Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1916-05-23
FUN IN A FLAT"
FUN FOR EVERYBODY
St. Johns Dramatic Club Presents
Splendid Performance at
Mcdowell Hall.
PRETTY CITY GIRLS ASSIST.
A Capable Cast of Clever Characters
Pleasingly Presents Play That De-
lights Audience---The Per-
sonnel.

That St Johns Cadets cannot only
! shoulder arms" present arms" drill.
excel in target practice and make a
! high standard in military tactics. but
can act and excel before the fuotlights
as well was forcibly demonstrated last
evening, when they gave a highly cred
liable performance at Mcdowell Hall.
Indeed, the st. Johns Cadets in the
cast surprised their many friends in
the large and fashionable audience who
had not dreamed the college boys OF
the hill' were endowed with any his ri
onic talent OF course, they were ably
assisted by four charming Annapolis
girls, but even the good acting of the
young ladies did not dim The glamour
of the actor-Cadets. or detract by way
of contrast.
The College Cadets were all the
better for the comparison and while il
was not case of shining by reflected
light, the splendid acting of the girls
only served as fine setting for the ex-
cellent work done by the boys. whose
own effulgence needed no reflected or
refracted glory.
The play presented was Fun In
Flat" three-act farce comedy laid in
the same stage setting. the time being
before and after breakfast and before
lunch, in the same day.
The cast did splendid work. and the
st. Johns Dramatic Club is to be con
graduated for possessing rare quail
nf al !;
dore better. The story Of the play
was a general mixup of two John
Smiths, who lived in the same apart
ment house, and both of whose wives
had been away. The wife of the Rev.
John Smith returning first,got into the
wrong fiat, and as the other Mrs. John
Smith was away, and her husband had
been out all night the wrong Mrs Smith
was fairly settled in what she pre-
sumed was her own fiat. when the 9TH
er woman's husband retuInoi.
There was a general miXup. and
ludicrous situation from start to finish
which required many explanations, and
a great deal of fun. In his night es-
capade, Mr.. John Smith rescues in a
fog young lady of the Bijou Theatre.
and loses his pocketbook with roll of
bills. The fun thickens, for the lady
of the Bijou Theatre returns it to the
wrong Mrs. Smith and the situation
becomes more complex. However, all
ends happily, and the untangle re-
veals the identity of both John Smiths
and their spouses, who get mixed up
IN the wrong fiat, but in the same
apartment house.
As Mrs Pointing, the housekeeper,
Miss Marie Brooke was most capably
cast ami did good work Cadet VIII
liam II. Price, of st. Johns, imperson-
atod -he Rev. John Smith, thought to
be SANITY SAM" one of a gang o.
crooks, who used the cloth" as dis
guise for lerfdy. However, he was
not crook, but a real English curate
with a rather exaggerated accent and
mannerism. Cadet Price held up his
part in the play admirably.
AS Dick Desmond. Cadet Ddnlevy c.
Downs was excellent His frequent
bursts OF laughter had the ring of the
genuine. He was at all times easy ard
natural, and he possesses a fine stage
presence, all of which make him a
capable actor, whose role was in good
hauis.
Miss Edith Woodward was a sweet,
pretty dainty, Mabel. the wife of the
Rev. John Smith, who was in the mix
up from start to finish. and at no time
was dispossessed. Miss Woodward was
most attractive as the wife of the curate
and as the right woman in the wrong
fat The character was in capable
hands.
To Miss Julia Douw fell the role of
Miss Fartheringay. of the Bijou The
atre, who tainted in the fog, fell into
the arms of Mr.. John Smith, and acci-
dentally fell into her hands his pocket
, book with the roll OF notes Miss
Douw was splendid and upheld the
part with credit to herself and the cap
able cast of which she was one
| When the management of the play
cast Cadet r. Otis Jones as Mr. John
Smith, they acted better than they
knew, or rather he did. In Cadet Otis
| Jones the st. Johns Dramatic Club
] has a genuine actor. real genius. He
rose to supreme heights at one part Of
| the play when ha pictured the scene
of all his troubles in that Lonlon fog
and the complications that arose there
from At all times throughout the
play Cadet Jones was exceedingly
clever. and is a most capable actor
He was the bright and shining star
of very brilliant cast.
Miss Margaret Claude, cast as Nora,
the sweet and comely little wife of Mr..
John Smith, did her part well, and fit
ted the character TO d nicely She was
most happily cast.
Cadet Robert H. Maddox was a good
Sergeant Duffell. and upheld the dig
nifty of the law and the English de-
| tective force in real Sherlock Holmes
fashion. Cadet Mf ddox deserves much
credit for his work.