The Washington herald., 1920-11-28

are certain unmistakable signs that
the tone and quality of dramatic
writing and acting shows improve
ment as the season moves toward
the coming year. For example, an
examination of the offerings in
Washington theaters for the past
three months reveals rising per-
centage of acceptable stage Of
feriuss.
Examining new plays. both mu-
steal and dramatic, shown here in
September. October and thus far in
November. one discovers that only
one of the seven strictly new plays
revealed here in September could be
really classed as meritorious-
The October percentage. on the
other hand. rose considerably. Dur
ing last month, eleven new plays.
musical and otherwise, were offered
in Washington, and of the eleven.
five qualified with interest So far
this month. not including the plays
of this week, seven new produc
tions have been offered and the
town has accepted three. The
month. however. is not over and IL
is probable that the November aver
age of good plays will exceed even
that of October.
September brought to Washington
five new dramatic offerings and two
nee musical plays. They were
Knobloch's "One." Guy Bottoms
wild Cherry" Octavus Rog Cohen's
Come Seven Evelyn Nesbit in
The Open Book" Rachel Barton
Buffers Mom," Mitzi in Lady
Billy" and Cort's musical show,
Jim jam Jems."
This list, of course, does not in
clude holdovers like Beyond the
Horizon" Martinique" or up In
Mabers Room" The pieces men,
toned are all 1920 models.
Mitzl scored heavily in Lady
Billy"-a very charming contribu-
tion to the seasons music stage
but Notwithstanding the fact that
Belasco's production of zone" Is still
running in Manhattan, it is a play
that reflects little credit upon either
producer, author or star. Come
Seven" Of course, was an out-and-
out frost: "The Open Book" was
properly scorned, and Nom proved
a schoolgirls flash in the pan. To
Mitzi. then, goes the credit for hav-
ing September's one and only meri-
torious piece.
Improvement In October.
Looking closely at the October
card. one finds four good dramas out
of seven and one good musical show
out OF four. Daddy Dumplins,"
The Champion" The Prince and
the Pauper" and The AcquittaP'
proved interesting IL not classic. but
Shipman's Undesirable Friends"
Anspacher's stepping Stones" and
the Kruger-Heming opus, ''Sonya,"
failed to race within the betting.
-Stepping Stones" incidentally.
passed away quietly right here in
town, and Undesirable Friends"
barely attained to New York OPEN
ing. On the musical side, Here and
There proved the only respectable
piece Of the four that displayed
their wares, and the fate Of Bud
dies" Sonny" and Princess Virtue
has ceased to become matter of
interest.
Aside from the favorite statisti-
cal average of the October plays.
one Is pleased TO note that stern
and earnest intention Is reflected
In the new plays of that month.
Shfpman's Undesirable Friends"
proved undesirable but the fault
was not in intention. Shipman's
Lneme was ndEuiy tEhuhS. CNcp-
ping Stones" the Anspacher failure,
was. a finely mounted. accurately in
terpreted presentment of the idea
that one may rise to higher things
ION stepping stones of our dead
selves" The theme, however. was
too academic and its treatment
without sufficient warmth or SYM
pathy to insure success. "Sonya,
which also fell short, seemed a BIT
shallow in finished form though
ItEsre werS symptoms that the dra-
rs4fist 'strove. which is encouraging
'f,eepfnx into the November list,
one fnds the miserable iasco of
The Danntless Three offset by a
ffztfnct novelty Of the theater, The
Young visfters." THE Dauntless
Three" discontinued its run. here, so
aIl's well in that regard. The
Ruined Lady" a none too sincere
thing at best. was discounted by, the
presentation last week of Megrue's 8
enervescent hit, "Honors Are Even"
The failure Of Otis Skinner to fnd
anything of distinct value In AT the
Villa Rose" was balanced against
the success Of Henry Hull in when
We Were Young" which leaves only
Nora Bayes' condemnation of page
ant and jazz. Her Family Tree" on
the wrong side of the ledger.
However. the new plays, both good
and bad. OF November. reflect a cred
table sincerity. commando bic
trend toward better workmanship.