The Washington times., 1917-10-16
NATIONAL.

Under Pressure" a new four-act
comedy by Sidney Rosenfeld, made Its
debut in the Capital last night at the
National Theater and found favor
with a critical audience Of FIRST night
ers. Interpreted by q cast In the main
admirably ntted for their various
parts and staged most appropriately
by the producerr, Klaw & ErlanEer.
the new comedy provides an even
ing's entertainment that, while not
hilarious, is extremely diverting.
The theme 10 not new, but the
author has handled II in q manner
that is novel and interesting, though
daring. The story is that OF q mod
ernized covenants wooing. Bruce
Markham, a young Southerner. with
a good opinion of himself and peculiar
ideas of love, matrimony and the way
to win a girl, is madly in love with
Ernestien Waite. She, not Subscrib-
ing to his views, though At heart
in love with him. rejects him ana goes
to New York as a social secretary to
escape his attentions.
He follows her there and renews
his suit Again rejected, he resorts
to heroic methods and invades her
bedroom at midnight in the hope OF
compromising her and forcing her to
accept him. Then comes the most
interesting moment of the play. The
girl calls in another man. declaring
that II she is to be compromised IL
will be OF her own choosing. The
scene closes with the dashing wooer
getting the worst of the battle OF
wits and rather repentant. In the
final act he bobs up serenely and
anaII,, ,ba 1{rI srrranders from sheer
fatigue, and all ends happily.
Fred Niblo gives q highly interest,"
ing portrayal of the breezy, irresis-
tible lover, making Bruce Markham q
very likeable young man and Violet
Hemming is an attractive Ernestine
and handles the part acceptaely.
The rest of the cast includes Miss
HiIda Spong, who does her usual
sterling work as the vtvaclous
widow. Mrs. Jepson, Miss zefhe TIL
bury is seen as the Mrs. Harden, the
wealthy employer of Ernestine; Miss
Eileen Wilson has the ingenious role
of Celia Bridgeman; Arthur Laceby
and Miss Laura Burt appear as her
mother and father. Albert Gran does
some clever work as the stout adorer
of the widow Jepson, and Miss Lea
Penman Is a most attractive Cosette.
BELASC0.
Again have the authors OF High
Jinks," "KatInka," The Fire Fly"
ct al, sent to Washington one of those
catchy. clever, light and dreamy pro-
ductions, filled with pretty girls,
quick, snappy lines, and surrounded
by balmy California atmosphere, In
You're In Love-" which sent .
packed house hummingly on its way
home from the Belasco last night.
The music play, despite the fact that
many of its musical numbers long
had preceded It to Washington, was
received with open arms, and the
BeIasco should be the meeting place
of those fond OF light opera OF that
type for the rest of the week.
Following each other, there comes
one song hit after another. In the
midst of, dialogue, words, lines, or
whatever you choose to call what
the principals in q musical comedy
say when they are not singing, there
bursts forth q song, and before the
audience realizes IL, half of a musi-
cal number has been concluded. The
manner of introducing the numbers
was clever.
There are two scenes in You're In
Love- the first being the sun parlor
Of the Santa Monica Hotel, in South
ern California The last scene is
aboard the S. S. High Hope" and the
music as we'll as brand OF humor in
this act recalls that OF High links" !"
Built around the principal waltz
number You're In Love-" the entire
production carries this song through
out the evening.
Persuasively, dainty Marie Flynn in
PRODUCES 1t, and then the other prin-
cipals at irregular intervals and
times, take up the strains, and be-
fore the final curtain, strains OF the
number go hauntilngly through the
brains of the whole audience. Miss
Flynn also sings "Loveland" with
grace and ease, while her I'm Only
Dreaming" received the real applause
of the evening. May Thompson
dances well, as do c. Balfour Lloyd
and Gilbert Wells. Carl Mccullough