The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-10-03
PLAYHOUSE DE- LUKE
HAS ELEGANT DRAMA
'Information, Please'' ut New
Selwyn Theatre Made Bril-
liant by Jane Cowl.
HER ACTING rs CHARMING
She and Jane Muffin, Writers
Of Piece, Receive Audi
ence's Appreciation.


ssaio SoWis hctroSs AHu pinyWiibhh,
has been for tho last year celebrating
her triumphs far from the metropolis.
But she came back to Manhattan Island
hast night to dedicate the seiwyn The
atre, q new stage for the display Of
me attractions OF the we'll known I'M
presarios Of the same name.
Tho opening ceremonies were an eie-
CANT affair. not in tho popular but the
correct sense Of the adjective. All that
the audiencs was invited to witness last
night. was elegant not elegint BY the
word 10 not meant the same qualities
that inspire Mamie at the movies to call
out "Ain't that Douglas Fairbanks per-
fectly elegintr' but such traits a.
pleasing TO good taste-refined."
These qualities were observable last
night in . marked degree for Forty
second street. The theatre II most elab-
orate. and any doubt AZ to Its elegance
would be settled by the note on tho pro-
gramme. ''There In smoking room for
women" or by the fuller detail. Back
baths in every dressing room" Profess
sional witnesses Of plays present for
business reasons were admitted on sill
YER tickets.
Elegance OF the Play.
Then Miss Cowl always writes elegant
plays. In one every character knew the
telephone number OF the Knickerbocker
Club by heart and could call II right up
out Of his or her head. There were ele-
CANT people on the programme last
night. and two characters had attained
the dignity of knighthood. A boudoir in
London, also with telephone and q
shower bath, was visible a lounge In a
New York hotel and q sitting room there
formed the elegant backgrounds for the
progress OF the story.
Miss Cowl In her latest play had, as Il
were. Jane Muffin at her right hand
since the two have again elaborated.
Others may. consciously or uncon-
sciously. have had their share IN the
creation Of Information, Please" Alex
andre Dumas had some idea Of the
same kind In his head when he wrote
"Francilion." end similar thoughts were
floating about In the brains OF Geraldine
Bonner when she wrote Sauce for the
0ander." and before her. Thompson
Buchanon had in "A woman's Way"
skirted the same theme. OF course,
tneTe nave Deen Otnef6
For Miss Cowl and Miss Murfin had as
their heroine n wife who thinks to
freshen up the devotion OF her husband
by f1rting-always with a certain ele-
gance be II understood-with another.
This philandering brought the.two across
the ocean, and IL must be admitted that
the elegance grew almost negligible when
this dainty sprig OF the London aristoc-
racy slanged tho hotel detective so effec-
lively that he retired in Rbashed defeat.
Her husband followed the capricious
darling to this country. but arrived too
late to see her do up the hotel detective
coram publico. Yet he took her back
although he might have felt a pardonable
pride in seeing her wipe up the floor
as elegantly to be sure as that can be
done-with the conscientious employee
of the establishment who had done moth
ing more than suggest the truth to her.
Miss Cowl's Acting.
Miss Govt played the amusing first
actor. precipitate as II was, there was
some fun In this opening division of the
play--with q charming sense of comedy
She revealed a very spoiled but none
the less lovable nature In the character
of the heroine and her physical beauty
has never been more appealing.
Then she kept at her task prestissimo
and must have paused for breath when
the curtain finally fell. She assuredly
did nothing OF the kind while 1t was
up Her acting was throughout the eve
ming rather more distinguished than her
dramaturgy and her brilliancy as a
was quite beyond anything
her previous achievement in that direc-
ton had led the audience to expect.
MnrAn har nnlla hnrafaP IN
and wearing orchids, was compelled to
bow after the second act. Hand in hand.
living pictures Of art and literature,
she and Miss Cowl Acknowledged the
applause OF the audience.
There was company about Miss Cowl
quite adequate to the performance OF
the play Henry Stephenson acted an
of society somewhat more
plarsibly than such apparitions are
usually presented Orme Caldara spoke
with an Irish brogue at times and was
said to be an Irish NJ. p.
Alan Brooks from vaudeville did not
At readily into the picture. Malcolm
Duncan played the usual drunken re-
porter that dramatists love to draw
and Blanche Yurka seemed an uncom-
monty fiurried woman OF society even
for a society play. For just as Miss
Cowl and Miss Murhn turned their
gaze on American society in
''Daybreak' so London high life was
under their infallible microscope last
night SO the truth must be that ladies
OF the aristocracy do get the best OF
hotel detectives in a scrap.
The audience felt grateful when the
evening was at an end for some bril-
liant and genuinely amusing comedy
acting from Miss Cowl. but above all
perhaps for the really beautiful and
theatre which has been
added by the Selwyns to New York's