New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-08-15
A Bright Little Farce,
with Clever Char
acteriZatiOnS.
MISS RAY COX WINS
THE COMEDY HONORS
Georgia Laurence and Madge
Kennedy Also Score-Mar-
garet Mayo's Success.
BY ACTON DAVIES.

tween Twin Bees, As the author anu
zuthoress Of the new farce az the Full
ton might have done last night II
everything had not proved consistently
and oonsecutively propitious, would
have been both a weird and unusual
fate. Therefore the state Of the col
laborateurs. Mr.. Salisbury Field and
Miss Margaret Mayo, is the more Gra-
cious. not to say fortunate, in that they
escaped anything Of this kind Twin
Beds" originally was a sort OF hall por-
ton book, which you paid Just as mueh
for on the book stalls as though ~
was a full-fedged, Old-fashioned NJ. +.
Braddon novel. In its original form II
contained a funny idea and gave you
three or four laughs, which you APP
preciated thoroughly until you paused
10 recollect after buying the BOOK just
how much each laugh had cost you.
Talk about the high cost Of living!
There are occasions, even nowadays, IN
war time, when the high cost of read.
ing nuts even the soaring prices OF
portcrhouse steak 10 the blush. but
there was always an idea IN Mr..
Fields's "Twin Beds" and Miss Mar
raret MAYO was wise and clever enough
TO seize on 1t, 10 "Ostermoor' those
Twin Beds as il we're, with the hap
ny result that no audience viii ever
IAN asleep while watching the vlcclsl-
tudes of these particular Twin BEDS
Not only has Miss Mayo improved vast
lv upon the original story by changing
IL almost completely around, pat, ike
q conscientious dramatist, she has man
aged 20 insert sort Of moral lnsloe
IL each of "The Twin Beds coverlets.
This moral, TO be sure, IS unlikely
Rods a e steady con-
iugal habit at all popular among mar
ried women en- masse. This moral, II
such il can be called, amounts simply
10 this: II the wife be OF 8 humorous
disnosition twin beds on those occa-
sions when her husband dalles al the
club increase his better halls nightly
lsbors exactly 100 per cent. In her per
petual nocturnal search for burglars
She has 10 look under two beds instead
Of one. This point Miss Mayo brings
out so cleverly in the second act that
after the play is all over and one IS
tucking ones self into ones own httle
twin bed il stands out as the most
amusing and refreshing feature OF TINS
whole little play.
erwin Beds" TO be sure, is no
whirlwind success, such as Miss Mayo's
"Baby Mine" In fact, unlike that
famous little farce, Twin Beds scores
more on its characterizations than IL
does on its situations. The situations
hold, as farces 60, fairly well until
almost the middle Of the mai act
And after all. when one comes TO
think Of II. that isn't so bad for a
farce. But the finale Of this play drops
in rather a disheartening manner; m
fact. the whole last scene is some
what Intellectual imitation Of The
Bride" one Of the cleverest one-act
pieces shown at the Princess last WIN
ter. Il seemed almost as though at
the last moment Miss Mayo had lost
faith in herself and strayed afeld tor
irspiration. The finale Of Twin Beds
is It's weakest point
Mrs. Blanche Hawkins, the heroine
Of Twin Beds" has the tango haoit
and also an incurable capacity LOT
making friends. She lives in a ten
story apartment house and knows every
one from the rats in the roof to the
janitor Over her live Signor Monu
and his wife, and under her young
woman who is about 70 become the
bride Of q fat, susceptible person OF
the name Of Larkin. Larkin is an ass
end Monti is an opera singer. lney
have certain attributes IN common.
Little Mrs. Hawkins in her innocent
insouciant way anneXes them both.
Uer husband protests. the fancee de-
rnurs. and the wife Of the Monti, who
has raised him almost under glass
from a S2-a-night cabaret songster 70
81 OOO-a-performance Hammersteln
Opera House exhibit. comes downstairs
into the Hawkins fat and relieves her
mind The result is that all OF the
three sets Of tenants decide to fly their
particular coop.
The owner Of the apartment has just
built a new and more commodlous
apartment house uptown. On the quiet
he offers each OF his tenants a special
inducement 70 move. The second act
finds them all installed IN the ne"
building. exactly as they were IN the
first. only that now the jealous haneee
mas become Mrs Larkin. The fact that
IN +brce apartments are furnished eX-
actlv alike and that there are twin
Mods in each only accentuates the con
ventional farcical complications which
now set in fast and more or less iurl-
ouslv. Fortunately, at this point MISS
Nevo has taken the precaution OF IN
reducing q new type of irish maid.
This character, as played lnimltaply oy
Miss Georgia Laurence, makes you lof-
Give and forget a number OF SITUATIONS
1bieh otherwise could not fail to come
under the head Of "past performances.
Rnt This maid. Norah. as Georgia Lau-
renee plays her, is an unalloyed de-
light. ...,,.,,,
GETS into the wrong fiat and also into
he wrong bed But you can forgive
him all his absence Of nina LOT Ihe
roundabout way in which Charles Ju-
deis. who plays this role hnsiiy
soueezes himself into the absent MI
Hawkins's paJamas. IL
or course, IL all these occurrences hsu
taken place in a single double Deo nj
anthony Comstock might have been
sxnoeted 20 De ripping up the bed TEX
inc BY 1915 p. m, but being twin peas
he whole situation became absolutely
Sabbatical in it's insoucianee.
The play was exceedingly well acted.
First honors went easily 70 Miss
Raw Cox, who played the slsngy and
nrcternaturally jealous wife Of the
oncra singer. All that Miss Cox has
learned of the art Of scoring points
III vaudeville came TO her aid last night
sd enabled her 90 score the leRit-
mate acting success Of her career. Her
Nine Nonti was q creation. 10 rose
sbout erwin Beds" with all the glory
~ q Valenciennes lace pillow sham
which didn't belong 70 either Of them.
This is where Miss Mayo scores her
most artistic points--in her character
izotions OF Nine. Monti and the maid.
Her dialogue throughout is bright, at
times distinctly witty. The opera
singer. the jealous husband and the
others are, Of course, just conventional
farce stalking horses. but in verbiage