The Washington herald., 1915-11-02
By JULIA CHANDLER NAME.

BY JULIA CHANDLER MANI.
In witnessing the first performance
OF Behold Thy Wife" the new play
by William Harlowe Briggs. which
was presented by Henry w. Savage at
the New National Theater last night.
there was nothing to suggest the me-
cessity for the precaution that was
taken by the management prior to the
premiere to withhold the detailed de-
scription of its theme from the the
, ater-going public. for the problem
which the piece propounds 10 as old
as the hills, although IL must be con-
fessed that Mr.. Briggs employs =
unique method in its solution.
AS the dominating characters We
have man and his wife who have
been blinded by the humdrum of mat
rimonial life to the admirable quali-
ties possessed by each. Eager to hold
his love. Constance Crosiand slips into
the habit of nagging her husband.
who seeks relief from the friction OF
his domestic life in the society Of an
adventures.
As the lawyer friend Of the unhappy
pair puts the matter: "Crosland has
reached that critical period In his rela-
tons with his wife where II IL an easy
matter for some other woman to per-
suade him that he In having desper-
ately hard time Of t." and wants moth
ing SO much as he wants his free
dom from the calling yoke OF matri-
mony.
But We would refuse to become ex-
cited over anything so commonplace.
either on the stage or off. did not Mr..
Briggs utilize the second act OF his do
nestle drama for q solution that dips
into the psychic In q manner never be-
fore utilized for stage purposes.
hN0a-
band, wife, and lawyer friend become
disenbodied spirits, who are rowed by q
ghostly boatman to the bofderland Of
desth-the judgment seat-where the
scroll OF their respective lives are I'M
rolled, and their naked souls are read.
Too late for regrets here! Too late to
cover the deeds done In the body! Equal
ly futile the offering of excuses, ex-
tenuating circumstances. promises OF bet
ter things II chance IL offered to per-
form them! The wife beholds her hus-
band as he lie, and the man beholds his
Wife. And In this supreme moment when
the purity OF the wifehood of the wo-
man; the holiness of her motherhood; the
nobility OF her thought wins for her
vision Of the paradise she has earned,
her love rises yet the quintessence OF her
being, and she renounces her glory for
love Of the man, while the keeper Of the
gates of heaven, who finds the two men
unfit for heaven and not black enough
for damnation, gives them back To the
world from which they have been flung,
the woman choosing to return with her
husband even though 1t means the re-
nunciation Of heaven.
In this. the second act, Of Behold Thy
Wife" Mr.. Briggs has struck mystical
note, and preached a beautiful sermon
which is set by Joseph Urban in Q scene
that, suggests the immensely Of space;
the ethereal quality of spirit; the mys-
terry OF eternity. A spurious impression
would seem a term more fitting its de-
scription than. scenery" or mounting"
for It is an Impressions vague, intan-
gible idea Of the infinite-a rarely beau
tiful Accomplishments climaxing the three
remarkable scenes which Mr.. Urban has
furnished for the play.
And through this scene the orchestra
sobs and signs the strange. weird music
which Walter Rothwell has written as
an accompa nirnent for the fight of the
astral bodies Of the unhappy trio, still
further enhancing the uncanny effect OF
tie scene.
Then the mIsts clear away. rolling up
from the stage in soft gray clouds,
plunging US into a mundane world where
the automobilists are recovering from
IntlT bnOChs Dlllc Vic rOiec LOA ehNh nv
cident, but retaining an impression Of
their experience sufficiently clear TO en-
able them to see beneath the crusts
formed by years of the usual corrosives
attending the daily routine OF domestic
life.
sre, In the THRU act. the husband re-
Allies the infinite superiority of his wife:
the lawyer is relieved OF his promise to
secure their divorce: the adventures
even has a noble inspiration. and the two
young folks whose love story has spat-
tered the piece inconsequentially realize
life's springtime dream, and everybody
is conventionally happy.
This, the first play which Mr.. Briggs
has written. touches a big subject. but
makes its transition from the quarrel
some work-a-day world to a mystical at
mosphere, and vice versa, with a shock
that leaves one fioundering around con-
siderably for ones bearings. The trite-
ness of the first and third acts are so
accentuated by the remarkable mysticism
and novelty of the second that one
feels inclined to regret their existence,
wishing that the story might begin in
this land OF neither here nor there" and
conclude in no less a place. leaving the
satisfactory fulfilment the experience OF
the central characters promises to the
Imagination of the audience.
Creating the central characters Of
the new play, Alexandra Carlisle gives
a rarely spirituelle performance as the
wife; Charles Lane presents a con-
sistent picture of the husband; Edwin
Holt is entirely capable as the law
yer friend: Helen Lackye brings an
effective swagger to her Installation
of the adventures; Rose Ludwig
makes a charming picture in the in
renue mart. George Clarlxe is not srf-
fciently imbued with the buoyant
spirit Of youth as the Juvenile, and
the balance of the company has little
to do.