sin.
thieving Chinaman, cleverly done by
It. Tamamoto.
The play is beautifully staged and
there is a substantial reality about
the two scenes on the yacht that gives
illusory value to the settings.