Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-21
New National.

1t would not be altogether improper to
reverse the announcements concerning
1.-The Governors Lady" now at the New
National Theater and describe 1t as an
epilogue preceded by play In three acts.
1t is the concluding scene. representing a
cheap but clean cafe in New York, that
stands out in recollection as the incident
of finest craftsmanship, always excepting.
of course, the scenes incident to the won
derful portrayal of the title role by En-
ma Dunn. 1t is In this final scene that the
realistic detail which distinguishes Be-
lasco production Is manifested In greatest
abundance, some of 1t significant In con-
nection with the plot. most of II purely
representation of one of those common
places of existence whose picturesque
ness we ignore until an artists skill IN
terprets it, 1t was as If the influence OF
Dickens had walked abroad on a Wlndy,
snow-sp:tting night in New York. threads
ing it's way among the noisy street cars
and automobiles until it found a con-
genial corner I'm the rendezvous or people
of all kinds. This elaborate setting has
no more important function than to serve
As the scene of the RECOMMENDATION t"o
years later.
The man who discarded his FOLLOWING.
unsophistcated wife in the hope OF as
sociating himself with a woman who
| would further his political ambition; who
awakens to the folly of trying to efface
the past and seeks forgiveness only to
tind that the womanly pride OF the wife
he has outgrown has conquered even her
affection; the man of action ana ana1rs
with triumphs to his credit in the mar
ket place and in the political convention
finds the one big moment of his life In
the restaurant of simple tastes and hum
BILE purses, with the walters standing
around in disguised suspense wmle ne
| 1,;e unnfnU hQynnd
| limits of closing time. 1t Is picture OF
rare tenderness with a panorama OF
human nature as the background.
| Emmett Corrigan plays the role OF the
| husband, ambitious and iron-Willed Ii
| is a capital piece of work. rejecting a
tvpe of man whose determination over
| weighs his scruples, despite a certain big
ness of heart a highly responsible role
| is that of 1.-The other woman played by
| Gladys Hanson. who combines dramatic
| power with exceptional personal beauty.
The scene in which the wife meets the
| woman for whom she has been abandon
ed is one of the. most effective in the
play There are numerous powerful mo-
| ments which rest on a rather fragile
| basis of motive. The methods by which
| the ambitious man proposes to read1ust
his domestic affairs for campaign pur-
poses are a trifie abrupt, ana the assump-
| ton that a minor politicians feminine
| family must be possessed OF all the So
cial graces is an exaggerated idealism.
A hard-thinking resolute man like Slade
would have been as ready to share for
tunes highest flights with his wife in the
second and third acts as he was In the
| epilogue.
| The impression of thorough plausibillty
| is conveyed throughout the play by Miss
Dunn's remarkable character delineation'
simple, human and sincere. The cast con
| tains a number of notable character I'M
presentations. They are but fieetine
glimpses of humanity as 1t passes. but
| in most instances they~are wrought out
! with scrupulous care.
| While the production is in no sense
spectacular. II lis complete scenically. from
the gilded ornamentation of the rich man
salon 10 the cook stove in the humble
home. The production shows that In
finite capacity for detail that some
| writer's describe as genius.