The Washington herald., 1919-10-21
ert-Garriek-sEve and the
Man,


frank Grover. Julian Noa
Henry MARKHAM. Thomas Irwin
Inc Maharajah Bharala...........S>Mi Miller Kent
nany s"ayne.. ..hamssy Wahaoe
Jacob. n........-.............. .Pisani Jourdau
SYNOPSIS OF SCENES.
Act !. Reception room In the home of thu
Markhams, On tho Hudson. near Tarytown
Act 4 the same; Act >, sitting room in the
guest suite. At the Markham place. occupied b
Harry swayne; the action takes place during ar
August evening. 1919; production staged BY Jodr
Harwood.
by EARLE DORSEY.
Walter Hast presented his new Eve
and the Man" at the Garrick last
night and except for a badly cast
ingenue. a title that is either thor
oughly subtle or utterly inept. and a
third-act thrill that uses too high a
voltage on its audience: it is far from
being poor drama.
Eve and the Man" was FRANKLY
written as . thriller-a thriller that
was to draw its chief impulse from
the Introduction Of Hindu occultism.
In q few more performances. the thrill
may be Distributed to better effect
There wasn't enough thrill in the first
two acts last night and bit too much
in the final episode. The fact that It
contrives to preach. Munyon-like. the
evils Of incontinence between married
ladies and engaged gentlemen should
endear 1t further to the Puritan por-
ton Of the public. though one must
admit that II breaches with a Sunday
like force. Lastly. II has a cast that
displays ordinary intelligence In its
work.
The Markhams are entertaining one
Harry Swayne, who loves the Mark
ham daughter. Janet. They also en-
tertain the Maharajah Bharala, Of In
dia. whose royal Indie dad once en-
tertained the Markhams in India, al
which time the maharajah conceived
passion for Janet. which explains
his presence In America. Madge Grow
er. who is married and buxom, is one
Of those women who've Just got to
love 'em, that's all. and she has Sc
lected. at the time of the story, the
engaged Harry Swayne for her vamp-
ish art. The story, in its essence, tells
how the maharajah. whose English
mother was overwhelmed by the
hypnotic power of his Indian dad
struggles to a decision over whether
he shall force Janet Markham to love
him or whether he will permit her to
exercise her will and continue to love
the recreant Harry. The raj finally
decides that he does not want Janet
against her will, but he must teach
Harry and Mrs. Grover a lesson.
This leads To a bedroom farce set
ting-this scene ought to put the show
over in Manhattan-where the maha-
rajah discovers Madge Grover in
Henry's room. with Harry reluctantly
but rapidly falling for her neglige
charms. With his occult magic, he
makes them believe that Madge's
husband has discovered them, shot
them and that they are in hell. Here
is a scene that Is not only well-con-
ceived. but convincingly executed-a
bit too convincingly. we imagined. for
the audience. unable to stand the
tension. began to ruin the scene by
tittering.
In the end the maharajah casts of
the spell. the two clandestines see
themselves in their trpe values, and
the wife goes to her husband. while
Janet comes to Harry and they all
live happily-one infers-ever after
ward. except the rajah. whose one
thought. from thence onward, will be
his people only.
S. Miller Kent revealed the role
Of the rajah as one OF dignity and
force. Ramsey Wallace was efrec-
tive as Harry. the recreant fiance
though Miss Edith King was not al
together aptly cast as Janet Mark.
ham. Helen Holmes contributed q
portrait OF an erotic matron that
was deftly balanced and feverishly
siren-like. There was another spIen-
did Characterization of a prohibi.
tion victim contributed by an indi.
vidual we are unable to identity
on the program, but he's entitled
to sveral bows. nevertheless. The
rest Of the cast accepted all theiI
chances without an error.