The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-12-01
ADJUSTMENTS
"The House of Glass"
A Play in Four Acts.
THIN Gag CIT

Edith ........................... Sonia Jasper
Hon. II. T. Patterson William t. Hayes
Crook" plays are legion, but patrons
of the theatre seldom have an opportun-
ity of seeing better written or better
acted drama of this sort than The House
of Glass; which was presened by Conan
and Harris at the Jefferson theatre yes
terday afternoon and last night. During
four tense acts, the interest was kept al
a high pitch and there was hardly mo-
ment, although the crisp dialogue was
enlivened by many flashes of comedy
when the tragic story of Margaret Case
was not the dominant idea
A closely woven, well constructed plot
and staging of the sort which has figured
in many of the Cohan successes, COM
bined with one of the most capable COM
panies seen on the local stage this sea-
son, made 1.-The House of Glass" one
of those varieties of the theatre, story
so skillfully told and acted that the most
experienced theatregoer could not fail to
be moved by it's powerful appeal.
The plot has become more or less
familiar, through the magazines and the
newspapers which devoted much space to
the piece while it was current in New
York. Margaret Case a New York ste
nographer, is betrothed to a former chauf-
feur who accounts for his sudden wealth
by saying that he has inherited for
tune. He showers her with jewels and
just as the couple are planning to leave
for California, they are arrested.
Burke, the thief, is an old hand at the
business, but his dupe is innocent. Al
though, with fine disregard for himself
Burke pleads for the girls release, she is
tried, convicted and sentenced to prison.
Being paroled after serving part OF
her term she breaks her parole and flees
to Kansas City, where she is employed
as a stenographer in the office OF a
rising young railroad official The two
are married and live happily, until the
railroad mans growing fame obtains for
him the offer of the management OF a
large eastern railroad. The wife, against
her will, goes back to New York, feeling
certain that the relentless Carroll, the
detective who arrested her, will soon dis
cover her again.
Burke leads straight" life after serv-
ing out his prison term, but is sun
bounded by the police department He
eventually crosses the path OF Margaret
Case, now Mrs. Harvey Blake. Back in
New York it isn't long before Carroll
recognizes the WOfndn he IldS uCSu wait
ing for, confident that che would return
sooner or later. In an intensely dramatic
episode of the play, the detective recog-
nizes in the handsomely gowned wife of
a famous railroad official in her home,
where he has called on other business,
the Margaret Case of prison notoriety.
There are many interesting angles,
cleverly wrought to happy ending,
which vindicates nearly everybody in the
play. including Burke, the detective; Mrs.
Blake and even her husband, whose
stubbornness at first threatened to wreck
the lives of both himself and his wife.
The characters are the sort one eX-
poets to meet with in a crook play, but
they are admirably drawn.
The cast, as said before. was excep-
tionally strong Miss Adelna O'Connor
as Margaret Case, afterward Mrs. Lake;
Dwight r. Meade as Burke, Bertram Mil
lar as the detective with stern sense
of duty, but with his heart in the right
place, after all; Robert Middlemass, a
fine virile actor as Harvey Lake; Clyde
Fogel as a delightfully."- humorous and
breezy lawyer, Edward Mcclellan, Charles
Reigle as the railroad magnate were
some of the principals most prominent in
a company where weak spots We're con-
spicuous by their absence.