The Washington herald., 1920-09-05
In the New York Theaters
By GILBERT SELDES.

looked after as those Of John Drink
water. This eminent playwright
has just been informed tand
friendly manager divulges the
story that Abraham Lincoln" (Mr.
Drinkwater's only great success) is
being produced in America. His in
formants are the watchful secre-
taries of an authors protective as
ISOLATION in London, and they want
to know what Mr.. Drinkwater
wants 20 have them do about 1t!
Mr.. Drinkwater, busily signing a
receipt for his royalties on some 400
performances, wants them to do
nothing except for heavens sake
books is one thing. but piracy on
the high stage has not yet begun
in America.
A new development of the Rein
hardt runway is made in Spanish
Love-" European success which
was made over for America by the
authors of "The Bat" (Their
numes are given as Avery Hopwood
and Mary Roberts Rinehart for the
latter but NJ. r. r. and A. II. for
the former, subtle distinction) In
this play of Spain almost all the
characters at one time or another
walk down the aisle of the theater
and so on to the stage, which is
in two levels. The effect is at mo-
ments little unnerying. l saw one
late-somer visibly perturbed to find
spanish ruffian stalking him
down the aisle and a friend. of mine,
at another performance, heard the
agonlzed shrek of a woman (and
uh9f she said hE 4
peat before children) when at a
very tense moment Russ whytal
lthe finest actor in the piece) spoke
to some one on the stage while him
self half way in the auditorium. 1t
is very odd to find Mr.. whytal, who
was such a notable figure in "The
Letter of the Law" a serious trag-
edy, playing just as superbly in
this heavily colored melodrama.
James Rennie, who was a find"
last year, is the other outstanding
Parsonage, but his soft Southern
manner doesn't fit in as we'll as you
might imagine. Besides, he has a
pgssion for doorposts-he leaned
against one through three acts of
Moonlight and Honeysuckle"--and
the broad spaces of the Spanish
landscape are not for him.
Crowded as events are in. these
days, they must leave space to
speak of o. p. Heggie, an actor of
rare ability and, what may be rarer
still. an actor who cannot help en-
dearing himself to his audiences
You remember him as Androcles
and as the hapless wight who mar
ried dumb wife. Today he ap-
pears in Happy -go-Lucky," the
English title of which was "Tilly of
Bloomsbury" He plays Samuel
Stillbottle. a bailiff's man caught in
the net OF circumstance and made
into a butler. He is almost alarm
ingly funny and I have yet to hear
any one criticize the methods by
which he overwhelms you with
sense of the ludicrous. The play is
amusing enough Uan Hay wrote
it,, but for once, in way. an actor
in broadish comedy piece is one
of the finest performers of the sea-
son. The nice thing about Heggre
Is that, no matter how many good
ones come this year, he will still be
right there, very close to the top.
1t is confidently expected that four
or five plays will be withdrawn
within the next week or so. The
consequent strain on the reporter
will be much lighter than it is now
and in any case the good ones
will remain and can can wait for
their notices.
Public Ledger Service)