Evening star., 1919-03-09


! The authors sound their
u warnings. of course. Selfish
ness in the home should-he
S%voided: fdIeuess is demoralizing, and
" girl should marry the man of her
tChoice, regardless of wealth or po-
krition. The name of Guy Bolton, VINO
t~rote the play. has been identified
wit some conspicuous musical COM
tcdy successes. This play moves along
teasily and merrily. almost like mu-
tsical comedy without the music. Even
~ ithout the assistance of musical
~iircctor to wave the magic wand of
Transformation the play changes
gloom into sunshine with facility
u that joyousiy defies ljfe's ordinary
lardships Ii is not content with
A1ointing one moral. 1t points a series
tof them. Human difficulties are de-
tpicted in such Il manner as to imply
very wildly a solemn question, and
immediately comes an entirely salts
6ying answer in the form of an OBJ
ticet lesson in optimism. What shall
she done with an cXtravagant and in
considerate family? Nothing simpler.
-follow business system and en-
1ploy a bright manager to look after
.7he details that have been escaping
Your notice How snail the manager
curb the extravaganza? Simple again.
Convince them that they are dead
broke and~Wiil have to go to work.
6ut how will they get work? Every
household contains a newspaper and
every newspaper contains numerous
advertisements under the caption,
"Help Wanted" Nothing could have
5een better calculated to restore alb
8olute faith in this human system of
ours than the manner in which each
of these unframed idlers glanced
Through the ads and in jiffy picked
'out the precise employment for which
he was naturally destined. 1t seemed
too good to be true. And yet there
could be no doubling it, for there it
all was shown before your very eyes
by people so cleYerly entertaining as
10 make skepticism a positive rude
ness, 1t may be doubted whether this
particular part of the story should be
commended as reliable moral" The
case and comfort with which the
household, on finding itself penniless.
slips into lucrative and almost hilar-
aousiy congenial employment should
not tempt any imaginative soul to go
broke merely for the sake of the
experience. The newspapers do the
best they can. but very few of them
/. carry lines of want ads" punctuaIly
. q ffsie hac tn h.
fell jnto the hands of this particular
home. 1t was a pleasure to see every
/; body so happy. even to the chickens
| in the mimic barnyard. The chickens
deserve mention because, though far
/. from being important in an artistic
sense they seemed to be working as
/, fndustriousy as anybody in the cast,
: besides being kept out OF their right
full sleep without the slightest be-
trayal of irritation.
George Broadhurst is now present
ing, his latest presentation being "She
Walked in Her Sleep at the
Observation-Disclosures MIR. Broad
hurst used to write plays in
stead of presenting them, one
OF his earliest having been shown
when the Columbia Theater was max
ing Its way to first-eIass theaterdom
through an atmosphere as thick with
skepticism as that which hung over
the 9TH and F streets playhouse. The
Broadhurst play was The Wrong Mr..
wright, the star was that sterling
old comedian Roland Reed, the father
o Florence Reed, who is now an
stfress of established reputation. Th.
re.niniseence recalls anew the great
chan which time makes so insid-
icusiy that they are scarcely noticed
as tiiey progress under our very eyes
Mr.. Broadhurst is no longer a calIow
ard appealing youth. He has produced
many successful and admirable ulays
snd, moreover, with strategic skill not
always in association with literary art
has done bold battle with the fjereest
ei the New York critics and come
through without a scratch. she Walks
IN Her Sleep found a general tndorse
nlent as one of the most wide-awake
little plays of the season.
PHfLANDER JOHNSON.