The Washington times., 1914-10-27
BELASCO.

A distinctly English comedy having
n peculiarly British plot. by a clever
author presented by Marie Tempest
and an unmistakablv London company,
combines both sympathetic understand
ing and a nice sense of values in a
fairly br'ef synopsis of Henry Arthur
jones Mary Goes First" as it was
produced at the Belasco Theater last
night. 1t is to be hoped that all the
distinguishing subtleties that have been
used I'm the description are not wholly
lost. Note should be made Of the fact
that We have not confined the cleverness
OF the author or the star by geograph-
ical lines. or fixed upon them national
characteristics. Note should also be
made of the fact that I'm doing both of
these things for the play and the plot
and the company, we have displayed a
most acute sense of values which but
goes to emphasize our sympathetic un-
dcrstanding. When all these things are
understood in their proper relation. an
excellent idea will be obtained of the
state of mind of the audience which left
the theater last evening after watching
Miss Tempest and three acts and N
Cpilogue of Mr.. Jones comedy.
Mary is a woman of very positive
ideas as to her own social precedence.
When this precedence is challenged by
the wife of a manufacturer whose tre-
mendous virtues as a Briton are recog-
Eized with knighthood on the joint
bssis Of his having made liberal con-
tributions to a political party and en-
dowed a sanitarium, Mary for the first
time in her career realizes the i'm
portance of her situation. So she
schemes to regain her prestige by COM
pelling her husband to forSake his golf
and his political ideals to stand for par
Lament and in this way, and by very
large contributions to the party. prove
such answering patriotism that he will
secure a baronetcy. By making rude
remarks as to the personal appearance
o. the newly created Lady" Mary
makes herself liable for damages as a
Slsnderer.
a person with an ultra British mind
can grasp at once the great possibilities
of a plot so sketchily set forth. and can
understand exactly what delightful COM
plications can be worked out of 1t. There
can be no doubt to such a person that
a man OF Mr.. Jones cleverness, and an
actress of Miss Tempest's art should be
able to get a number of excruciatingly
amusing lines and situations. The thing
that most stood in the way of complete
appreciation by the audience at the
Belasco last night was that Washing
ton is d. c., L. 5. A, not Eng, and con-
seQuently many of the finer shadings Of
the humor were lost. 1t was this fact
also that probably made much of the
witty dialogue seem-shall we say
stupid?
Marie Tempest was a most vivacious
Mary, and made SO much of the part
that she was given repeated curtain
calls. She comes back to Washington
after a long absence having lost none
of her livliness and charm. W. Graham
Browne, who played the part of young
lawyer, seems to have the distinctive
mark Of the artist upon him also, and
lent much aid to the stars efforts to
make the comedy enjoyable The re-
mainder of the company was quite up
TO the standard of the best of the Lon
don product. Wednesday and Thursday
evenings Miss Tempest will vary her
great success, THE Marriage of Kitty"
GARDNER MACK.