The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-04-11


son, 1t looked as though there might be
A wholesome reaction in New York and
that we are due for period of stage
cleanliness. Now We are experiencing
an epidemic of a different kind of indie
cency. The stages of the leading thea
tiers offer thirty-seven different attrac-
lions. OF these eight are musical
pieces OF the twenty-nine dramatic Of
ferings ten. or more than one in three.
are of such a nature that no careful
father or mother would permit their
daughters or even their sons to witness
them. Two others might be included
under this description, but they are pure
ly farcical and are more in the nature
of offences against taste than against
morals
Three OF the worst of these plays are
new productions and were brought out
on consecutive evenings of last week.
One OF them. 1.-The Natural Law" had
been suppressed by the police authorities
OF Boston after two presentations in the
Puritan metropolis. 1t is said that GER
tain changes were made in the manu-
script before the New York police would
allow the play to be performed here.
Judging by what was left, it is difficult
to imagine just what could have been re-
moved
The story is Of a doctor in love with
a girl much younger than himself. Fol-
lowing tno lnCIndlfOI VI youlH, sic
gives not only her affections but herself
to lad of her own years without any
matrimonial formalities. The youth goes
to Europe and leaves the girl in a con-
dition which makes her appeal to the
doctor for help. The interview provides
one of several delectable scenes in the
play. The only remedy the doctor offers
is to marry her and save her reputation
The lad returns and brings about the
happy ending by himself taking on his
helated matrimonial responsibilities.
THE Natural Law might be more vi
Cious if 1t were an especially interesting
play or if it were better done. No one
except those who delight in the objec
tionable for its own sake, Is likely to
find much entertainment in the piece. so
that it does not seem likely to exert
any great influence in any way. In fact.
the big Tenderloin audience that crowded
the theater at the first performance.
drawn thereto by the kind of advance
advertising that always stirs the Tender
Ioin and by the possibilities Of police
interference. found itself more bored
than interested.
1.-THE Revolt"
The second of the trio is from the pen
Of Mr.. Edward Locke. who wrote that
dainty little play of musical life, THE
Climax and THE Case Of Betty" pro-
Hllcei nv BeldSCO Win FRANCES us
the heroine of this psycopathic romance.
This is called THE Revolt and is so
far below the standard of the others
that one wonders how it could be writ
ten by the same author. 1t starts in
very middIe-Clsss Brooklyn fat. the
home of Young married couple their
baby, and the wife's stepmother This
last works on the wife's jealousy and fur
nishes her with proofs of the husbands
infdelities as we'll as an address in New
York. where the young woman can util-
iza her personal attractions to pecuntary
advantage for them both. The girl re-
sists until she is stung into leaving her
home in the middle of the night.
Her arrival at the sumptuous New
York apartment is at an opportune mo-
ment party Of Western men is to he
at an all-night supper. As
portrayed on the stage. this orgy and
the mechanics of. its trade are depicted
with an evident delight in the detail.
Just as the Brooklyn girl is about TO
Weld 10 superior force the telephone an
nounces that her baby is dying. With
the aid Of the decentest and least inebri-
ated of the male guests she escapes from
the house. He accompanies her and on
her return to her infatuated husband.
saves her from his wrath, helps save the
habys life. and brings about reconcilia
round reform and happy Brooklyn fat.
This might by some be considered a
highly improving tale teaching a COM
moral That inference might
lac correct were ii not evident that the
punch" of the piece lies in the graphic
depictor Of the scene showing how New
York is supposed to entertain some of its
guests on gayety bent Except for a GER
tain fidelity in this scene and the draw
Ir,,tr hl,-l
acted by Jessie Ralph, the technique OF
the piece is so had that any teaching it
might possibly contain fails utterly OF its
purpose
In Numerous Capacities.
Mr.. Butler Davenport has been ru-
1ored for several seasons in connection |
with things that he was going to do and |
4 special theater that he was going to |
build for the elevation of the drama on |
lines of his own. After several false starts |
his efforts have assumed tangible shape |
In the miniature Bramhall Theater, To-
'ated on East Twenty-seventh street near |
lexington avenue. In this out-of-the-way |
location he has succeeded in building, on |
D lot apparently no larger than the usual !
rity dimensions twenty-five feet by one |
a simple but very dainty little
playhouse seating on the floor and in the
gallery 2,ulO persons. The most impressive |
feature of the theater is the seating
very spectator having a roomy and COM
Portable armchair OF gilded wood and
,ane. with plenty OF leg room between the
rows. In this respect the Bramhall is the
most comfortable gathering place in New
York. not even excepting the Metropolitan
opera House.
In this enterprise Mr.. Davenport IL
'wner, designer. manager, dramatist. pro-
iucer. and leading actor. The title OF his
'lay is The Importance of Coming and
ioing," and it is the third in the trio Of
lew disreputables. The coming" and
going referred to in the title are birth
Ind death. From the attention paid to
letail in the accessories of fashionable
uneral and the scant thought bestowed
IN the conditions attending the heroine's
'ecomig mother. there is apparent some
'ague mission In the play to teach by
contrast lesson in eugenics. There Is a
amount of talk Of a far from
lelicate nature concerning this topic, the
lwful example being derived from the
act that the father is a degenerate
french count, who has been picked for a
husband and father simply by reason of
lis title. The piece has in some OF its
ines superficial brilliancy in the school
4 Clyde Fitch, but this is the most that
an be said for It. Badly constructed. un-
cal and decadent. IL sends its audience
way partly laughing at Il, and more dis
'usted with It.
Trick ON the Reviewers.