The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-09-06

modest he talks to no one ana Seluom u
the long line at the box office has run
out the playwright slips into the theater
like a frightened rabbit and watches
"On Trial make the vast audience lean
forward and grip the seats in front,
while the big human notes which throo
through the story and the power with
which it is unfolded hold tense the
heart strings of the house"
It isn't often that professional review
er. who is inevitably surfeited with the
drama, forgets the purpose of analytical
criticism for which he or she is in the
PLAYHOUSE, becoming absorbed in the
story that is told and the manner in
which it is presented to an extent that
the matter of reviewing is forgotten, but
] confess to just such thing as watch
ed the story which Mr.. Reizenstein has
told backward with absolute disregard
for chronology uniquely and fiawlessly
presented.
The play deals with circumstantial
evidence. A husband is on trial for his
life. A juror has just been sworn and the
district attorney is stating the case! The
defendants lawyer follows. and the fist
witness is called. The wife Of the mur-
dered man takes the stand and begins
telling Of a telephone cali that immedi-
ately preceded the murder Of her hus-
band
The telephone bell rang" she says.
whereupon the lights go out with
startling sufdenness.
In the Sti lness you hear a telephone
hell ringing. and before you have scarce
" had time to say Jack Robinson up
flash the lights and you sit blinking at
the completely furnished library Of
wealthy home, bewildered in your mind
as TO how on earth It ever got there, for
the stage hands have made no noise, and
scarcely sixty seconds have elapsed since
the scene was that OF the court room and
the witness on the stand was saying
The telephone bell rang"
The remainder of her testimony Is en-
acted before your eyes. The same method
is pursued throughout the three acts OF
the play. with its multitUdinous scenes
which appear noiselessly, as occasion de-
mands, and quite as if by magic.
And always you come back to the
court room where the defendant quivers
in acute suffering: where his little daugh-
ter is examined. and where his wife tells
her agonized tale.
In three sessions Of the trial. and at
three vital moments in the unfolding Of
the story, the audience. as well as the
Jury. is carried back to see the happen
inEs given in testimony enacted by ltv-
ing people. No screens are used. Mr..
Reizenstein having employed only the
technique Of the photo-drama, making It
veritable flesh and blood
So great has been the interest in the
ritherto unknown Mr.. Reizenstein (who
still in his twenties). in the unique
.haracter Of this his first drama and in
the cleverness with which Conan & Har-
is Cby arrangement with Arthur Hop
'sirs). have staged It. that a discussion OF
the player-folk engaged in the produc-
zion seldom entered the comment I
heard during my stay in New York.
But when the surprise Of the play and
its author has worn of. laynan and critic
alike viii awaken to the fun significance
of the flawless acting engaged in telling
the story, particularly in the matter Of
the emotional depths sounded by Freder-
icl Perry in the role of the defendant:
Frederick Truesdell's sincere delineation
NJ the character OF the murdered man.
who comes to life three or four different
times as the story moves backward in |
time. and in the poignant pathos with |
which Mary Ryan. as the wife OF the de- |
PENDANT saturates her part.
Little Constance Wolfe gives a natural |
and appealing performance as the dauEh- !
Helen Lackaye. sister Of Wilton Lack |
aye. is excellent in the role OF the dead /
mans wife.
The retroactive moving picture plot /!
which furnishes the novelty Of Mr.. Rel |
zenstein's sensational melodrama begins
the new season in New York with a sig |
rifcant note. and one which less original |
playwrights win attempt to initiate be-
fore many moons unless I very much |
miss my guess.
I also saw Frank Craven's Too Many
Cooks" William A. Brady's production |
at the Thirty-ninth Street Theater, and
was but mildly amused. Perhaps the long
run Of the piece. and the glowing ac-
counts which have from time to time
reached me of the genuineness OF its
humor, led me into too high an expecta-
ton, for found the sprinkling OF clever
lines too few and far between to justify
my preconceived favorable idea OF the
comedy.
The central theme-which is the disas-
trous results which are sure to accrue
from too much meddling on the part OF
outsiders when an engaged man elects
to build a home for his bride-to-be-is ad- 1
hered to with answering faithfulness by
Mr.. Craven, furnishing a situation which
gives promise OF an hilarious three hours
OF comedy. which promise is but half full
filed.
One has often to go away from home to
learn what is happening there. So It was
that I found out in New York the real
truth concerning Izetta Jewels 'vaca-
ton" plans which an esteemed Contem-
Uorary told US last Sunday meant a three
months leave from the Poll Company,
the inference being that she would re-
turn to Washington as leading woman
at the Pennsylvania avenue home of
stock at the end of that period.
In the first place, It simply isn't in Miss
Jewel to rest for three solid months no
matter what her need NAV be. She is
lust a bundle OF ambitions from head to
foot, and some Of them are staggering in
Toint Of their enormity. Certainly
they point to a definite and final termina-
tion Of her connection with stock
We Sirrea Mis, JaurI Ia loa,5 Yha l.