Evening star., 1915-02-09
Columbia.

Columbia.
Expectations suggested by the title
a Girl of Today" were realized in the
performance at the Columbia Theater.
which last night revived the atmos-
phere of the Charles Frohman first
production in Washington. A clean
cut comedy. carefully cast wholesome
in sentiment and graceful in humorous
suggestion. was material to be expect
ed in the light of precedent on such an
occasion.
Despite the presence of the word
Girl in the title, the piece suggests
no possible literary kinship with the
musical farce which it has come to
suggest. The Girl of Today will ac-
romplish worthy purpose if it can
iealize lis prospect of success to such an
~ crwhelminS extent as to obliterate the
r"rfunctory significance which the style
ri title has acquired "A Girl of Today"
= Il curiosity in that it is costume pc
od play of tho present era. Mr.. Porter
Emerson Browne. the author. has man
aged to establish himself as an on
locker. rather than a participant i'll
current customs. He has obtained a
view OF our own time which has the
effect of perspective and proportion.
The humor is penetrating yet kind.
The spirit of the piece IS sympathetic
rather than satiricaI- 1t is a study of
standing Oh cordial terms without in
sisting on the perplexity of sociologi-
cal or biological research. In all this
IL is relief.
AS the characters are introduced each
: revealed as a frank. unexaggerated ex-
ample of modern personality. the more
interesting because sincere The eternal
pr'ncipie OF human nature is manifest in
inc tact that the characters employed
nave had their classic prototypes They
are recalled in interesting contrast to
mes, ,.lene Present expressions of similar hu-
man traits and impulses. The Young
woman who was left an orphan, and falls
,n;o the ha nds of relatives who claim her
fortune, is a girl not only of today but
~ many sweet romantic yesterdays in
hcuon: The straightforward youth who
owes her has been Steadfast in his de-
NOtion since the first of Romeos swung to
earth from his palm tree and evoluted
INTO man of the stone age. There were
Young sGuires of boorish manner and
Senia! lnsolence long before Tony Lump
Kun shocked the dignity of his ancestors
But never before have all these charac-
'ers been assembled in easy and close
acquaintance as companions of the
american twentieth century
Inc remarkable efficiency of the cast
a proportonate mechanism does not
prevent the interest from centering
closely on the performance of the title
f"ie by Ann Murdoch. Striking in ap-
Pearance, Yet conveying the impression
% the most delicate refinement. she
piii VI IoudE an 1nlper-
ration of sirlish simplicity, harmoni-
:. AT the same time with the highest
: 'indards of graceful and sincere worn-
mood: Her mobile countenance re-
Its the most delicate shades of senti-
ent and emotion. like the play of
adows and sunshine She has intense
arm OF personality. and the impress
\ OF direct youthful sincerity is not
: even when the action seeks to round
climax by series of somewhat
NiouS expedients-
me author has not ignored the right
80 an audience to voice, as the
wicked whom he instrduces for the
iurpose of his plot He let's the cruel
"ia'lfes ride roughshod over the feel
'iss OF the orphan, but he supplies the
'seestion that they will come a crop-
-. before the narrative is closed. And
tAe satisfaction at their final humilia-
Ion is genuine and wholesome He
rings the feelings, but he subordi-
'y"s in the audience the tears are
nose or gentle pathos, even of pleas
Hac; relaxation and not an ordeal
Ihe costumes worn by Miss Murdock
are striking, even wonderful They
constitute a picturesque concession so
lar as certain remarkable substrata of
lingerie are concerned to the ideals of
state propriety cherished by our great
Ersndmammas. The gowns are inter
csting revelations of the current fash
ions cunningly employed to enhance
impression of personal grace and
smartness.
In most comedy dramas the interest
is centered on the man of action and
the. woman of defiant determination,
while the young lovers merely play at
hide and seek through the story in
order to provide what is called COMEDY
relief. In this play the two Juveniles
come into their own and boldly defend
Tom Moores poetic maxim, There's
nothing half so sweet in life as loves
Young dream"
The auditor who finds himself an
eavesdropper at the blushful wooings
of frank and unsophisticated boy and
girl. smiles. bu, does not sneer Much of
the pleasant impression is due to the
manly personality contributed by
youthful suitor. who, as ali youthfr,I
sultors should do. declares himself
wiling TO forego position and patrt-
inony for the sake of the girl he loves.
Edwin Nicander. as the new rich
proVincial sport. has part which
hounds in humorous lines, some of
them broadening into slang, with an
"Isy naturalness that is irresistible.
it~ is burdened with long speech in
frsS scene. which is almost as ex
'tihS as 'monologue, and he is not
FHiitttd the comedians usual priv
ee OF restoring himself to the good
ages of the observer bv some act ~
''Nalry. hut the characters apneai r.
dUdi"nce defies handicaps II is a
''"sistehtiy well drawn character: a
under VINO. though amusing is j.
founder still. Mrs. Ruggies the house
eper PLAYED by Pauline DuffieId and
i,"rkness, the butler. played bv VIII
am Eville. are agreeable rerninders
tuht the American household docs not
lack traditions of refinement and CON
=ervatism-
Patricia Fane. enacted by Miss Relic
ilau une, makes the imperious fiancee wbo
Ia nds between the youthful lovers
troperiy naughty and exactinr wbiia
NT and Mrs Lockwood are OF the cold
ma steely harshness that SO often msrLs
me success in life won by seyeritv 80
sef-deniaI- Gordon Blake is the ,S,,.rd
an whose supposed death cre.tes ~
Ni'uation which leaves the girl al ~
mercy OF unsylnpa thetic heirs-at,,u
Nils fe' ny frank
ne story serves to introduce a ,--,,,r
ushIy interesting players rather tbsp
eap.9t some extraordinary freak Of
tIrcu1nstances. II avoids the abnorrn.,
en- IN story II is plausible and Nc,
NHlten- P1inchiess and unprob!em.ti|.,i
ii reaches straight for the heart str,ne,i
J.
New National.