The Washington times., 1914-11-10

COLUMBIA.

THE Beautiful Adventure" is the
| way most of the audience would des-
| ignate the manner in which they
spent last evening at the Columbia
| Theater, as we'll as the name of the
! play delightfully."- presented by a COM
| pany of the kind of Charles Frohman
players that has made the name the
| high standard hall mark of the Ameri-
! can theater.
The words "beautiful' and delight
fur are so frequently prostituted
that when one desires to describe an
approximation of the simple perfec-
ton they were intended to imply,
there is usually distinct shadow in
| stead of a delicate shading in the
| sentiment expressed.
Once in a very great while there
comes an occasion, like the presenta-
ton Of this very beautiful and de-
lightful French comedy of de- Flers
and de Caillavet, which George Eyer
ton has really adapted into English.
when these terms are the only ones
that can be used as they are used
here.
The sense Of adventure felt in go
ing to the theater to see this newest
Frohman production is due largely TO
the unhealthy atmosphere in which
its press agent had been brought up,
judging from the manner in which he
described it,
A young girl on the very moment Of
her wedding to a man who was entirely
eligible though unloved. is swept off
her feet by the return Of the lover she
had thought unfaithful. and she deserts
the waiting bridegroom &c take refuge
in her old country home. Her grand
mother, to surprise her on her honey
moon, also gees to the country home,
and when the recreant bride arrives un-
der escort Of her lover, the couple are
promptly mistaken for the newly we'd
ded pair.
The haIf-hearted attempts at ex-
PLANTATION are put off by the old lady.
When the couple retire for the night,
the girl to her room and the man to a
chair in the sitting-room, grandmother
steals in to place a bit of rosemary
under the doormat of the brides cham
ber in accordance with an old French
legend.
She finds the bridegroom and is high
ly indignant at the sappiness Of man
who will permit his bride to leave him
on his wedding night She calls the
bride from her room and tells her what
she thinks. The curtain falls when the
bride invites the young man into the
room, and just as grandmother Is de,
parting, turns the key In the door and
takes his place in the chair in the Sit
ting-room.
The arrival Of the outraged but sens
ible groom-to-be next morning prlngs
about explanations which would cause
verv serious consequences to the young
OF fnr q farf
girl naively insists that an that has
happened is grandmother's fault. Grand
mother understands quickly enough
that it is, and with the help OF the dis,
carded one the lovers are united and
everything ends happily.
men of letters than the authors or
presented by a less capable company
the pretty sentiment OF the play Wouid
have been lost and little OF the wit
and beauty of the lines would nave
gone beyond the footlights. -.
Ann Murdock's Helene was a bit
of careful, studious character STUDY
that was presented in curiously pro
gressive way. AS a handsome young
bride In the first act, she seemed a
bit lacking. except in one moment just
before the curtain. In the second act
her drawl and studied action appeared
to drag, while in the third act she was
freely and frankly delightful.
Cumulative cnaracler coisti uS
fore the eyes of the audience is what
we would call 1t, and Miss Murdoch
deserves all the fine things that have
been said about her for the way In
which she accomplishes it.
Mrs. Thomas Whiffen, completing her
fiftieth year as an actress, MADE the
grandmother another character study
Of enuaI value. Mrs. Whiffen's presen-
tation Of the old lady was most natu-
raj and lovable.
Jerome Patrick, in the part OF the
lover, was q bit too constrained Tor
Ernest IaWford. as the disappointed
bridegroom, gave a performance that
was a masterpiece Of good comedy. The
other members Of the company were
entirely adequate to the demands maze
upon them. GARDNER MAIN