The sun., 1919-10-07
BED Is CENTRE OF
THREE ACT FARCE
Complications Keep Audience
in an UprOar at Eltinge
Theatre.
ABUNDANCE OF COMEDY
"The Girl in the Limousine" Is
Filled With Diverting Dia-
lOgue and Scenes.
ABUNDANCE OF COMEDY
''The Gird In the Limousine"--At the


1t was lucky thing that the bed
which formed the centre OF attraction
1 for ''The Girl in the Limousine at the
1 Eltinge Theatre last night was of such
substantial architecture. for 1t had to
stand being put upon great deal.
There was more darling in and out of
that piece Of furniture by both men and
women during the evening than a circus
net encounters in its busiest moments
3 Certainly, as part OF the dramatic
structure Of the play, that bed was more
! like a life saving net.
This bedroom farce in three acts and
Z two pillows by Wilson Collision and
Avery Hopwood needed something strong
! like the four poster to support some
very thin ice during its course, in addi-
: ton to the solid mahogany character
portrayed by John Cumberland. A H.
Woods, who aforetime produced THE
; Girl In the Taxi" in presenting the
more modern vehicle last night, had
added an up to date Ostermoor accessory
Z that was a self-starter SO far as trouble
& was concerned.
The girl in the limousine" actually
appears only at the beginning of the
piece. as a young women who halls
Tony HdmHton in his automobile and
gets lift from him because II is rain
a1ng-though Tony is a trifie suspicious,
because the woman Is yelled and seems
to have a whiskey tenor. His suspi-
cions are justified, for her robber con-
federates suddenly pounce upon him, Just
when his machine is wrecked, and Tony
loses consciousness and pocketbook to-
gether.
Bed Comes Into Play.
The handitti strip him of his valu-
: ables and all his outer clothing, and
then leave him under the piece de re-
sistance in n young woman's bedroom
Thus 1t is when the lights go UP on
! the first act of the farce, that John
Cumberland. playing the role Of Tony,
10 enabled to make a typical Cumber-
land entrance-from under the bed. He
is shocked more than he could posi-
bly, be by the lightning outside to dis
cover that the boudoir Is inhabited by
girl. at present sick abed. with whom
he had once expected to dwell in a more
marital condition. Perforce he must
steal her dressing gown to keep his
former sweetheart from getting the worst
shock OF all.
Complications set IN when IL develops
that Tony's current fiancee, with whom
he has just had a tiff about this same
girl, Is a guest al her house party, while
her husband, away temporarily on bust
ness, has hair trigger jealousy. BY
leaving in the storm Tony would risk
catching his death Of cold, but by re-
: manning he risks catching his death of
cold lead. Why he doesn't borrow or
/ steal some clothes from one of the men
servants and escape Is a mystery of
bedroom farce ethics particularly since
: II seems to be the proper classic mode
Tor guests at this house party to wander
/ into their hostess's bed chamber unan-
nounced. -........ $3.50
At all events. Tony sticks by the bed
ana one OF the personages who wanders
! in happens to be Aunt Cicelv, a relative
OF the girl. Betty Nepille, who has never
seen her niece's husband. and immedi-
ately jumps to the conclusion that the
man she finds In Bettys room is the one
I who ought TO BIO there by due process of
Law. Finding that both Tony and Bett,,
. have colds, she decides that there is onlv
one place for them to ward Off the at
tack.
Plenty of Quick Action.
Despite the sudden eruption Of the
1rate husband, 1t is all Strengthened out
In the end, as farces have a habit OF
doing. though not until there has been
a vast amount of crawling over and
under the bed. dropping into a clothes
chest, popping into closets and leaping
about like distracted gazelles. All this
scurrying, however has been very adroitly
managed by Collision and Hopwood. SO
far as technical arrangement goes and
the play carries the four poster along
so fast with II that only a few minutes
alanRa &ha
acts, laid on the Counterpart In Bettys
bedchamber, and the last act, when the
action goes out on the verandah for a
little fresh air
The playwrights have sprinkled much
diverting dialogue over their dramatic
crazy quilt. and the audience last night
laughed SO much that II was in almost
as continuous an uproar as the persons
ION the stage. The situations are the
broadcast seen here in some time-as
broad as the bed. This was extremely
conmodioua though It should be said
in Justice to the authors that they didn't
try TO crowd more than two characters
on II at one time.
~ As a matter OF fact. the funniest
scenes were the most innocuous-that
in which Zelda Sears, as the amusing
Aunt Ctcely, slaps onion poultioes on the
chests of the supposed husband and
wife and the moments when a young
and intoxicated doctor pursues Tony
from pillar to post, imagining him a
ghost in gray bathrobe and seeking 10
abolish him with an ak. Mr.. Cumber-
land with a capital performance lifted
the offensiveness from the principal male
role by his characteristic method-that
" O. scared rabbit.
Doris Kenyon, newly recruited from
the movies. displayed an unspoiled voice.
but spoiled habit of Registering"
everything. Charles Ruggles as the doc
Tor and Barnett Parker as a comic butler
also stood out. but the main credit for
thu appeal of the play should go to the
bed. The Grand Rapids school OF the
drama covered itself with glory last
night-not to mention the lingerie
WAR MOTHERS CONFER