The sun., 1916-12-26

Is child from France. one from Bel
gium. one from England and fourth
who does not come from Switzerland. as
her protector at first says. but from
Germany. They are all little waits left
homeless by the war. and the little studio
drudge is taking care OF them in the
houses she has built from the boards.
Police man Il . Prince.
She has amused them all by telling
them that she Is Cinderella. and that is
the idea that pervades the jewelled
scene. The policeman falls In with II
and wonders why the prince has not
brought her an invitation to the ball.
She is standing in the street awaiting IL
As she falls asleep, only to awaken at
the bali. II Is the complete realization
OF cockney's idea Of a princes ball.
Everything is gold. There is the prevail
ing weakness In the matters OF his The
little waits are enthroned above the en-
trance. The prince is the policeman who
sought out the new Cinderella, and the
other characters are figures out OF her
life All Is confused mixture Of realty
and fairyland.
Even the beauties at the court ball are
incarnations OF the pictures which hung
in the studio Of the first act.
In the final scene. which passes in a
hospital in London. Cinderella is recover
ing from an attack of pneumonia. She
waited long time In the street for the
princes initiation. But he comes to her
In the hospital for soldiers now. but
large enough to accommodate the little
studio drudge. He Is the policeman
again. but romant one. as he says.
He substitutes for the ring pair of crys-
tai slippers. which crown the tale with
the same happiness for the heroine Thus
has Sir James Barrie combined the old
fairy tale with the war time life OF Lon
don into what he calls not a play but a
fancy"
Barrie's Fancy Travels Far AaeId.
Sir James never let his fancy travel
further afield than in the combina tion
OF the cockney girls dreams and her
actual life. Indeed the blend OF reality
and fancy. Of delirium IL IL were that.
was suggestive Of "The Poor Little Rich
Girl" with the advantage so far as
clarity and incisivcness went on the
side Of Eleanor Gates's play. The little
drudge making a mans coat seemed TO
lie Just as much in the realm Of pure
fancy as her appearance at the kings
ball, Once she got there. however. the
humor OF the fancy" was established
and the burlesque OF the old fairy tale,
which was told in the terms established
by the little girls experience of life, was
often delicious.
II must have been much more en-
jOyable. moreover. to an English au-
diencc than 1t was TO many last night.
There was a constant obligato OF Al
bert Chavalier's music to the scenes.
which were highly effective as back
grounds for the varied directions into
which the imagination OF the play wan
dered, whether 1t we're In her own lit
tie shanty with the refugees hanging
about the wall In boxes-weli grown
children they were too-or In the deco
rative ballroom. Here the king and
queen sat In gilded arm chairs. and the
ice cream for supper was served from
a gold venders cart. There was genuine
laughter during the greater part OF this
scene.
Miss Adams was altogether equal to
the expression Of the authors Whimsical
humor and his original twists Of senti-
ment: but she is, of course. a master
of Interpretation of thi. kind now. Nor
man Trevor was both policeman and
prince confused in the mind of the girl.
while the other actors missed none OF
the fun OF the play. which n richer I'm
the second act than In the first. The
whole manner In wich the play Was pre-
sented was In accordance with the high
est ideals of artistic stagecraft to-day.