New-York tribune., 1918-10-22
Drama
The Better Ole" at the
Greenwich Theatre
Scores Hit
By Haywood Broun

Although "The Better 'O.e" is al
most musical comedy, it probah.y y
has caught more authentic war spirit
than any other play of the trenches
and back areas which has come to
town 1t is concerned only with one
phase of the life of fighting man,
and that a subordinate one. but the
fact that within it's scope of numor-
Gus Interpretation it keeps constantly
! on the Key pu.s it. Apove the otner
plays of the shattered chateau school
There are one or two moments in
wh.ch THE Better Ole" seeks to
strike more serious note. These
moments are perfunctory and abso-
lutely specious. They fall INTO he
manner of long handclasps and broken
God b4ess yous." Fortunately the
pathetic interludes are brief and rare.
Captain Bruce Bairnsfather and Cap
tain Arthur Eliot have both seen ser
talk of the Tommy and let their accu-
racy, go no further The plot might
hav- been written in the cffice of the
Con mittee on Public lnformation 1t
bears no mark of first hama observation
of the war. OF course, the interest Of
the authors was merely to get the
characters on the stage and let them
talk. That proved to be eminently
satisfactory to the first night audience
at the Greenwich Village Theatre on
Saturday night. The fact that Old Bill
captured a paper from a preposterous
SPY and later went out alone on an
equally unbelievable mission to blow
up bridge was of no moment Old
Bills mustache and Old Bill s opinions
were much more to the point
We said that "The Better 'Ole" was
almost musical comedy. The chief
difference lies In the Iact that it is
crammed full OF humorous lines But,
after all, the play is something more
tnan string of amusing soldier jokes.
Bairnsfather has not on y caught with
seeming accuracy the spirit of the drit~
ish fighting men. but he has added
some s. rewd satlric observation Of his
own. The brief scene in which two
British officer, discuss the case of a
missing elghtpence and spe ate over
the three pounds of correspondence on
the matter wnlch has just been sent
to Mesopot,amia and con }. back pre-
sents the Vyhole case against depart
mentalism in four or FIVE lines of dia-
logue.
In the humor of Bairnsfather there
10 H-SV HcditiE tOiAAC against tIe oNcI
sentim ental'zed conception of the life
of the fighting man. 1t has none of the
sugar coating of our magazine covers.
We see the Brtisher going about his
lighting as q man tackles q job and
leaving the catchwords and the notices
10 somebody else.
All the best moments of the BARNS
lat er pictures find their way into the
play at one time or another and most
Of them are shrewdly emp. Dyed. 1t is
unfortunate, however, that the "better
ole" slogan should be inspired this
time by SOCK and Tot q shell crater.
Mr. Ioburn hos t.xen full advantage
of h. pictorial possibilities of Old
Bib. is m. keur is maste. piece. Nor
Gce: the worth of AS performance . o.
at the Ell :. of his r'astache. 1t is a
1o.l-@ Il trs. Class p.vce o. Mo4K.
Colin Campbell Is an amusing All, and
Charles McNaughton an accurate but
TO. always prepossessing Bert.
The three soldiers, of course, bear
the brunt of the play, but Mrs. Coburn
does nicely with the small part of Vic
toire. Albe Kenway makes q distinct
impression, and Howard Taylor as q
French officer, read citation speech
with all the glow of French general.
The music is largely selected, rather
than composed, and is of parodic
nature. Most the numbers are amusing
and add to the gale of the funniest
and also the shrewdest of war plays
The first night audience was frankly
delighted