The Washington times., 1920-06-22
- BELASC0.
The Cave Girl" Is
Am using Comedy.

The Gave Girl Is
Amusing Comedy.
The Cave Girl" new American
comedy by George Middleton and Guy
Bolton, staged by George Marion. had
iis premiere performance at the Be-
lasco Theater last night.
THE CAST ...
u Bates ''''''' Robert aeW.de
Gesrsina case a widow Eleanor oordon
Elsie Case, her daughter; ,,-,-,,
Bsptiste, the guide. e....,., Brandon Peters
Rufus Paterson a friend. Marx smith
Divyy Bates, y. It's" son: saxon king
Prot Orlando sperry. her foster; ;isther'
Leslie Palmer
Mr.. Keys the shsrin. .., .Frsnkiyn Hanna
The most evident thing about The
Cave Girl" IL the need of the deft
hand OF the director again. The play
is full OF gaps big enough TO drive
bsrouche through. and the cast. while
an excellent one must be subdued in
number OF spots. At times, the ac-
ton OF the play is as SLOW as cold
molasses in january" as our friends
in Maine where the play is located,
would say.
II is, of course, hard thing to do
justice to a play on it's opening night
Many there are who have seen a play
open in Washington and have seen II
again a month later in New York. In
many an instance, the play is almost
unrecognizable after the tinkers have
had their day with II.
The most obvious trouble IL the ten
dency 10 let comedy run occasionally
into farce. a fault that can be
remedied.
There are numerous platitudes
and much of what the vaudeville
artist labels "hokum," and yet the
cynical, sarcastic references TO matri-
mony seem TO meet with instant ap-
provai on the part of the average
audience.
However, in thorough justice to the
authors of that success. Polly With
a Past" il must be said that the play
Is one OF great possibility, and is
really amusing. The reviewer may
pick the average play TO pieces for
its technique, but after all, 1t is the
audience which is the final Judge OF
the offering. and discriminating,
capacity house last night stampe1
enough approval on THE Cave Girl"
to lead us TO predict a long !ifc and
merry one for Messrs. Middleton
and Bottoms comedy.
high praise for her Interpretation OF
the title role. In no situation did she
fail. and she endowed her lines with
genuineness that was at all times
marked. 1t is her work, we thorough
ly believe, that will make for a sue
cessful run of the play.
Comedy honors fall TO Mark Smith
as Rufus Patterson, a mountainous
chap. who, barring "A slight tendency
to talk to the audience rather than
the characters, never failed % deliver
a punch. Runner-up for Smith is
Robert McWade, as J. r Bates, per-
feet opponent when IL comes to bulls
and bears on Wall Street, but rather
a helpless sort of proposition when it
comes to ive-mife hike through
Mainc's virgin forests
Leslie Palmer was thoroughly nat
ural as the lovable. old absent mind
ed professor. who is in the woods
trying to emulate one certain Joe
Knowles" and who is firm in the be-
lief that his Investigations among
the Wambesi, fits, him to live in the
Maine woods. and wrest a bounteous
living from Mother Nature.
Baptiste, IS the quite, had a Span
ish opera singers AGENT in the part
OF French Canadian habitant guide.
w TtCOfT1Unenu tIldl Ht Ttdu dSsluu
ously DR.. Drummond's volume of po-
etry, The Habitant." and brush UP
that Times Square accent that he is
now using.
, Eleanor Gordon. as the charming
widow. almost ready to renew matrt-
monial bonds. is emincntly satisfying.
As the widows daughter. Madeline
Marshall proved a fine foil for Miss
Valentine. Saxon King as "Divvy
Bates" vas natural enough lover.
and his work was for the most part
satisfactory.
Arthur Barry. cast in the role OF a
butler had a good chance for comedy
in the second act. and lie made the
most of 1t. In the first act however,
he was anything but a butler. In a
well-regulated household, he would
last about two minutes
Only the highest praise is sufficient
for George Marion, who staged the
play superbly. His forest scene is
magnificent.
Last nights performance was for
the beneht. OF the District OF Column
bia Medical Association. and the
greater part OF the-audience consisted
Of Capital physicians and their
fan,ilirs G A LAR