The sun., 1916-11-20
Margaret Ellington aud Walter
Jones Warmly Received in
the Leading Roles.

New York possesses. to be sure, no
Palals Royal Theatre. but there 10 o
q sufficiently accurate Characterization
Il all the kind Of drama which IL as
ISOLATED In the public mind with the
Diquant farces that used to have their
origin In his famous playhouse. Just
say avery HopwOod' and the least So
phis,icated %playgocr will know what IL
meant. Mr.. uopwood has won an hon.
orcd place In the imposing list OF Ameri-
car playwrights through his ability to
make appear dccorous and native what
is an obvious effort at the risky fun Of
the Paris dramatists. One may laugh
at his travesties of the moral code. es-
pecially NJ II affects matrimony. because
Of the absence Of IN real indication Of
guilt.
None Of his plays was ' more
amusing than Our Little Wife," which
the Selwyns produced at the Harris
act WAS slow. for the laying Of pipes was
not dcxterously accomplished. Espe-
cially awkward was the management Of
the entrances and exits Of thu charac-
tiers. They were removed OH the silmmest
p~retexts. But when the stage had
finally been mined for u Of Mr.. Hop
woods explosive second acts. the worst
vas over.
The Plot Of the Play.
The heroine was a young matron with
Q large heart. Its capacity for absorb
inS the sympathy OF her admirers was
practically unlimited. She had as many
affairs as Anntol and she passed through
them as quickly. II was a young mu-
slcian and then a nerve specialist
Then there came from the West a friend
of her husband in his youth. II was to
his apartments that she went for supper
avowedly to discover II the mar were a
good marriage for her husbands niece.
After the manner Of French farce other $
came to supper at the same time.
They were the Jealous wife OF the doc
tct. whose appearance was no very
plausibly explained. then the betrothed
0. the host and then the fashionable
doctor. and finally the police. The incl
cents were swift and the skeleton Of the
mechanism sufficiently concealed by
humor and wit In the speeches. There
throughout to get az e the line as
POSSIBLE without skidding into absolute
Improperly. But no mi became In
toxicated during the evening: SO there
vas ground for gratitude.
Work of the Players.
Amusing AS the second act was. the
third was not without its humor. Rather
novel was the closing scene. in which
the wife was Just beginning h same
kind of a sympathetic filtration with the
young lawyer summoned by her husband
TO negotiate their divorce before he was
satisfied OF his wife's innocence.
The Selwyns had selected a company
Of actor admirably suited to bring out
the humor Of the farce. Margaret H.
lington. who Ii a skilled actress. found
no difficulties with the part Of the VIOLA
tile wife, although 1t seemed to some
spectators that the part yearned for
another Interpretation and incarnation.
Walter Jones as the friend from the
West. suddenly compelled against his
will to be a philanderer. was irresistibly
amusing. Lowell Sherman. who 10 nov
Is slim and youthful as In the flrst years
Of his success. acted he patient husband
with genuine distinction. Gwendoun
Piers, Charles Hampton. Robert Fischer,
who was a genuinely comic French
waiter, and Rae Selwyn. were spme OF
the others concerned in the performance
o: another most successful farce from
Mr.. Hopwood's pen.