New-York tribune., 1918-08-28
By Heywood Broun

Avery Hopwood has succeeded ad-
mlrably n beginning a. farce and in
ending 1t These are the two most
difficult tests of farce writing. Curl
ously enough, the least interesting part
of Double Exposure" occurs in the
middle, when things should be hum
ming along at top speed The author
has set TOO difficult task for himself
His original dea IS ingenious. but nor
at all pliable
The play concerns two coupes-the
Campbells and the Nortons. Tommy
Campbell thinks ne is in love with Mrs.
Norton. A yogi offers him an oppor-
tunitv to make sure He hypnotizes
Campbell and then transplants his ego
into the body OF Mr. Norton Then
to make everything shipshape, ne puts
the ego Of Norton INTO the body of
Campbell. Out of this situation Hop
wood manages to draw an. lnsutficle
number of complications for farce pur-
poses. During the entire second act
neither wife is aware of what the yogi
has done and so both remain fixed
points and contribute little to the fun
Each thinks that her husband is drunk
or crazy when he asserts that he IS
somebody else and the reteratiOn OF
this view by both women becomes tire
some Indeed the question OF who's
who IS sometimes pressed TO point
where the audience IS q muddled as
the Two wives
The play is more amusing IN the
last act when both wives are let in
on the secret. This brings a refresh
ing new shaping Of viewpoints and
the farce ends merrily as it began.
The change in Identities put the cast
to severe strain, particularly since
Mr. HopWood conceived the ego as carry
ing voice and manner with it into rs
new astral home. Thus for a whole
act John Cumberland, one of the most
amusing farce personalities IN the
theatre, disappeared utterly. His astral
body was on view to be sure. but he
was busy trying to initiate the voice
OF John Westle~. On the other hand
John Wesley was trying even harder
TO initiate the voice and manner of
John Cumberland. 1t was not an ef-
fective substitute for the blown in the
bottle Cumberland
Janet Beecher and Francine Larri-
more fortunately did not have to try
TO be anything but themselves, or
their stage selves at any rate. and both
gave effective performances. Cumber-
land and Wesley We're also good when
rot under the necessity OF doing imita-
tions The switch back into their own
personalities was one Of ;hc factors
which made the conclusion Of the play
effective.
The opening act is brightly written
and we'll played by all four Of the prin-
ciples. Westley IS particularly happy.
The act is not held UP to the end be-
cause Hopwood does not hesitate to
crop the farce mood on two occasions,
He allows Miss Larrimore d bit OF
pathos which she does exceedingly
we'll but it throws the. play out Of
stride for q moment o. SO Then there
is d long scene with the yogi, which is
played absolutely seriously and again
the farce mood has TO be recovered
With the beginning of the second act
the plot loses pace and sags consider
ably. Of course. even when HOpwoOd
cannot think up funny situations he
can carry his audience along to a Ger
tain extent with clever dialogue Many
lines of the play are sparkling IN spite
of the fact that they are much more
discreet than is usual in Hopwood
farce. There are more laughs than
bushes in the play. but not enough Of
either to approach the mark which the
author set for himself in "Fair and
Warmer'