The Washington times., 1915-02-02
NATIONAL

A book play that preserves the pur-
pose OF the book; q combination Of
cieer-cut and exceptionally well pre-
sehted Characters. any one Of which
would have been sufficient to get any
other production close attention; an
evening Of real dramatic entertain
ment. and a new phase Of the genius Of
George NJ. Cohan are the quartet Of i'm
[oressions obtained by the big audience
which saw the production Of Mr.. CO.
mans dramatization Of Frank L. Pack
ards novel, THE Miracle Man." Mt the
National Theater last evening.
In 1.-THE Miracle Man Mr.. Cohan
has done rather better for the public
than he has for the author Of the novel.
Ino.e who read the story when 1t was
puDlisned In the Munsey Magazine re-
Of the Patriarch, the old man living In
the secluded Maine village. who worked
such marvellous cures by faith. This
character dominated the book and
dwarfed everything else.
In the play Mr.. Cohan has worked out
the story with = cast Of thirteen or
fourteen people, practically every one
OF whom Is character study. Those
familiar with the book remember that a
money from the Patriarci1's ability as a
faith healer by installing one OF their
number In his household as the grand
niece he had never seen. and bringing In
another as an "incurable." paralytic,
cure circulated throughout tho country
Tor advertising purposes. How success.
fully their scheme worked at the start
,and how 1t finally failed because the
crooks fell under the influence of the
old man. is well known to readers Of
the book.
The manner in which Mr.. Cohan pre-
eents this theme on the stage Is en-
tirely out Of the usual presentation OF
chief figure of the novel a star part in
the play. he has created a set of peo-
pie that are typical products of met
ropolitan life. the kind of people tor
sse With Is Of
q quiet country town and simple coun-
try people. Both city and country con-
tribute their quota of figures to the
picture.
In tho consideration of the work Of
the actors and actresses who have the
important parts 1t Is almost impossible
to consider. them separately or to give
any one Of the five or six important
l William II. Thompson as the Patri-
arch. displays his skill as a player
rather by what he does not do than by
what he does. The opportunities for
careful artist would find unable to re-
sist. Mr.. Thompson completely over
looks. He gives the most careful balance
to every action, that does much to pre-
vent vent the character oversteppins the
Gall Kane. in the part Of Helena. the
woman crook who poses as the niece,
also displayed the Judgment and re-
serve of the real artist in her careful
repression of any tendency to overdo:
She hao perhaps the most difficult part
In the piece as she was required to con-
stantly change from tho attitude Of
pure simplicity to that Of extreme
with the village people or the crooks
George Nash as "Doc," the leader Of
the criminal quartet. gave, a clear-cut
picture OF a suave. smooth confidence
as leading man Of the Columbia Players
last season. was provided with a diff
cult character In that OF Pale Faced
Harry. a cocaine fend. of which he
sets him in a high place as a character
actor.
James c. Marlowe as Coogan. the
fake paralytic. was also distinct Gre
stion. his type Of crook being totally
different from the smooth. well-dressed
Doc or the drug fiend Harry. 1t was a
tough. ordinary criminal type and Mar
lowe created the illusion perfectly.
friends have always had in him by his
excellent presentation OF the charac acter
of Hiram Higgins. the hotelkeeper
Percy Helton's acting in the part OF
Eddie. the boy cripple whom the Pa
triarch cured. was especially good as,
indeed. was that Of every member Of
the cast.
There has been nothing said about
the complete reversal Of all previous
Cohan standards in this play. There is
no need to do so. The play is suf-
fciently American. sufficiently dra-
matte and sufficiently entertaining, to
do all these for itself
GARDNER MACK.