The Washington times., 1914-11-17
COLUMBIA.


been wondering how the genius of O.
Henry would stand the glare of the
footlights can find a very good answer
TO their query in so Much For So
Much which Willard Mack wrote and
produced and helped a finely balanced
cast TO act at the Columbia Theater
last evening. 1t may be just a trifle
unfair to Mr.. Mack to say that he has
transferred the spirit of o. Henry from
the printed page to the stage. 1t may
not give a very clear idea of the very
big ideas the playwright has shown to
own in clear title, 10 suggest that he
Is using some other person methods.
As matter of fact he isl {. But We
have likened his newest play to the 0.
Henry classics because there is nothing
else in literature that is just LIKE it. For
a long time il was thought that America
was TO produce no writer who could
tell intimate human tragedies in a way
that would appeal to the American tenn
permanent except through employment of
the style in which BalZac, Ibsen, etc,
dealt out their facts. To the American
palate they were bit raw. They lack
ed national seasoning, If one might
call ii that. Then q. Henry came along
with his studies of human interest in
which a laugh hid a sob, a smile start
ed tear. The people-the whole people,
remember-read and understood, and
national human document.
What o. Henry did with the short
story Willard Mack bids fair to do on
the stage. young man, with pair
of very bright, wide open eyes. and a
capacity for translating what he sees
into sentences with a snap. and situa-
tions with thrill, the two plays he has
presented in this city during the past
month would indicate that he has an
idea for the American drama that
should take its place beside those that
have been recorded by Augustus
Thomas, Eugene Walter, Clyde Fitch.
and their fellows.
so Much For So Much is a purely
American situation developed and told
in a purely American way. 1t is the
story OF a wise young stenographer who
had a family to support, and who had
worked some six or seven years to main
tain il and her self-respect She had
succeeded in both endeavors, but not
without some effort. Leaving job after
job because of the conditions she found,
she had at last secured employment with
broker who seemed to be slightly diff
ferent from the OtherS-Who did not
seem &c exact payment for every little
attention. He helped her transformations
ly over a great trial and his respectful
attitude lulled her suspicious. Her sweet
heart. also very wise young person,
warned her that she was in danger She
declined to believe him and broke her en-
gagement with him because of his in
SiSitIlCS- linen the PIT lldl HdO Dttn 81
skiIlfr!ly dug opened out before her
suddenly, and she saw exactly what she
had been warned against and what she
had thought had been avoided.
In watching the play Willard Mack
has made with this story the audience
forgets it. is in the theater, and feels il
is watching a series of incidents in real
life. Two of the three acts of the drama
take place in the girls home-a home
that has a thousand Implications right
here in Washington. Someone has said
the play lacks a punch-the whole play
is q punch. 1t does not need to develop
a big situation-the biggest situation in
the wCrld is there when the curtain rises
and the audience simply sees seven or
eight characters moving about in IT. so !
Much For So Much" is like a steady
flame instead of a cracking fire.
But there is another thing that Mr..
Mack has done, besides write a play.
He has made it possible for the East
TO become acquainted with Marjorie
Rambeau. And if the play had not
been a success. the introduction of
this new actress would have been an
event of sufficient Importance to war
rant more than usual notice. Miss
Rambeau plays the part of the stem
oRrapher. She is the stenographer
and not a theatrical star. Please un-
derstand this exactly. OF course that
is what all big stars try to be when
they play the part of a stenographer.
but they usually can't afford to let
anyone forget they are stars. Ihat
IS Just one of the ways in which Miss
Rambeau is different" She was
simply natural Mary Brennan. Every
body recognized her because every
body has seen Mary Brennans by the
hundreds in real life. There were
times when Miss Rambeau's work
suggested Ethel Barrymore and other
times when she gave glimpses of
Gladys Hanson, but there was so
much of the time that she was just
her own completely satisfactory self,
that comparisons with stars we know
are probably out of place, after all. n
Willard Mack in the part of the news I
paper reporter sweetheart was more like
a real newspaper reporter than anything
that has been seen on the stage for
many years. Perhaps that is because
Mr. Mack once was a real reporter.
He is a finished actor AMI gave the
touch of sincerity his part called for.
William Ingersoll, known here OF
old, was we'll cast in the part Of the
wealthy broker. Ruth Parry gave an
excellent character sketch of the
younger sister Of Mary, who was a
semi-invalid, and Edward L. Walton.
with only few minutes on the stage
ia the last act, impressed his work
firmly on the audience The acting
Of Julia Walcott, Charles Compton.
Jack Jevne, anj William Norton was
entirely in keeping with the work of
the principals GARDNER MACK