The Washington herald., 1912-02-27
AT THE COLUMBIA.
"The curious Conduct of Judse
LsEarde..

LsEarde.o
Via svengsM and via The Case OF
Becky" Wilton Lackaye has again turned
his comprehensive dramatic talents TO the
fascinating subject Of "dual personality" !"
as it is known to the alienists, and pre-
sents play at the Columbia this week
suggestive of Brieux and Zola in title, at
least, called The Curious Conduct OF
Judge Lagarde."
Give Mr.. Lackaye a typical 'Dr. Jekyll
and Mr.. Hyde" role and you have him
in his glory. Give him also that ''neces-
sary member OF the cast" an audience,
and you have him in the most expansive
good humor. He had both Of these at
the premiere last evening. Mr.. Lack
aye was in his best svengali man.
ncr, conducting a clinic of alienists IN
the first and last acts, and dominating
pretty parcel OF Montmartre Apaches
and absinthe fiends in the second. There
Is plenty of sound psychology in the
play. and also-merely to show that the
dramatist's heart was in the right place
when It comes TO supplying the punch
an abundance Of melodrama. including a
knock-down and drag-out fight in the den
Of thieves. a wild Apache dance to give
local color to the scene, and other
things.
II must be conceded that "The Curious
Conduct OF Judge Lagarde' is an In
teresting and stimulating play. It is the
product of Victor Mapes and Louis For
est, adapted from a German work. It
is essentially sound in structure, since
the existence Of dual personality in GER
tain types of neurotics is an established
scientific fact, and at few points does
ha nj in. lie
poets. fail to be convincing. To doubt
the play is to doubt the existence of the
divided mentality upon which IT is
founded, and that can hardly be done in
the face Of the twentieth century
alienist.
More serious and intricate problems
arise, however, when IT comes to the
question Of detail. In numerous phases
The Curious Conduct Of Judge Lagarde"
shows one fact which Mr.. Lackaye
touched upon in his curtain speech-that
its rehearsal period has been rather brief
and hurried. Small things that count in
the creation of illusion seem trivial in
cold type. In the first act the shift from
one ''Lackaye personality" to the other
well managed; in the final act it is
poorly managed In the Lame Duck Inn
scene illusion snaps from the time that
Amelie Derval the red head" - of the
Apaches, discovers the identity of La
Sarde and taxes him with II. Even the
suspicion Of such a thought in the girls
mind seemed to ruin the effectiveness of
the scene. Again, there is no clear-cut
connecting link between the second act
and the third-one shows the raiding OF
the Apache den by the police the escape
Of the thieves, and the next the robbery
OF Judge Lagarde's home under the per-
sonal supervision OF the dual Lagarde
himself
Flaws of this type largely of stag man.
RGement, can be quickly remedied. De-
spite certain melodramatic trimmings
there are very few outstanding defects in
the play beyond its title. The Curious
Conduct of Judge Lagarde' is as inept a
dramatic label as The Three Daughters
Of Monsieur Dupont" or I'VE Can't Be
as Bad as All That" Brevity is the
soul OF play title as well as Of wit
Mr.. Lacksye has assembled a compe-
tent company. including a well-known
Washington young woman, Miss Doro-
thy Shoemaker, who played the role of
Amelte, the red head" and whose
friends gave her a rousing reception
last evening. Miss Mabel played Ma
Tide Lagarde as IL she also were
promising subject for the alienist as
well as her brother. Howard Hall was
excellent as DR.. EidIitz, A. S. Byron
was seen in a clever character sketch
as PujoL proprietor OF the Lame
Duck" and James Edwards was excel
lent as Inspector Roussol.
The Curious Conduct of Judge La
garde" is well worth seeing. In II Mr.
Lackaye has a drama which should
have career somewhat different from
The Stranger" and other recent ven-
lures of his, If he handles it properly
A. NJ T.