The Washington herald., 1916-04-02

/ incomplete fable is relied upon to pro-
vide the evenings amusement. And,
as will be suspected, the species of
amusement which IL succeeds in pro-
viding is not precisely the sort the
authors anticipated, The male pro-
tagonist of the manuscript is a ridic-
ulous marionette. The female a mere
blonde speaking doll. Lou-Tellegen's
shape plays the leading role Olive
Tell is the doll, Sidney Greenstreet
is the king and his performance is the
only one of the lot in any degree pro-
ieisnt. The balance of the company
is of a dire mediocrity. The scenery
was evidently painted by the play
wrishts. This play and its manner
OF presentation are typical of the
drought into which the Broadway
thester of the day has fallen, How
ever came such a piece to be pro-
duced once an eye had passed over
the manuscript However were so
many bad actors assembled and re-
tanned for public performance once
an eye had engaged them at the re-
hearsals? Let the claiFvoyants, crystal
sazers and spook grocers provide the
answers! II they can.
problem similarly cryptic and
riddleful presents itself in the instance
of Joseph Brooks revival of Haddon
Chambers obsolete play, The Idler"
diVulged in revised garb at the Shu-
bert Theater under the heading of
"Fhe Great Pursuit" Despite divers
alterations in the text of the ancient
manuscript the piece is woefully out
Of date and in all truth, pot a little
silly.
Originally exhibited In the old Ly-
oeum Theater some six and twenty
years ago with cast containing
Kelley and shannon, Georgia Cayvan
and HepTietta Crosman, the play was
transferred overseas in the subsequent
year to the ST. James Theatsr, where
the leading male role was Unanswered
by George Alexander and the chief fe-
male roles were intrigued by Ger
trude Kingston, Msude Millet and
Lady Monokton. And though, true,
the play achieved q considerable sue
cess these two and one-half decades
ago, the notion that it contained dra-
matte meat suitable for a reserving at
this time waste say the least-a
trihle whimsical. The so-called big
act Of the piece wherein Lady Harding
pays a nocturnal visit to the apart
ments of the bachelor Crosby and,
upon being surprised there by her
husband, takes refuge behind a por-
there, only to step forth from her place
of concealment and confront her ex-
ploding spouse at the appropriate
nothing If not Electrically ineffective
and completely absurd in our compar-
atiyely sophisticated show-shop hour
Nor does the cast which has been
assembled to interpret the messy
document avail to inject the vital
juices into the script. That is if one
excerpts Marie Tempest and Bruce Nc
Ray. The balance of the aggregation
| designated upon placards as an all
IzFn F' 90 IVY IL. in, ha Of
dubious species of skill. Phyllis
NeilsOn-Terry gives one of her signal
| ly talentless performances in the role
of Lady Harding. 'As l have observed
for several years, this actress is, save
| for the spectacularity of her name. a
distinctly third-Tate player and in this
estimate the majority of my erstwhile
reluctant colleagues of the local daily
press now apparently concur. The
Evening Sun describes the lady as
the weakest spot in the cast" and
zone who gives no evidence that she
will ever reach the histrionic heights
scaled by her aunt" The World OBJ
serves at last that her means of ex-
pressing emotion were limited and
Of the most elementary sort" And the
genial Prof. DarntOn records that
the actress was as artificial as the
play itself and her IL ca of emotion
was represented in "a upheaval Of
shoulders and an elevation of eye
brOws." 1 go to this impolite length
merely because l recorded the same
things a number of years ago upon
studying the ladys performances in
London land subsequently in New
York; and was, for so doing, sum-
marily exiled by the wrathy Mr..
Brooks from his presentations.
Others in the company are Cynthia
Brooke, Montagu Love. Jeanne Eagels,
| Charles Cherry and W. Grahame
Brown. OF these, Miss Eagels is the
most agreeable.
Miss Terry's and Miss Brooke's
! gowns are by the Schneider-Anderson
company; Miss Eagels' gowns by Bon
wit Teller; Miss Temptest's gowns by
Lucille and Carroll and her hats by
Henri BeRdel; Mr.. Loves gowns by
the House of Kuppenbaumer; Mr..
| Cherry's by Wetzel hats by Dunlap;
Mr.. MCRae's by OBrien, Cohen and
Schmidt, boutonniere by Park and
| Tilford.