The Washington herald., 1918-08-13

Bctnsco-"A very 1ooo tounB MaAs
Arthur Hopkins played q huge joke
on at least one receptive member OF
the audience which witnessed the pre-
mier Of his new production at the
Belasco last evening.
We thought the title of his new play
with the inclusion Of that Presi-
Dental, elastic adjective ''very''-in-
dicated thigh" comedy, full Of light
and shade. of subtle nuances. We
were mistaken. and perhaps agreeabiy
mistaken.
"a Very Good Young Man is bur-
lesque. farce, low comedy. whatever
you want to call It, with Its coiors
rich and lurid, laid on with fat.
broad brush strokes. 1t escapes exact
classification in the same way that
that other delightful Hopkins sur
prise. Good Gracious. Annabei." es-
capped It, Whenever we are tempted
to call this piece purely farce. we are
reminded that some of the immortal
pages Of Dickens are entirely farcical
to the ordinary eye-until some new
prophet like Chesterton arise to prove
that they are veritable prodlgies of
realism.
In the opinion of this reviewer.
the second act OF "A Very Good
Young Man" Is one OF the most up
roariously funny things he has ever
seen on the stage. II Is 'Pantzer's q
Pier Pavilion" at Sheepshead Bay.
II is burlesque, of course. IL that
word has not been utterly distorted
by the specialized meaning It now
conveys. Yet 1t is sufficiently
realistic to be just as true as q
cartoon of Hogarth or a page OF
Harrington. For ourselves, we
have never seen singing walters.
and never knew they existed; but
now we know there absolutely must
be such beings-in Brooklyn. down
Coney Island way We think that
this remarkable act achieves the
rare distinction OF being a carl
cature which deceives the spectator
into accepting II as the real thing.
We also believe that the impersona-
tion Of Ada Lewis as Mrs. Mandel-
harper. widow, a mother. and a
business woman" will rank as one Of
the humorous classics OF the present
stage generation. The lines alone
would swing II into success; doubtless
It Is an actor-proof part. But Miss
Lewis gives IL an Imaginative touch
which makes 1t an authentic comedy
creation. II W n n, abandoned
laughter Is not too strenuous ex-
ercise In the heat wave. 1t is to be
found here in overfowing measure.
Here, indeed is comedy of types
which are as vivid OF New York as
AIDES are of Hooserdom. Edna Aug
plays the role OF Osprey Mandelhar-
per. still trembling on the parent
L.. -.
ner. Its single flaw is lack of variety.
The fun values are forced a trifie; the
daughter OF the 'Mandelharper par
lors" Is too transparent a BOBBY even
for Greenpoint. The element of bur-
lesque in the role should be softened
somewhat.
As for Wallace Eddinger. he has
no part which enables him to cope
with the women as funmake-5. He
plays Leroy Gumph with technical
finish. but that is about all. The cast
is an excellent one. and is altogcth-
er too long for recountal. The thee
children of the Hannigan household,
however. were ali excellently done
by Ruth Findlay. Frank Lonagre.
and Fanny Bourke. and Harold Sal
ter made an adequate Dutch Gro
gan. Josephine Meyer should make
Mrs. Hannigan trifle less
"screechy."
The production in every sense is
a Hopkins production.
Every once in so often the painting
reviewer stumbles into an orchestra
seat and forgets himself long enough
to enjoy the show. HIS seat neigh
Dor. who honestly paid s2-plus at the
box Office. can lose himself In the
wholly middle-class pleasure OF en-
joying 1t and then. when it's over. he
can go home. Pity the poor critic.
who having succumbed to the same
temptation awakes at II o'clock and
remembers that somehow he must pull
himself together and review some
thing OF It all.
Somewhere in the action Of Among
Those Present" (comedy-melodrama !;
four acts: National Theater this week:
Larry Evans, Walter Percival and
George S. Kaufman, plot-carpente .s)
Jimmy Burke. a crook, offers the
critic a bit of advice when he tells
another crook to reserve criticism
until the end Of the performance.
This gentle reporter took the advice
and came away with nothing but a
program and an overpowering sen3l-
ton of having liked inordinately well
something he had seen between Sis
and II o'clock last night.
Among Those Present" is the stage
story of the apparent attempt of a
gentleman burglar to burgle a neck
lace from a country home where he is
sDuriOuSly passing as guest An
other guest attemps to bring about
the crooks downfall. only to be, him
self arrested as the real crook by the
supposed crook. Four acts-one of
them SPLITS required for the proper
presentation of Among Those Pres
ent," but four more of the same sort
would well justify the onlooker keep
ing his seat.
Cyril Keightley, the Raffles who later
develops into famous detective on
the trail of still more famous thief,
portrays his role in fashion that
grips and fascinates with a tech
'nique mighty close to art. Keightley.
through his performance, makes
Among Those Present" a Washing
ton success. Its success elsewhere
causes US no concern.
Rarely has Washington seen a per-
formance SO distinguished by Uniform
ly good rcting. No ones work aroused
that feeling of compassion so COM
mon to these war times. On the con-
rary, we hereby take tn librty to
single out two rather inconspicuous
parts for special mention-Joseph
Woodburn as McVeigh, a headquar-
fers sleuth and Roharf undson o.,