Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-06-09

The best"
That is the verdict Of theater,goers
who witnessed at the Btiou last night
the first performance Of The Law Of
the Land by Z the Lytell.Vaughan
Stock Company eith the following
cast of characters:
Arthur Brockland > Phillips Tead
Chetwood ..... .Ethelbert D. Hales
Robert Harding ..... Alexis Luce
Mrs. Harding ......,. Evelyn Vaughan
Godfrey Morton -. :. =. :. Bert Lytell
Bonnie ..........,... Lucille Aflague
Dr. Nhittridge. ...... Ernest Van Pelt
Hurlburt ........ .y,..... Mae Thorne
Police Captain Pritchard .........
.....,............ IL, William Amsdell
Policeman Burns -. -. Chas. Elder
Inspector Cochran. Henry Simmer
This play has not the sensation
piled on sensation, situation over stu
alton, of Seven keys to Baldpate, = 1t
has little of stage trichery, little of
the fascinating wizardry of action at
fourth speed. But it has clean, cool,
powerful. dominant force from the
first curtain to the last; great story
greatly told: a cast whose balance is
remarkably effective; and scene after
scene which strike to the heart of
mothers and fathers - and lovers
with a sureness which 9neyers fails.
And yet there is not aline of nawk-s
ish sentiment in it. George, Broad
hurst, master of modern melodrama,
at far intervals falls into hackneyed
phrase of the "melo" stage, but else
where his dialogue and his siiuatierss
are freshly forceful. -.
The story, briefly, is that of n mar
ried woman with a brilliant brute of
husband who suspects and finally
finds out that his wife has not been
faithful-and finds it out in way
which grips the audience TO the fin
ger-tips The calculated revenge he
begns upon his wife. the child and her,
loyer-another brilliant and high-spir-
Iued figure; the sudden flaming turn
Of his hitherto quiet, weil-poised wife,
and the terrible situations that ensue
brim the four acts with tragedy-and
final ending of happiness. 49,.
This story was not written for a,
star, but for capable cast, and the
LytelEVaughan company as an aggre
cation reaches heights of excellence
much beyond what it has shown be.
fore-because the opportunity is
there. The cast is small and the whole
burden falls on Evelyn Vaughan as
the wife, Alexis Luce as the husband,
Bert sLytell as the lover, Ethefbert
Hales as the butler, Phillips Tead as
the secretary, William Amsdell as the
police captain and Henry Simmer as
the police inspector Yes. and upon
a Honolulu girl, Lucille Aflague, who
puts on yellow curls and ~knickerbock--
ers and takes the part of the 9-year-.
old boy-takes it splendidly, too. with
a clear. well-handled reading of lines
which is most praiseworthy. -..-
Miss Faughans emotional work is
perhaps the best she has given Homo.
lulu and to maintain it through four
acts without losing the sympathy of
her audience and. giving it a feeling
Of dreaTy mGnOtony is no small feat.
Alexis Luce in the single act where
he appears is head and Shoulders
above any other role he has played
here. It is a thoroughly disagreeable
role. but he makes the husbands
power, ruthlessnesS and very human
bitterness Of soul stand out aS.the big
gest piece of dramatic work in this
first act ~.
And Lytell is also powerful, but in
different key. He plays with repres-
sion, with poise, with a sincerity Of.
character which redeema his part
Ir51TI t9Iat q 4 fEtIzysT n t:5,.--: il
and makes II the part Of a man VINO