Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-03-03
MISS FERGUSON SCORES IN
GREAT PLAY AT NEWARK

BY ADELINE CARRICK WELLS
| r HE attitude of a certain type of
modern woman toward the con-
ventions of her fathers forms the ba-
sis of the plot of William Hurlbut' S
brilliant comedy, "The Strange Wom-
an in process of presentation at the
Newark Theatre this week, with Miss
Elsie Ferguson lending to the stellar
role all of the dainty charm for
which she has achieved a reputation.
When AN actress is possessed of
that elusive thing VIC call charm peo-
pie are apt to be content just to see
her play herself, as it were. Mary
Blank, who has a dainty personality
and looks ost fetching in fluffy cos
tunes, for instance, comes to us each
season or two in a new role, whose
difference from it's predecessor con-
siSts chiefly in a change of name and
costume. And people admire her
anew and say, Isn't she wonderful?
Always the same; she cannot help
being herself! Such a personality
Not so with Miss Ferguson This
young woman has charm, to be sure,
but it lis the charm that comes with
earnestness and sincerity. Her acting
is by no means a mere display q
pretty mannerisms; back of her ges-
lures her intonations, can be seen
study and work and careful thought.
Miss Ferguson appeals to the intel
ligence as well as to the eye, for
which we thank her. Beautiful wom-
en- are often so apt to be content
just to do the latter.
AS Inez De Pierrefond Miss Fergu-
son shows to us a Partisan woman of
the world, an earnest feminist, striV-
ing, through the sheer honesty of her
convictions to make the world a lit
tie fairer to her sisters. An unhappy,
disillusioning marriage has made her
discount the worth of that institu-
ton, and when she meets and loves
young architect from Delphi, Iowa,
she tells him so. Having moved in
the circle of advanced thinkers of
which Inez is a member, John Hem
ingway understands without really
approving, and consents to meet her
upon the ground of her own convie-
tons. But first he wants her to know
his mother, and it is at this point,
their entry into the tiny western
town, as far away from Partisan life
as any place could be, that the play
begins.
Inez creates a Juror. Her gowns,
her shoes, her hair most of all her
personality, cause the worthy souls
that form the vertebrae of the towns
social framework to fall into twitter
of curiosity literally imbued with
venom; the venom of the narrow
mind for that which is beyond the
limits of it's comprehension.
no ,aese highly conscientious women
who feel that an unpowdered nose, be
it ever so shiny, is a mark of virtue,
and that the making of a perfect pud-
ding is a greater thing i'm the sight
of a man than the making of a per
feet toilette-this young foreign per
son, with her ease of gesture and
charm of manner, her Frenchy frocks
and daintily slippered feet, is too diff
ferent from themselves to be good
therefore they assume that she must
be bad, and ge- about proving it with
all the energy that has been bottled
up, apparently since the last pro-
tracted revival meeting.
They corner her, and ask questions
Did she live in a place called Burr-rr-
lin? Did she wilfully and wantonly
walk out of her husbands house after
she had been married but a short
time? And-this was asked with all
the delightful trepidation that char
acterizes the small mind in the
face of what it finds improper, and
interesting-was it true that she be
lieved in free love?
Holding her head high, Inez an
swers their questions for the sake OF
her John, whom she loves very. very
much. With quiet dignity she tells
of her unhappy marriage and it's end
ing; of her struggle to find happiness.
and of her all-embracing contempt
Tor the words that bind only the lives
Of two people, and cannot bind their
hearts; of her belief i'm the greater
love that gives itself for the joy of
giving, preferring to know the beauty
of perfect trust in one who is faithful
because he wishes to be, not because
the law has placed a chain about
him.
Aghast, Johns relatives listen. The
ideas Inez has tried to convey knock
in vain at the doors of their mental
ity. They know no compromise A
woman who will talk even think, of
love without marriage is beyond the
pale Consumed with righteous in
dignation, they tell her so. And then.
back against the wall at last, Inez
rises i'm wrath and denounces them
and the hypocrisy of their ways. the
of their minds. She tells
one woman how she is running her
sons life by deliberately standing
between him and the only way i'm
which he can succeed; uncovers an
intrigue between one of the towns
worthy citizens and a friend of his
wife; shows this woman how she
lies, and that one how she deceives,
and at last, when the fire of denunci-
alton is spent demands to know how
they, whose souls are so guilty be-
meath their clothes. Of righteousness,