The Detroit times., 1911-08-29
pErRoIT OPERA HOUSE.

play The Moral Code. which was
given It's premiere In Rochester. n.
| ", last week. opened a weeks en-
gagement In the Detroit opera house,
Monday night. and its reception by the
hrst-night audience was not exces-
sively cordial. In its present form.
The Moral Code" seems unlikely TO
survive more than a season,
From a dramatic standpoi1t. the
new play is woefully weas. After the
shooting which forms the climax 'of
| the first act, the piece dawdles along
through three more periods TO finale
| that Is almost totally devoid OF inter
est except insofar as il is a faithful
replica OF the operating room OF a
modern hospital and is, therefore, a
novel stage setting. But the spectacle
OF an eminent surgeon, bent on per
forming an operation he knows is not
necessary for the obvious purpose OF
numbering the man who has stepped
between him and his young wife, Is
spectacle which so far oversteps
the bounds of probability as to render
Il practically useless for dramatic pur-
poses.
The play opens in the living room OF
DIR. Lionel Forrester's home on Riv-
erside drive, near the Palisades
amusement park, the lights Of which
may be seen Through the open win
dows. Here the young and pretty
wife OF the elderly physician receives
her lover, Lester Mason. talented
and popular violinist. The doctor has
been called away TO Washington on
important case, but he returns unex-
81 wnsaf
caller into secret closet. The doc
tors suspicious are aroused, however,
when he finds q halfsmoked cigarette.
He sends his wife to her room, pre-
tends to leave himself, but, instead.
conceals himself in the corridor. Be
lieying the coast clear. Mason steals
out of the closet and is shot down by
the husband, seriously but not fatally
wounded
To avoid scandal, Mason graciously
condescends to submit TO trial on
charge OF burglary. When the jury
brings in a verdict Of guilty, the doc |
tors wife PUSHES forward and reveals |
the true story of the circumstances
that led to the shooting. The &C
cused, who has collapsed In the ex-
element. Is. rushed on to st. Nicholas
hospital. where DR.. Forester IL chief
surgeon, for an operation on his
brain. An x-ray photograph shows
an operation unnecessary, but DR.. For
roster insists on carrying II through
and prepares to proceed with II.
In the meantime. however the doc
tor has quarreled with the head nurse,
who has been his toy. She tries To
extract a promise that he will marry |
her after he has divorced his wife, |
and, falling, she tips on the vioiinist
70 his rights under the law. The doc |
tor cannot perform an operation with |
ont the patients consent, she tells
him. OF course, the operation Is all
off About the same time, the wife
discovers that the doctor had been
previously married and that his nrst
wife Is still living, an inmate OF an
English asylum. Thus she In free 70 |
marry her vioiinist. They prance on.
arm.in-arm leaving the luchess
surgeon spluttering and fuming In the
operating chamber. "a.
Mr. Hammerstein has peopled his
NAV with some talented players. MISS
Mabal Roebuck il the wife: James
wilson. the doctor, and Orme Caldara.
the vtolfnist. Frank Holiins CONTRIB
,,tes a clever bit OF comedy as al
loouacious Englishman. who Is al
ways making ''bonehead' breaks, ana
Miss Dorothea sadller. as VERNE
scott Mrs. ForresteTs bosom frienc,
= . good foil. The court scene In the
secord act. IL as faithful represent
t,on A. could be expected. and Is per
hans : little more like the real thing
IRAN the average mimic court scene
TEMPLE.
The topliner in the Temple theatfi
,h,s week Is flied by that inimitable
pair OF veteran black-face fun-makers,
Mcintyre and Heath. They Presens.
a sketch which they call ION Guard