The Washington times., 1912-05-21
SEVEN DAYS. GETS
A FINE PRODUCTION
BY POLL PLAYERS
Balky Dumb Waiter Makes
Farce Funnier Than
Ever.

II Is difficult to tell which is the
funnier, Miss Louise Kent with a lady
like little "souse," or a burglar who
tries to elude a policeman by hiding in
a dumb waiter which refuses to work,
thus giving the said copper" several
unhappy and turbulent minutes during
which he doesn't exactly know what to
do
This is what happened in Seven
Days" last night, as presented by the
Poll Players in the cool and comfort
able Avenue playhouse. The ladylike
little "souse" belonged to the play; the
stubborn dumb waiter did not, but
everybody liked the way officer Brown
mark KENT and the burglar John Fee)
managed to make the best of an awk-
ward situation when the waiter refused
to work.
When Mary Roberts Rinehart wrote
when a Man Marries," so she told me
once herself, she had no idea Of drama
uxing the book, nntil the suggestion
was made by one of her friends. After
one has seen the result of the drama
tization, one wonders how 1t ever could
have been possible to overlook the won
derful wealth of material in the plot.
1t Is one of the funniest farces of many
seasons, and withal it Is so clean, 80
absolutely free from anything that is
suggestive or offensive that 1t Is recon-
Story Is Familiar.
The story is familiar to the entire
reading public, concerning, as 1t does,
the situation which a houseful of young
people find themselves when the place
is quarantined There is a maiden
aunt, upon whose good graces depends
the bread and butter and sugar of one
young James Wilson. whose wife di-
mr. nfh ',
that he was too fat to fulfil her esthe-
tic requirements. Then there is an
assortment of people, including the
burglar, who hides behind the kitchen
boiled condition, and who hasn't a word
to say until the very end Of the closing
act; policeman with a brogue as
thick and rich as clotted cream; and
many other picturesque characters, all
OF whom are locked up and guarded by
an army of detectives and newspaper
reporters in Jim Wilson's home.
In the first act we are let in on the
ground floor, where news of Aunt Sc
lina's arrival Is brought, and the burg
lar enters; also Jim's divorced wife,
and the policeman, In the second act
we descend to the basement, where the
excruciatingly funny "omelet" scene is
enacted between Miss Izetta Jewell as
Kit McNair, and A. H. Van Buren, as
the funniest of the features of the per-
formance.
Haines Happily Cast.
AS Jim Wilson, the fat husband. whose
wife couldn't bear to live with him
solely on this account, Louis Flames
had a part that fitted him to perfec-
ton, and in which he appeared to ad-
vantage To Miss Marie Howe was given
the part Of Aunt Selma, the stern old
guardian of her nephew's morals, who
drank patent medicine and had pro-
nounced views on the suffrage question.
Miss Gertrude Bindhill made an ex-
quisite little Miss Divorced) Wilson,
and was exceptionally funny in the coaI
hole scene. Robert LeSeur was seen In
a minor part, which was excellently
interpreted.
Taking 1t altogether, Seven Days is
a happy choice, just the sort of play
one will enjoy on a warm night.
Several changes have been made in
the lobby Of Polls Theater, the strong
lights having been replaced by shaded
lanterns. which shed a soft glow. over
the jardiniers of roses and tubs OF
palms and potted plants that have
transformed the entrance into garder
effect that suggests a pleasing change
from the heat of the street. ]. M