The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-01-10


afternoon and last night by Margaret
AHglin and a capable supporting COM
pany. In this play Miss Anglin steps from
emotional roles, in which we have met her
Otter in the past, to light comedy part
Ste makes the transition with an ease
and perfection of comedy methods that is
striking proof of her versatility. Miss
Anglin's reputation was already well es-
ia ablished as one of the foremost emo
tional actresses on the American stage.
In Green Stockings she justhes her
condolences.
The Mason play is based on an old Eng
lish custom which requires the elder un-
married sister of a bride in a family
where there is more than one daughter,
to wear green stockings at the wedding of
a younger sister. Having already per-
formed this rather humilating office at
the nuptials of several younger sisters
who were more fortunate than she, ana
being commiserated more than usual on
the occasion of the announcement of her
youngest sisters engagement, Celia F'a-
raday becomes desperate and invents a
of Celia's engagement to a Colonel
Smith, who set sail an hour after the
troth was plighted for Somaland, where
some of our best missionaries go. OF
course Colonel Smith" so far as Celia
knows, does not exist, but in ovder to
keep up the deception il is necessary to
write love letters to the mythical lover
and carry on eight months of romancing.
One of the letters which Celia never in
tended to be mailed was posted by an Of
ficious person and was sent to a real
Colonel Smith, an officer in the English
army.
Celia and her aunt from Chicago get
along famously with their scheme, until
the eight months are ended on the day
before Celia and the aunt are due to slip
away to Southampton and sail for the
United States. there to reside in Chicago,
forever removed from the hateful green
stockings, Celia has the announcement of
her supposed lovers death published in
the Times. The comedy al this particular
part of the play is rresistiby funny. The
real Colonel Smith, lured back by that
single letter accidentally received from
Celia appears on the scene just as his
demise is being wept over more copiously
by members of her family than by Celia
herself.
Colonel Smith does not reveal his iden-
uty at first, but by posing as friend of
tie dead officer obtains a tete-tete of two
hours duration with Celia. The pair are
mutually attracted and Celia manages to
recover from her modification at being
duped by Colonel Smith, in time to call
Off her proposed flight to Chicago.
The play is scintilant with wit and is
one of the most enjoyable comedies pre-
sented to Birmingham theatre goers In "A
long time. The second act is the best of
the three, but the entire play Is thor
oughly entertaining. Miss Anglin played
the part of Celia with the zest of a true
coincidence. while the secondary honors
should be allotted to Miss Maud Durand,
as the aunt from Chicago. Miss Durand's
fit of Mysteries when the real Colonel
Smith arrived was realistically simulated
and swept the audience with gale of
laughter. The other members of the COM
pany, with the exception of Stanley Dark,
who acquitted himself very well as
Colonel Smith. and Harry Barfoot as Ad-
niral Grice, did not detach themselves
distinctly from the background, but per-
haps that was because they did not have
| a great deal to do.