Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1912-12-10
"The Woman" at the Newark,
Carries One Along on
Rapid Tide.
STORY GRIPS FEELINGS
BY ALTERNATING MOODS
Now Gay, Now Sad, Now
Fraught With a Wild Med
ley of Emotions.

auilt ON the theme of 10y
atty Of woman to woman,
William DeMille's, "The Wom-
an. which was presented for
tha first time in this city at the
Newark Theatre last night, is a play
Of more than usual charm. to which
one cannot help but fall a cheerful
victim. In this, his latest work, he
vo1ng author has developed a theme
that Is entirely novel in conception
and-~treatment and has written 4
NAV Of gripping interest. To this is
sddsa@the genius of David Belasco,
-shelvreat master of stage technique,
and-fhe result is a performance that
cannot fail to hold and interest the
most faded theatregoer.
The action of the piece, which &C.
eurs-in the Hotel Keswick, at Wash
inefon, is rapid, the climaxes come In
logical and startling succession, the
dialogue, for the most part, is brisk
and clever, and the heart-gripping
story holds the auditor in intense X
citenent until the final climax comes
with the fall of the final curtain.
often Close TO MelOdrama Brink.
The scenic settings are OF an elab-
crate nature, and add to the enjoy
nlenf of the piece. The company pre-
seutfng the play is the same which
appeared in New York for a long
ran last summer. 1t might be said
also that the company is a clever one,
each member fitting into the charac-
ter he or she represents. In less COM
petent hands the play at times would
be very liable to border on the sem
sationa1 melodrama order. On the
brink several times it is saved by
just that move OF act which can be
made only by a competent player.
The story of the piece concerns
chiefly Wanda Kelly, a telephone
girl. 1t is based on the efforts of a
coterie of politicians to force through
Congress a bill which is opposed by
the progressive element, headed by a
young congressman who is making a
fight of principle against the bill.
Every effort used by the machine to
have him withdraw from the fight
and allow the bill to pass the House
meets with a refusal.
oman TO OlSCre0IJ HIM.
1t is finally determined by the poll
ticians in a conference that the only
way in which to break down the
opposition is to discredit the pro-
gressive leader. All their pains and
efforts o futile until finally they
discover that a number of years be-
fore he had an affair with a woman,
and that in this he can be made to
look like a man without a heart and
without honor.
They determine to use the story to
discredit him and thereby kill the
opposition to the bill. The only thing
missing is the woman's name. In
the ordinary course of her work as
operator at the telephone switchboard
At the hotel where the principal
characters live. Miss Kelly learns the
of the woman, and from her
The politicians attempt to get the
link Necessary to make their plot eff
How she undergoes a third
degree examination. refuses brides,
at threats and finally tri-
1mphs,s makes the story of the play.
Miss Mary Nash is seen at Wanda
Kelly. the telephone girl, and fits
character so nicely that one is
almost lead to believe that It was
just for her.
John w. Cope, as Jim Blake, the
boss. acts natural and makes a really
splendid. politician. Others in the
include Jane Peyton, Edwin
Holt. Cuyler Hastings, Carleton
Macy. Stephen Fitzpatrick, William
Holden and others in the guise of
oellhoys, walters n other minor
characters.