Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-02-13
ADJUSTMENTS
New National.

Perhaps 1t was a spirit Of reunion
that prevented the actors who ap-
peared at the New National Theater
last night from delivering the lines al
lotted to them with fluent security in
some of the moments of the new COM
edy melodrama, Eleven PM" In which
they were appearing. The atmosphere of
old acquaintance was not limited to the
stage. The audience shared in the sem
timents of lang syne and the big bou-
quet of roses that went over the foot
lights to the heroine added to the i'm
preston of a traditional first night
with everybody on the Cui vive TO well
come and applaud. The expectant en-
thusiaSm was of itself a nervous IN
fIuenCe. Blanche Bates, always high
strung. and yet secure when seemingly
most impetuous, came in for a recep-
ton. She had a wardrobe whose hand
someness might have made an ordinary
woman n little self-conscious. But her
playing was marked by a vim that
made the genuine quality overwhelm
the embellishments. There was an
, other reception when Wilton Iackaye
stepped forward with white hat. black
coat and white trousers. together with
highly polished black hair and mus
tache. to play the pursuer of the wife
who is trying to forget her hectic past
ana DE q credit to her young husband
and his eXaCting but generous and SYM
pathetic family. Lackaye, n poster eff
feet in black and white. was an easy
going rascal an innocent sort of hypo-
critic. who regards the world as his play
ground and his own pleasure the object
of everybody's existence. It is a char
acter role of the kind that Lackaye
plays particularly well. the better suit
ed to him because of the easy badinage
which distinguishes its speeches.
The receDtioQ accorded ,JeffrieS Lewis
proved no idle compliment. She played
| a broad comedy role, the Impossible
mother of the heroine. The portraiture
was on strong humorous lines. but she
| succeeded in keeping it to comedy and
away from coarseness. The Rev. Car
| los Aikensde was satire, perhaps
/ even a travesty, but not quite of bur-
| lesque, of the insincere philanthropist
| matters of publicity and social di-
| version. His facial expression is ir-
| resistibly comic, but his acting keeps
| the role we'll within the range of hu-
| man FEASIBILITY. Another striking de-
| lineation is Adolph, an actor whose
| gentleness of personality wins him in
private life the regard which his pub
| lie has failed to accord 1t is a fin
| ished bit of craftsmanship as George
| CASTOR does it. Charles Hammond had
| the part of the young husband and
| made it finely convincing; quiet,
| earnest representation of manly youth
|
| boys parents, as played by J. H Barnes
and Louise Macintosh, were unosten-
| tatiously real
| The roles succeed in departing from
the conventional inasmuch as they sue
| coed in expressing family pride as a
| dignified sentiment without ranting
snobbishness. There are other bits of
| acting that serve to make the COM
pany one of the best proportioned as
! semblages that the stage has seen in
some time. The types are strongly
| drawn both in the story telling and in
| the acting; well contra sted without
abrupt caricature in any instance.
| The play resolves itself into the dis
cussion of a situation which has been
| through so many storms of proper pro-
| test that there is no need of seeking
| to revive controversy. The womans
venture into compromising situation
which is prevented from becom-
| ing a case for a grand jury rather
| than for theater audience, is an old
acquaintance. The motive contributes
| the touch of the unusual. Her purpose
| is to compromise the family honor be-
cause of her sense of pique and resent
| ment, but to do so without a real sacri-
| fee of loyalty. The dramatization by
| Paul Potter is brisk in narrative and
generous in acting opportunities for
| the admirable company. The audience
was interested and entertained through
| the performance. J.