Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-09-23
Love and Satire, Allies of
Fun in Plays Given Here
Miss BroWneII Scores Triumph
in THE Woman in the Case"
at Shubert's.

Miss Mabel Brownell did the unus-
ual thing last night at the Shubert
Theatre where she is playing the
leading role in THE Woman in the
Case" Miss Brownell was in bed one
whole act before any of the audience
thought of leaving the theatre.
Sounds rather queer but it is a fact.
And that unusual windup of the
performance prevented Miss Brownell
from responding to call for a speech
after the last act for her most splen-
did work as Margaret Rolfe, the
heroic wife who saves her husband
from a charge of murder. Even the
most appreciative audience could
not expect the charming actress to
get out of bed to respond to demand
for speech, so Miss Brownell did
the next best thing. She made a
very pretty picture as she sat up in
bed and bowed and smiled her thanks
OF course, you want to know why
Miss Brownell played the last act in
bed. Well, the strenuous work of
clearing her husbands name from a
charge of murder had brought on an
attack of brain fever from which she
RECEIVERS just in time to learn he has
been freed of the charge and releas-
ed from prison. Can you imagine a
prettier ending to a performance
than that at the freed husband bend
ing over the sick-bed of his wife and
telling her that he is really free and
that it is all through her efforts?
Clyde Fitch's splendid drama gives
the Brownell-Stork Company splen-
- u
as all the principal members are
Rolfe, played by Clifford Storx, is ac-
cused of the murder of his best
friend, Philip Long, just as Rolfe re-
turns from his honeymoon. He is
thrown into Jail and chain of cir
cumstantial evidence, largely supplied
by Claire Forster, a woman of the
underworld, whose marriage to Long
has been prevented by Rolfe, makes
the outlook very dark for him.
His wife, Margaret Rolfe (Miss
BrownelD determines that the only
way to clear his name is to force the
Forster woman to tell the true story
of Longs death and to obtain this
confession, Mrs. Rolfe takes a fiat in
the same house with Claire Forster
and the third act takes place in this
fiat.
The Forster woman thinking Mrs.
Rofle, masquerading as Belle Darcy,
is like herself, woman of the under
world, and under the tongue loosen
ing influence of champagne and the
urging of Mrs. Rolfe tells how Long
committed suicide in her fiat. In this
act Miss Brownell does some very
capable work and is ably assisted by
Miss Florence Burroughs, in the diff
cult role of Claire Forster, and Ed
ward Van Sloan and George Dawson
Clark, their two male companions, In
the portrayal of the underworld
scene.
1t required the most careful and
capable sort of acting to prevent the
scene from becoming offensive, but
the artistic talent of the quartet was
amply sufficient to make the act
very strong and effective one. Miss
Brownell had a chance to do some
fine emotional work at the climax
where after wrestling the secret from
the Forster woman she denounces
her.
Miss Burroughs played the difficult
role of Claire Forster so capably that
she had the audience hating her from
her very first appearance on the
stage. Miss Alice Parks Warren
added another triumph to the others
she has scored during the present en-
gagement in the role of the meddle-
some but always lovable mother Of
Mrs. Rolfe.
Clifford Stork, as Julian Rolfe,
acted with spirit at all times though
the role did not give much scope to
his dramatic power. His best work
was in the second act, where he de-
MES the murder of Long to his law
yer, who, by the force of evidence
piled up against him, has commenced
to doubt his innocence
Walter HILL as Thompson, the law
yer, was more than good, and the
same is true of Edward Van Scan,
as Jimmy O'Neill the friend of the
Rolfes, who comes to the aid of Mrs
Rolfe In the third act tenderloin
scene, where she wrests the secret