The Washington times., 1920-10-17
"'7he AcquttaL' at National,
Called almost Perfect Pzay'

They do so many natural things in
George M. Cohan's production of the
Cohan and Harris dramatic sensation
The 'Acquittal," by Rita Weiman.
that one begins to wonder If it is
play. after all. The curtain goes up
on perfectly natural scene during
which not even the butler makes am
aside to the maid.
Later, when Joe Conway whispers
to Nellie, he actually whispers; the
audience isn't taken into the secret at
all, and a great deal depends upon
that whisper. Its naturalness is one
of the most impressive moments of
the piece.
THE Acquittal," which comes here
with the original New York cast and
production intact for an engagement
of which opens tonight at the Ma
tional Theater, begins where most
crime plays leave off. Kenneth Win
throp has just been acquitted Of the
murder of his benefactor. and the
entire press of the city has lauded
the verdict, save one, represented at
the trial by Conway, "A shrewd re-
porter. played by William Harrigan,
who has "a very definite view of his
own as to the guilt of the man so
honorably set free, with the apologies
of judge, jury, and prosecuting at
| torney.
Conway has taken a great interest
in the wife of the accused, played
by Chrystal Herne, and sets about in
4 most workmanlike manner to fasten
the crime upon the actual murderer
who, he is confident. is known to Mrs.
Winthrop.
To reveal the identity of the guilty
ia n
the best plots of the season as well
as spoil a dramatic moment not often
encountered across the footlights.
Suffice it 10 say that the weaving
of the web of guilt is done with
finesse that-could only be shown by
newspaper man-seldom by a detec-
tive.
"The Acquittal" Following its first
engagement of six months in Chica-
go, held forth at the Cohan and Har-
ris Theater in New York practically
all last season, and is accounted
genuine success. 1t has been superbly
under the personal supervision of
Mr. Cohan.,
In the excellent cast, William Har-
riean, Chrystal Herna and George
Parsons, are the featured players,
and the others include Ann Mason,
Violet Perl Meehan, Franklin Hall,
| William Walcott, Pierre Watkins,
Arthur " Gibson, Willard +. Barger.
John Rowan, Otto Niemeyer, George
| Bedell and Edward Harrigan.
Chrystal Herne, one of Broadway's
| popular young stars, who with Will
liam Harrigan and George Parsons,
heads the superb company in George
NJ. Cohan's production of Rita Wei
mans mystery play "The ACQuittal."
| is the talented daughter of the late
James A. Herne, actor and play
| wright, and one of the few emotional
leading women on tho American
stage to achieye notable success in
recent years in the field OF serious
drama Miss Herne is an ardent adj
vocate of the play with purpose
the drama that demands more than
| passing thought
"Of course, it goes without saying
that the prime purpose of the thea
| ter is to entertain" says Miss Hernc,
| ''but the Ntrue entertainment means
| something more than mere ,pastimc
| or so IL seems to me. Mystery plays
have a powerful appeal to most peo-
| pie, because of the element OF sus-
| tanned expense, that keeps you guess
| ing only to find that you have guess
| ed the wrong answer. The trick is TO
| discover the real solution just a little
4 ahea0 OF tne OtnFr ltllOW, II you thns
| That Is what makes a good detective
| story or fascinating mystery play
interesting as wen as entertaining.
| another angle of the mystery play
! that is of potent appeal to most
| every one is the Let that the av-
erage individual delights to contcm-
| plate the dramatic evolution Of the
plot because II represents phase of
| emotional stress that very few OF
us are called upon TO cope with in our
own personal experience. Yet we all
| like to imagine how we would act
when confronted with q similar prob
lem in real life.
Suppose, for example, that one
very near and dear TO you should
suddenly be accused of murder! Just
what would you do?
Prior TO my work in Tho Acquit-
tai ! could never understand why tho
papers gave so much valuable spnce
to the sordid details OF murder trials
or why the court rooms are so in
variably crowded almost 20 suffoc1-
ton. and hundreds seeking admit
tance on any and every possible pre-
text. Now I know. II is the in
tensely human document that is
worked out. word by word.
-And the eternal human equation