New Britain herald., 1919-12-23
NEW BRITAIN HERALD, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25 19l9

l4eRoy, played in his usual manner by Dillon Deasey. By thus revealing her. self as she really is, q designing ad- Nenturess and not an abused girl, all sympathy for her is lost and the play gains added strength. Of course in the final moments of the play when d1sSraced Kenneth is about to commit suicide, his father and mother rush to him, a reconciliation is effected and the audience is left to suppose that all live happily ever after
 In addition to the characters al- ready mentioned, Eugene Shakes peare plays the role of Thomas Hard Ing, Alce's fiance: Georgette Leland takes the part of Mary Burke, a social secretary, and Thelma Booth is well matched when she plays opposite MT. Wesche. Charles Mylott plays up to his usual high standard as Jim Gar rlty, {, broken down cab driver, and Joseph Guthrie makes a typical but Ter.
 With some minor changes, The Family Cupboard'' can be made one of the best plays that the Lyceum Players have produced this season. Tn the first place, 1t runs too long and it was Il o'clock last night before the curtain had been rung down on the fourth act. This act especially could be speeded up and when. at the final moment of the play, the broken fath- CT appears on the scene. holding out his arms to his son and says: My son, I've been waiting a long time for this moment" the audience heartily concurs. The dialogue between the heartbroken mother who knows her iG ,fo,, ,l,{i ,Sr,i.1 ,,rl>~ tries to hold him in the apartm ent until his father, who is to be there in five minutes arrives, is over- drawn. Not once or twice, but sever al times does the son start to leave and the mother throws herself upon him, crying Just one minute more" Those ''one minutes" mount up faster than the producer intended, undoubt- edly. and a few could be dispensed with. It might also be of interest to note that the mystery sOf the piano is explained in the fourth act. Tn the third act Dillon Deasey sits down to the piano, the key board of which is away from the audience, and plays a little jazz, the exact piece being 'In the Land of Jazz" The audience smiles and remafks that he is really quite Tn accomplished young man. La , ter, he plays again, but the same piece and the opinion seems to be that he probably has learned only one se- lection Still later Charles Mylott sits before the piano and he too begins a little jazz. strange to say, the same one that Mr. Doasey had been play ing Still the audience thinks that possibly all is well. However, in the fourth act Miss Leonard, in the course T,f 1fr,. e-f., c. play few bars, but before she can circle the instrument and get seated, the audience is surprised to hear the strains of ''Takc Me to the Land of Jazz" issuing from somewhere. The mystery is solved. And one more ob- servation. Mrs. Clement Harding is, presumably, woman in the same so- clal class as the Nelsons. And as such her part would be strengthened were she a little more careful to have her dress hang evenly, and not up in front and down in back. That an- moved the ladies very much.
 The ornamental policeman on duty at the theater could be a little more useful if he would essay to prevent the usual "snal town comedian from plying his offensive tactics in the theater. It is a common thing in To- cal playhouses to hear a gang of youths somewhere in the theater be- gin to snore when a bedroom scene is shown, or to litter and sob during a pathetic part, or to make unneces- sarily loud remarks that are intended to be humorous This should be stopped.
 Next week the Lyceum Players ap- pear in Polly of the Circus