The Detroit times., 1913-02-14
ME Stage


I.0lDl6xea Husband presented tor
~ nro ome IN this city. THURSDAY
<y4n|nH ~ ire Detrcit opera house.
u In1ia = llhlng table, oreak,sse
II1f tf Suppef snAck scene In y. 70.
l.n6n. ~. prev h mercifally ailoweo
20 ent hh meals On his hotel Anu
4n1f ~ olnlsslon. in . John Dre"
,lNt. n rnlnciontly original TO De q
thsak so ne tksatergoing folk VINO
80 fearg eeasoM 10 see Mr.. Drew act
f|Ie m tf44ee4 gentleman he 10.
1,hs 3Slsn Dreu style OF play mas
l,.rnlnh trxdstianai, and. for yeans
nfh vrsia. ne dramAtist OF the oc-
rnSInh has provided a romantic and
hirhie ara matte incident. wherein Mrs
nraN 4oGl1 daily with a trufre,
1ee,efly attack ~ham-and." or, ex-
pert,r xrxcR the shell OF a fresh-laid
rne reaiy- boiled. Otherwise, The
prrsAxea Husband" Is just like
every either play which Charles Froh-
rnnn has selected for Mr.. Drew or
TIE latter has chosen for himself ana
Mr. Freeman presents.
The young man who industriously
preccdes Mr. Drew. and The Per
picked Husband" along the route or
the cities TO be played. sprinkling the
path with press agent "squibs," cabs
the play n "suffragette comedy" Evi-
IDENTIFY the young man has never
Jagged on his job to the extent OF re-
manning In city long enough to see
q performance OF the play Alfred
Sutro. the maker OF 1t, Britisher.
with the very apparent British male
Intolerance OF the present effort in
England OF the women OF the middle
classes to become something more
than the mere chattel OF a man and
20 establish themselves as human be-
ings I'm the eyes of the law, has made
q rather lame attempt TO satiriZe
what is popularity, and more often
than not ignorantly, designated as the
feminist movement" AS a matter
OF fact there Is no "suffragetting" in
"A Perplexed Husband" either or
the London window-smashing-let
box-acid-destroying kind, or the smtl-
ing appealto-the-reason American
brand II must not be overlooked
that "A Perplexed Husband" Is an
English comedy, with all its scenes
enacted In the fashionable home OF a
wealthy London tea broker, and with |
all rs characters, insistently British. |
Thomas Polling. the tea broker, |
has been on business trip to Rus
STA and during his absence his pretty |
little wife happened TO go to the
theater with her sister-in-law. Aga
tina Polling MARCEL to see Isben's
"The Dolls House" Agatha later I
explains to Brother Tom that, when
she took Sophie TO the play she
thought 1t was going to be sort OF
Peter Pan" Tom and Sophie in their !
theatergoing had never gotten be-
yond the latest musical comedy, In
the Gaiety At lecture. Sophie
meets Mrs Dulcie Elstead and Clar- !
erice woodhouse, the latter known as
"The Master''-pronoun Mawster |
devotees OF some sort Of weird
cult referred TO in an awesome way
as "The Cause" which. in Dulcie's
case. seems to consist in a propensity
for breaking up happy homes and
talking with long words about sex
emancipation. rs
The Mawster seems to he chiefly
concerned in getting as many square
meals as possible and comfortable
bed to lie in, at somebody's else ex-
pense. These two manage so 10 In
terest Sophie that she takes them
into her home and, when Tom re-
turns, eager TO be with his adored
wife and two little children. he finds
Sophie so imbued with Dulcie's ideas,
and the Mawster's philosophy. com
bined with what she saw I'm "The
Dolls House." that she declines to
have anything to do with him, ex-
cent as a friend at a respectful dis
lance. and declares her intention
hereafter. TO lead her own life and
develop her individual soul" Nat
urally, the perfectly respectable. con-
yentional, and rather Intellectually
dense Tom, is completely fiabbergast-
ed. In talking over the situation,
with his sister, Agatha, she suggests
a possible way, born OF her intuition
and knowledge of her sex, that may
bring Sophie to her senses and re-
store Toms happy domesticity and
connubial bliss. They decide to
bring into the house beautiful girl
who has been tipping In Toms office
and doing II very badly-who has
Greek soul, her head stuffed full
OF poetry and her mind possessed
with longing to visit Athens The
girl. Elizabeth Green, by name, but
who chooses to call herself Kalleid
Da vinci. after q talk with Mr..
Polling, agrees to aid him In the
scheme to win Sophie back and GUST
the "Cause-ists," from his home.
The way In which this Is acorn
plished provides Mr.. Drew with plen-
ty Of opportunity to exercise his gift |
for polite" comedy. affords consid- |
cradle laughter for the audience and |
allows Mr.. Sutro. through his char
acters. to do a lot Of prosy talking |
and some satirical hitting at num-
Der of things, indigenous to the soil
OF London.
Mary Boland, Detroit girl, who |
has been Mr.. Drew's leading woman |
Tor several seasons, plays Kalleia In
clever manner. The supporting |
company is one Of the highest acting |
excellence. presenting Hubert bruce. 1
as the Mawster; Alice John, as the |
handsome Agatha MARCEL; Margaret |
Watson, as the intense Mrs. Elstead:
Nina Screening. as the pretty Sophie I
and Walter Soldering, In a clever biz |
as the butler.
ELLA NAE HAWTHORNE
The Old, the young, the middle-ased
In tact. all ages, enjoy "Rebecca az |