New-York tribune., 1919-01-17
Dram
Amusing Performance of "Ihe
Climax" Given at the
Comedy Theatre
By Heywood Broun

No more severe test can be applied
to play than to let it lie idle for a
dozen years and tnen bring it back to
the stage. "The Climax" of Edward
Locke's, which was a conspicuous hit
some twelve seasons ago, was revived
at the Comedy Theatre last night with
substantial success. 1t has kept its
shape. 1t is true that there are one or
two moments of posturing in which
characters look at large pictures on
the wall and talk respectfully Of per-
sons dead and gone, and there are a
few banal speeches beginning Love
is But such things are not
unknown on the American stage in
the year 1919.
The play possesses unimpaired an
interesting and appealing story. 1t
was one of the first small cast dramas,
1or the play is worked out with no
more than four characters and in a
single, simple set The manifest tech
nlcal difficulties presented by any such
scheme are worked out shrcwdly and
with sufficient skill to seem no prob
lens at all. Anybody would be hard
put to it to name half dozen Amer
can plays Of the vintage Of "The
Climax" which have worn equally
we'll.
And yet the play is distinctly dStod
by one development Of the lest dozoi.
years which is not matter Of stage4
craft or stage fashions. The plot of
"Ihc Climax" presents a yardstick by
which the progress Of the feminist
movement may be measured. We think
that it contains enough internal ev-
dence to convince the most casual
theatre goer that it was written in the
days before New York had made the
decision that women were people.
The play, it may be remembered is
The story of a girls voice. The heroine
has shown such great talent that her
operate success seems certain. She
lives in the home of her old music
teacher, who is distant relative His
son, a young composer who loves her
devotedly. is also Il member of the
household.
The fourth person concerned in the
story is a young physician who comes.
from the girls home town in central
Ohio. He is selfish prig. who dis
approves of the girls ambitions for a
career on the operatic stage. He tries
in vain to dissuade her from her aim
in life by Offering marriage and a home
In the small town in central Ohio. His
opportunity comes when an operation
is performed on the girls throat The
surgeon has said that there is only
one chance in thousand that the
operation will impair her voice, but
the young doctor, who is left to com
pete the case, manages to break down
her confidence by mental suggestion
and when she finally tries to sing she
finds her voice is gone. Her despair
is complete. She even attempts sui
eide, but at length thinks little bet
ter of it and decides to marry the
doctor.
On tne eve of her wedding she is
left alone for few minutes with her
old music teacher, and finds, quite by
chance, that her voice is not gone, but
is better than ever. Confronted by this
evidence, the young doctor confesses
which objection may be raised, but
then the plot becomes poisonous. The
doctor explains that he did it all be
cause he loved the girl so much that
he wanted to rescue her from a life Of
operate shame. After brief fareup
all the other characters in the play,
except the composer, accept his eX
PLANTATION as at least debatablc ques-
ton of ethics. Indeed, the old teacher
tel!S lHc SlfI lNal Shc ShOulN forgive
the young man. Love, he assures her,
is the greatest thing in the world be
side which everything else is as moth
ing. Fortunately, the playwright does
not GO the entire journey. The girl
decides that she viii postpone a de-
cision and will not marry the doctor
until she has shown him thu, - life on
thc stage is not necessar crime
The play, however, contains tho dis
tinct implication that after subiecting
him to brief probationary period the
girl will forgive her young man and
settle down with him in the small town
in central Ohio.
The play could hardly have been
written in just that way except in the
days when we were told so often that
woman's place was in the home Now
and again newspaper and magazine
articles still crop up in which some
body or other maintains the PROPOSE
ton that no matter what the genius
Of a woman may be all thoughts of a
career must be cast aside as merely
.