Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-04-28

But her feature number. "The Fifth
Chapter of the Songs of Solomon" was
Inadvertently omitted by the curtain
being lowered too soon.
THE Opium Pipe was the third num-
Der, and in novelty of theme. unique
ness Of stage setting and glorious rev.
elry of dances, harem scene. opium den,
tragic death of a princess and presen-
tation of beautiful maidens in vari-
colored costumes of the fourteenth
century kept the interest of the crowd
ed house until near midnight.
Scene Laid in Persia.
The scene was laid in the royal city of
Persia in the year 400.
Alasnam. the young and virtuous
King of Persia, is conducted by his
uncle. the regent. who is prompted by a
lust for power, to an opium den. with
the hope that, becoming victim to the
drug, the power may remain in the
hands of the regent. The king accepts
the pipe and falls into the profound
sleep, after praying to Allah for "a
needful vision" In his dream he be-
holds his own downfall. the tragic
death of his princess bride, and real
ICES the treachery of the regent. AWak-
ening from his dream, he casts off the
spell, banishes the regent and quits the
den in which he had timely vision OF
his undoing, with the avowed deter
mination by wise rule to root out the
drug evil from his kingdom.
The play, while performing its mis-
sion, was set off with all the gorgeous
trappings Of the east and served as
vehicle for the introduction of snake
charmers. dancing girls, beauties or
the harem, musicians and philosophers.
The scenic effects were excellent, the
program giving credit to Mortimer
Clarke.
Takes Role Of Princess.
Mrs. Howell-Smith had the tragic role
of the Princess Zobia. bereft of the
kings love through his response to the
lure of the senses, who kills herself
with jeweled dagger that the king
may be brought to his senses by her
Hemmick gave sustained and i'm
pressive impersonation Of the, drug
king. DR.. A. F. Hopkins had a
difficult role as the scheming, crafty
and carried it with fine inter-
probation. He gave finished portrayal
of the plotter for a kingdom, who fails
and is banished.
Mrs. John w. Thompson as Lila, in
love with Fareed, the blind dancer of the
but given as wife to the Sultan
of Deacan, was cast in a role calling
for some clever dialogue and much act
ing, swayed by various waves OF feel
ing, as she watches Fareed in his dance
declare his passion for another and
then, renouncing the passion, fee from
the harem. Mrs. Thompson gave one of
the most carefully acted charaot
parts in the entire cast and seemed ac-
tual1y driven by the passions she simu-
lated.
Appear in Dances.
Miss Helen Buchanan contributed, be-
sides some excellent acting In the ha-
rem scene. two feature dances. the
dance of the opium pipe and a strange
old Persian dance of darkness. while
Louis B. Thompson as Mozzan chanted
a weird song without music. Mrs. Ger
trude Logan also gave a typically ORR
entail dance that won much applause
Mortimer Clarke in his solo dance of the
snake charmer executed sinuous evo-
lutions that made the audience feel
that he was actually mesmerizing and
then struggling with a huge. serpent
His work was very artistic and his
make up excellent. Milton B. Bryan. as
the blind dancer, performed very
difficult dance of love and lust, self
conquest and remuneration.
Others in the Cast.
The others in the cast were:
Sahab. keeper of the opium den, Nor
ven Thompson.
Mahomet. a nightly frequenter, Eu-
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