New-York tribune., 1918-05-07
By Haywood Broun

Ethel Barrymore had her second
grownup daughter this season at the
Empire Theatre last night, and is do
ing nicely. No American actress can
so easily afford to play the mother of
an lngenue as Miss Barrymore, be-
cause these stage children Of hers are
palpably ligments of the playwrght's IS
fancy. Never has Miss Barrymore
looked less motherly than she did last
night.
Her play, which is called "Belinda," !"
is comedy by A. 4. Milne. 1t is. we
may say more slender than the star,
but we mean to imply nothing except
that it is very thin indeed. Billed as
comedy, the play is not quite that,
nor is it sufficiently rapid to be classed
as farce. The plot is not particularly
ingenious or important but the dia-
logue is generally clever. Now and
again 1T verges on the foolish, but it
is always we'll bred and high class
folly At best, the talk is fresh and
bright, and Miss Barrymore makes the
most Of it.
She plays the part Of a woman whose
husband slammed the door behind him
eighteen years before the beginning Of
the play. She believes he is dead, and
her two suitors haven't doubt of it,
One OF them is a silly minor poet and
the other a statistician. When a
grown-up daughter returns unexpect-
edly from boarding school, Belinda,
which is Miss Barrymore's name for
the evening, passes off the girl as a
niece. She is afraid that the statis-
tlclan might figure out at least rough
guess at her age if she admitted a
daughter. Nieces, as she, remarks, re-
veal nothing, even to statisticians.
Just when Belinda is more or less
bored with the two suitors, her long
lost husband appears. 1t is carefully
explained that when he went away he
had beard, and SO when he comes
back almost clean shaven he is iden-
titled by nobody but the audience.
Belinda recognizes him late in the sec
ond act but pretends that she doesn't,
largely to let the play go on. Fortu-
nately enough, the poet falls in love
with Belinda's daughter, and even the
statistician is provided for, since just
before the curtain falls he finds mass
OF new material on the increase of
lunacy in the southwestern counties.
The dialogue makes this somewhat
less vapid than it sounds, but the story
is never one to intrigue the attention.
Belinda" is strictly a play for the
admirers of Miss Barrymore. She is
on the stage much of the time. She
has opportunities to show all her skill
in portraying light emotions and she
appears to great pictorial advantage.
Perhaps she giggles one or two giggles
too much, but it's that sort Of a play.
Miss La Gallienne is exceedingly
pretty, but she is not yet finished
comedian, although young actress Of
promise. The rest Of the cast is we'll
enough, but not distinguished. m
New Word" In the long play he
seemed entirely conventional, and in
his last appearance with Miss Barry
more he cut no special figure, but as
the father in Barrie's little war play he
gave an exceedingly skilful and moving
performance. We enjoyed him much
more than Norman Trevor. who PLAYED
the part when the Barrie play was seen
here last season. 1t would be fine
thing if every American who intends to
write play about the war should first
see "The New Word" 1t would also be
in one Of these dramas would also see
the Barrie sketch and pay particular
attention to the work of Mr.. Swete.
Nobody objects to playwrights using
the great world drama for their own
effects. 1t is legitimate that they
should rely somewhat on the fact that
their phrases are made important by
what is going on outside the walls of
the theatre. But if they follow the
Barrie model they will not abuse these
advantages. They will impose the
same discretion upon themselves that
Is the usual duty of the dramatist If
they follow Barrie they will not try to
win a round of applause with every
line. And when they want the folk in
front to weep they will keep just
enough humor on hand to let them
smile a little as they do SO. That's
much the best way to cry, and the
bravest.