The Washington times., 1919-11-11
sHUBERT-BELAsCo.


THE CAST.
Lien wha' daughter of Dong Tong Tong ,,r,o
Doctor Lum Low. Chinese woman
Toy FsS Hs'i'iae hien wha;s old AI3n nurse A000''
Jane Ferrell
Tom Lee. a student 1900. Edmond Lowe
Fang Fou Hy. arch enemy of liberty
Fen-sha, the gambler Harry Mestayer
The official orator ......:..... John AmOry
Doctor Dong Tong. an exile
| And large supporting cast
A play of romance, OF atmosphere,
of intrigue, and OF tragedy. and skill
fully interviewer, is THE Son-Daugh-
ter" The theme Is an old one-the
conflict between love and patriotism; !;
but IL is given a new charm by the
Oriental setting and the truly re-
msrkable acting of Lenore Uric,
that dear, wonderful girl" as David
Belasco referred to her in brief cur
tain speech Indeed, II Is difficult to
predict the measure of success of the
play without Miss Uric, for her role
is the center of all interest. and she
has injected into the drama a per-
sonal quality that lifts 1t above the
mediocre.
Lien wha is the innocent and beau
Tong, a Chinese exile who Is living
in New York and who is secretly CIV
ing support to the revolution. A hun
dred thousand dollars has to be
raised for the purchase OF arms. AS
a last resort to secure the funds, DIR.
Dong Tong, much against his Will,
finally consents to sell his daughter
to the highest bidder.
Lien wha, the little swallow" as
- l., II lAxra d,
Tom Lee, a student, but they sacri-
fice this love on the altar of patriot
ism, and the little girl weds the high
est bidder, Fen-Sha, a gambler and
imperialist known as the "sea-crab."
Fen-Sha has DR.. Dong Tong killed
to recover the money paid for the
bride. and he likewise has his thugs
attack Tom Lee, who, they have dis
covered. is a Chinese prince and a
revolutionary leader. In revenge the
bride, while on the nuptisl couch
with her husband, deftly coils his
queque around his neck and stran-
giles him to death. The prince recov-
ers from the assault upon him and
the play ends happily.
The love scene in the first act is
one OF the most romantic passages
presented for a long, long time. Girls
who are just thrilling to hear real
words OF love-not sickly sentiment
tality. but pure deep love that flows
spontaneously from the depths of the
heart-will/ want to see the play. But
they will be no more thrilled than
apparently "little swallow" was
while "Love-lorn," her true mate,
showered honeyed words upon her.
Lenore Uric might well be called
the perfect lover. But in the highly
emotional parts. calling for the great
est talent. she is just as much an
artist. There are two dramatic
scenes filled with tenseness and shot
through with emotion. and in both
she is admirable.
One is when DIR. Tong, after having
given his daughter permission to
marry Tom Lee, commands her to
sacrifice her love for her country. On
top OF this the student, after sug-
gesting that the girl fee with him,
acquiesces in the supremacy of duty
to country and prepares to leave for
China For realistic crying Miss
Uric Is without an equal.
The second and more dramatic of
the two scenes Is whe-e the bride.
seated on the nuptial couch. falls into
the embrace of her husband and then
suddenly tightens the queue around
his neck. The lamp is knocked over
and in the darkness can be heard the
scuftling and the paintings of the girl
as she tugs and tugs to kill the "sea-
crab" Then slowly she drags the
lifeless body into the light falling
from a joss altar. and kneeling over
the form, Kisses curses OF revenge
upon the fiend.
The play properly ends with the
killing OF the "sea-crab" and the re-
covery of the prince, but another
hu laIo
This explanation appears on the pro-
gram: A Chinese custom requires that
the orator come before the curtain
and lead your fancy onward" In ac-
cordance with this custom fantas-
tically dressed Oriental appears be-
sore the curtain and In whimsical
and rather comical fashion explains
that all has ended well. that the
prince and his little swallow" have
lived happily ever since. and that
having been married a sufficient time.
they are now the proud parents OF
son-all OF which a person might
we'll have inferred without over
strefning his Imagination and with
out sitting through an extra scene.
The scene has no dramatic value, for
the interest is satisfied at the end of
the preceding scene. Its only appar-
ent purpose is to relieve the rather
meEodramattc and tragic tone OF the
preceding scene and leaves a pleas
ant taste in the mouths of all. but II
is so obviously parasitic that il is not
justified even by such a considera-
tion.
Miss Uric is ever sweet and dainty.
and her ingenious remarks. her naive
ways, and her pleasant voice win the
hearts OF the audience. Edmond
Lowe, as Tom Lee, is convincing as
a lover. and he is to receive much of
the credit for the triumph OF the first
act Thomas FindIay, as DR.. Dong
Tong. is kindly and fatherly and well
portrays the conflict between love
nf country and love OF daughter that
is burning within him. Harry Mes
tayer, as Fen-Sha, is a willy serpent,
smooth and rather prepossessing on
first appearance, but at heart a fiend.
He plays the role well.
The haunting musical theme that
recurs through the play, sung and
hummed and resung by the lovers.
and played repeatedly by the orches-
ira, adds much TO the effectiveness
OF the drama The lighting effects.
skillfully employed to heighten the