Evening star., 1921-10-25
TIONAL-"Wake Up, Jona-
than!"

tnan.
ID Washington was strongly in
!ence at the National Theater last
ut 1t was not an audience OF
j., Iescent jewellers or hunters for
blem plays, nor even thrills. which
eted Mrs. Fiske and fer new play,
AXE Up, Jonathan" 1t was rather
altering from the refined, the in
fectual homes of Washington that
ne to SEQ and pass judgment, Just
n an audience as Washington was
nous for some years ago. ana II
"a pleasing situation both for Mrs.
Ike and for her many admirers IN
National Capital. Theatrical salts
ton is largely dependent upon
ntal comfort, and an audience OFT
Zines has as much to do with a
'asant evening at the theater as the
" itself.
catcher Hughes and Elmer L. Rice:
thors Of Wake UP; Jonathan: IN.
ve provided Mrs. Fiske with Just
n a play as her dramatic skill and
,elligent discrimination require to
courage and develop tfe brllllancy
:, her art. and she fairly revels In II.
d her audience with her. To the
lightful talents of the star Harrison
,ey Fiske has contributed a produc-
at the success of the play is largely
pendent upon four children. and Mr..
ske has provided a quartet or Ju-
mile talent rare indeed in its day
I'D generation. They are not Infant
rodigies, but real, flesh and blood
.oducts of nature in her hlshest
.ood.
Marion Blake, in the days when
wo suitors came wooing her, had
nosen for her mate Jonathan Blake,
n incipient genius of finance, soon
. discover, however. that ADAM
Vest, the rejected suitor, really hau
II the ideal qualities that go to make
fe human and happy. The contrast
18th the supreme egotist. who knew
1 all and whose aim was to adorn
'he mountains of Alaska with mas
;.ame and the continent of South
with his bands of steel. was
ot favorable to his choice as a
model for her children. and almost
she was drawn into
,ainting their ideal father" after
ner separation from him. with the
colors of mind and heart that be-
ionged to Adam West, SO that. when
West returned. after ten years Of
over the face of the earth,
the children. who were expecting
their own father the same evening,
at once jumped to the conclusion
that he, and not the clustering, force
full, but not wholly unattractlve Jona-
than Blake, who arrived later, was
the father they had been longing
for.
Blake, tired of making money and
fame as tinancier. had de-
cided to return to his long-a bandoned
home and try his hand at remaking
his wife and properly guiding his
children along the lines of his ideals.
And right here is where the play
really begins. 1t is the battle be-
tween the self-willed. egotistical man
who, having achieved towering sue
.ess in making money and conhdent
hat he had learned how to take the
world by the tail and wag it his way,
finds in the quieter. gentler, even
humorous woman philosopher. his
wife. a master before whom all his
ri gantic. self-supported plans tumble
around his head like castle of cards
and Jonathan wakes up, a wiser ana
I happier man.
Charles Dalton Is an ideal Jona-
han and Donald Cameron equally
deal as Adam West. With Mrs.
Fiske an ideal triangle is created for
l comedy that serves to develop as
many phases of real enjoyment as
entertainment. And yet the
triangle is not the whole thing, for
he children make of it as interest
ng a quadrangle of life as may be
conceived from the battling elements
# mind and heart that enter into It
At times it appears overdrawn, al
most impossible, and yet, with the
skill of the authors and the splendid
srt of Mrs. Fiske and her supporting
company. 1t unfolds as simply and as
as you please, and sends
he audience away conscious that
valuable lesson in life has been
.aught almost without their knowing
(.
Herbert Hodgkins. Lois Bartlett.
edith Lawson and Freddie Goodrow
ire the charming children of the play,
md SO simple, SO natural and con-
human are they throughout
,s to give the impression that they
rave been plucked from a real home
o reflect their very souls without
,eing aware that an audience is
watching them. Helen Holt. as the
.ldest daughter of the Blakes. in
romance with Richard
lbbott, as Bernard Randall. and Wal
on Butterfield. as Douglas Brent. re-
iects the identical story of her moth
sr's romance, except that Helen
.hoses the poet instead of the engi-
leer. They were all very satisfac-
.ory in their roles.