The Washington herald., 1914-11-01
BY JAMES s. METCALFE.

last curtain fell on the first performance
of The Highway of Life" the name
that Mr.. l. n. Parker has given TO his
dramatization of Dickens David Cop
perfeld." In spite OF the late hour.
even Diamond Jim brady. who is an ex-
pert first-nighter and usually goes to
sleep at a bad play, stayed to see the
finish The length Of the performance
was not due SO much to the usual first
night delays In handling scenery as TO
Mr.. Parker's love for Dickens and the
necessities in a Dickens play for many
changes Of scene. The piece called for
twelve complete sets, and one very elab-
orate tabIeau. so it's no wonder the per-
Torrance broke the record in the present
writer's experience for length Of per-
formance.
It's really remarkable in this day Of
plays with a punch that such an en-
tirely ancient idea as a dramatization Of
Dickens novel could hold pm audience
so closely as did this Unsensational
drama on extremely oId-fashioned lines
There was about It something so nat
ural, so human. and so touching that
even the most hardened playgoer had to
yield TO its charm. II was Dickens done
by a Dickens lover. and with an at
mosphere entirely foreign to the New
York and the America of today. Mr..
well as a commercial manager, gave Mr..
Parker a free hand. which accounts for
the length OF the first performance and
also for the fact that tired theatergOers
were willing to sit 1t out. PracticaIity
will get to work. and the piece will be
brought down to reasonable lengths to
| suit the needs of New York's turkey
| trOtters and commuters.
As a commercial possibility the fate
OF this or any version Of David Cop
perfeld" is uncertain. Our young peO-
pie do not read Charles Dickens To
them Micawber and the twins, Uriah
Heep, except as a symbol. Peggotty.
Tommy Traddles, Agnes. Steerforth and
Little Emily. are unknown quantities.
The older generation will find these char
acters and their environment delight
fully reproduced in Mr.. sParkers play.
1t remains, though. that with the de-
lightful settings. evidently inspired by
some one who knew his Dickens. and
/ with an extremely competent cast of
| actors, mostly English. the play has a
charm and individuality which must
\ charm even New Yorkers satiated with
everything that is modern, up-to-date and
modelled on current life, here and abroad.
| To those who know and love the in
tensely human spirit pervading every
thing that Charles Dickens wrote, Mr..
| Parker has done real service in once
| more giving them a chance to view
some OF his scenes and characters re-
produced on the stage with devoted fidel-
/ ity.
There are left in America-even in New
York-a few. quite a few. persons who
do not crave unwholesome excitement on
! or on the stage. To them this not the
atrical version Of David COppertield.'
although It is done in the theater, is
bound TO give great pleasure.
The Grating Young Person.
Lurid with the atmosphere of the mo.
ment Is The Salamander," product OF
the pen OF Mr.. Owen johnson, both ir
book and play. II 1t deals with real lif,
at all. It is with life at its fastest and
most sordid in New York and New Yorl
of the present day. But observers Wit
are quite as much with New York as i
is in every walk OF life are entirely ready
10 ask Mr.. Johnson II he knows what h
is talking about in his book and hi
play.
Dodo, the heroine Of The saIamander,
is a young girl of remarkable moral cali
ber who with other young women OF nk
equipment, live together in a cheaI
boarding house and make a practise o
Turing men on to give them presents
which they can turn into cash to pro
: vide for their maintenance. The casl
itself they are too virtuous to accept
but their wiles arc virtuOusly emplOye
to secure the equivalent Of cash.
Mr. johnson may have encountered
young woman or young women of thi
sort. New York aboundinG in CheerfU
workers of all kinds When he tries I
present his Dodo as a type Of n clas
in a book he may find readers sufficientl
! ignorant of real life to believe hin
: When he puts her and her comrades 0
like instincts and practises into pla
: to be presented to wise New York au
diences, and thinks they win accept 1t a
= a vista Of life as II is lived in NeN
3 York, he makes a grievous mistake. Tn
E mistake in observation might have bee
Z forgiven II as a play The Salamander
had been a good play. but the stage vel
] sion was so amateuTtsh in its detail
that, combined with its lack Of truth I
Z any but the most exceptional life, n
New York audience would accept it a
good entertainment
Il The Salamander," from a sensations
q and advertising point of view, was
r good title for book and play. but the
4 failed to live up to its promise. TIL
= lmythoIogic original survived the flame
from some innate quality of resistanc
and with no suggestion of being a petit!
e feminine CRATER having the contempt
: Bile qualities but not the courage Of
| daughter Oh Ile pavement hSnCc III
!. SaIamander," With Ambitious staging an
e q fairly good company, but lacking any
i thing like truth, IS not success as
; pISy.
Musical Piece Worth while.
A distinct Iun in the recent overpr,
ductlon Of girl-and-music shows adj
emphasis TO the undoubted and unque
tionable delights Of one that, althouG
:, in that class from the nature of II
things il presents, deserves a better IA
ing This is ''Chin-Chin," the new mi
n sical cOncoction which brings MontgOn
cry and Stone back to Broadway at the
- old stamping ground, the Globe. Ere
n Stone has always overshadOwed h
It partner in the firm. both in stature al
s cleverness Sas a comedian, which di
n parity still exists to the point that h
!. is the major part Of the present ente
s tainment in spite OF the presence Of NJ
V Montgomery and whole lot Of 9TH
o excellent things expert Manager Dillinl
n ham supplies in the way OF singers. beaI
d teous chorus ladies, costumes, brillial
= settings and other accessories for tn
kind of entertainment
''Chin-Chin" IL based on the old Ala
din and the lamp story to the eXtel
that We have among the many chara
r ters our old friends the cruel magicia
J the Widow Twankey, and the stal
transformations from poverty to unto
wealth and vice versa that are alwa.
d associated with Aladdin and his r
is markable carelessness about the wonde
= full lamp, "Chin-Chin" is funny, m
70 sical, brilliantly staged and altogeth
l. the best thing Of its kind that we ha'