The Washington herald., 1912-01-23
THE COLUMBIA.
Mrs. FI.ke in NIrs. Bumpstead-
Leigh"

Leigh"
A poignant fling OF satIre-nay, more
than satire; an unmerciful lampoon-is
taken by Mrs. Fiske at the nouveau
richie this season. The play Of Mrs.
Bumpstead-Leigh" lies in that middle
ground between the dramatic philippe
and the Shavian burlesque. 1t derives
its main value from its sharply etched
contrasts OF certain social types, and u
is fun OF acting values which no real
lover of the playhouse needs to be as
sured that Mrs. Fiske and her extremely
capable company utilized TO the full at
the Columbia Theater last evening.
There are unmistakable flashes of
Becky Sharp in Mrs. Bumpstead-
Leigh" also OF Cynthia Karslake. the
fashionable divorce of The New
York Idea" The drama is pure COM
edy. as inconsequential and uninspired
in some respects as the pink tea i'm
portation which are received from Lon
don through Vaughan and Davies. The
American social bounder" has long
been one of the stock properties OF
Anglo-American playwrights, but
Inc raciness and freshness OF treat
ment. Furthermore, IL is not every
budding dramatist who has the intel
lectual and the technical resources OF
Mrs. Fiske TO support him when he
falters; nor such scintillating acting or
flawless stage management to cum
ningly veneer his stretches Of medioc-
rity and uncertainty.
Mrs. Bumpstead-LeIgh" is. as Mrs.
Fiske limns her, the cheapest type Of the
rich vulgarian breaking into the New
York fashionable set via a faxed English
lineage For the purposes Of plausible sat
ire, II was not necessary TO paint her
utter vulgarity with such broad strokes
as Mrs FislIe chooses TO use, nor 10
have such a hamlet as Missionary Loop,
Ind, as the point OF her derivation. But
from the cutting lampoon TO open farce
is but a single step. and the actress rec
ognizes this fact IN her Characterization
She gains the effect Of consistency and
plausibility by making Mrs. Bumpstead-
Leigh almost as clever as the immortal
Becky, and unconcionably vulgar. Like
Becky. she has the courage OF her vul-
garity; she is not ashamed of II. II she
were ever a hypocrite to herself or her
family the real fun OF the play would
be lost irreparably.
To the lover Of good acting. the chief
feature OF the Smith play will be the
contrast OF Mrs. Bumpstead-Leigh as she
appears before her fashtonable friends
and before her mother and sister.
Mother is an out-and-out "rotter," pre-
sentable only IN absolute negation OF self
Sister. under the tutelage OF Mrs. Leigh.
is striving TO make a fashionable match
against the impulses of her better self.
Tho aboriginal spark OF decency
which is the medium OF Missionary
Loop in her personality wins in the end,
however, and # leads to the unmasking
OF the three social pretenders in a cli-
max which would be totally ineffective
were II not for the technical resources
of Mrs. F'iske. She plays this scene in
the tense, nervous, restless, gripping
manner which she employed in that
classic bit OF acting in Becky Sharp"
when Lord Steyne and Rawdon Crawley
come face to face. Farcical as the scene
is, II is unquestionably effective.
Despite the lightness and shaIlowness
of the role, Mrs. Fiske throws all her
artistic resources into Mrs. Bumpstead-
Leigh and the result is an amazingly
clever and splendidly balanced portrayal.
The rasping burr OF the Middle West,
the vocal shrillness which is so unmis-
takably characteristic OF the feminine
type in question, the coarseness underly-
ing the aggressive climbing instinct
Of course, with the saving grace
of humor-aIl of this is shown in the
sharp, crisp, staccato style OF which this
actress is mistress. And all
OF her admirers were delighted to see
that her yocalism last evening was far
more clear, distinct, and unbroken than It
has been in years.
Joseph Kflgour plays the companion pic
ture of Peter Swallow, the tombstone
drummer from Hoboken, who eats peas
with knife and talks like a spread-eagle
politician. He has a brief but brilliant
bit Of character acting. Florine Arnold is
the Mrs. De Sale OF the play, playing
In a richly farcical manner:
Kathleen MacDonnell Is a colorless Violet
De Sale, and Douglas Paterson is a ca
pable Anthony Rawson. The remaining
members OF the cast were of the Fiske
standard: the sage management shows
the deft and subtle touch Of the actress.
and the production as a whole furnishes
the most delightful comedy performance
Of the season.
Admirers of Mrs. Fiske were out in
force last evening. enjoyed the casual
references TO the Washington experiences
and adventures of the DE Sale" family,
and did all in their power to inaugurate
l prosperous week for the actress.
A. MI