The Washington herald., 1918-08-06
BeIasco-4HeIen with the High
Hando

Belasco-sHelen with the High
Hand.'
. II was inevitable that the Five
Towns would yield a comedy for
the stage. and the only wonder Is
that the inevitable has been delayed
this long.
But after witnessing the projec-
tion of these remarkably vivid and
cameo-like Arnold Bennett types at
the Belasco Theatsr last evening.
we are tempted to doubt whether
their intensely British atmosphere Is
not likely to pass away over and
beyond the average American. who
may know his cockney London and
his Leicester Square London, Dut
assuredly knows nothing about the
Midlands-except what Bennett has
told him.
Helen with the High Hand" Is
utterly British from alpha to omega.
and although much of its humor has
the universality which always be-
longs to true humor. its brilliant
character studies are as keenly and
completely provincial English types
as Barrie's are Scotch or Chekov's
are Russian II the whole play were
more than a vivid character study,
il il were buttressed by greatness
Of theme or power of appeal, its
purely provincial aspect would be
forgotten entirely: but as it is. the
main impression left by the piece.
is that IL is one of the "off-hand."
crisp Bennett sketches transferred
TO the theater-that and little more.
Adolph Klauber's debut as a pro-
ducer Is an artistic success Of the
first degree. The acting of the play
was hawless. A more perfect piece
of character acting than that con-
tributed by z. LyaH Swete as James
OIlerenshaw has not been seen in
Washington for many months. 1t was
q vell-conceived, brilliantly executed
study-full of light and shade of the
nuances and illuminating touches
which lifted it far beyond the scope
Of ordinary character acting. Miss
Estelle Winwood made a far better
impression in Helen with the High
Hand than he did in ''She Burned
Her Fingers" some weeks ago. She
is a young English actress Of incisive,
varied style and a well-rounded tech
nical equipment. She played the title
role adequately. Lumsden Hare did
an excellent bit of work as Andrew
Wilbram, and Katherine Stewart was
the Mrs Proctor that all Arnold Ben
nett devotees have pictured in their
minds.
The staging of the piece by Hol-
brock Blinn left nothing to be de-
sired. Helen with the High Hand" Is
as faithfully rendered a cross-section
Of British life as could be found In
London. or Manchester. or Glasgow.
II Is a tribute to the catholicity of
the American stage that an entirely
British comedy could be done 50 well
so far from home-but the war IL
bringing Us pretty close together after
all. and the Five Towns are perhaps
better known to Americans than the
types Of George AIDE or Booth Tark-
ington are known to Britons.
PoIfs-Awhere Popies BIoom-,
"And now. Pedro Cthis Is what
Marjorie Rambeau will say to Pedro
de Cordoba about II O'Clock this morn
tng), - and now, Pedro. let's go
down to Polls and go over that first
act finish again. It needs smoothing,
Pedro; 1t needs smoothing. was
looking right at George Creel all the
time, and it didn't get him."
George Creel. you see, Is our best
little pagandist, and George Creel
was down in the second row at Polls
last night when Marjorie and Pedro
put over the premier Of then new
show. Where Poppies Bloom" That
first act ends in a Perfect gale of
propaganda Marjorie says some
thing like this:
NO man could be that vile, that
unspeakably vile; that fiendishly in
human.that low, that detesta Bile,
that incomprehensibly horrible un-
less
Unless -" Kisses Pedro.
Unless he's a Germanr shrieks
Marjorie. Then the curtain swishes
down.
And George Creel. propagaidist
extraordinary. seated down in the
front row, rolled a jaundiced eye at
Marjorie. in look that plainly said:
Get IL smoother. kid; have a look
at my latest movie Americas
Answer"
So that's why Marjorie and Pedro
will probably get down early this
morning and run 1t over a couple of
times
where Poppies Bloom" Is Miss
Rambeau's latest vehicle, she having
deserted The Eyes of Youth" for
this new play. Barring that first
act finish. where Poppies Bloom
must have gone over even to the,
critical satisfaction of Roi Cooper
Megrues the author. who sat, II was
alleged, somewhere In the audience.
Carping criticism aside, where
Peoples Bloom" performed one dra-
matte miracle last night. It kept
intact in their seats an audience
that mopped and mopped the humid-