Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-09-24
BEASLEY IN NEW ON
By DIXIE HINES.

good taste and eHect1VeD 3sS that 1t
fingers in the memory after the fail
of the curtain.
''The Circle" Is not. in the final analy-
sis, a play that viii appeal to moraIists,
but it is a del ght to lovers of clever
ness and discriminating fun.
Circumstances bring back to the coun-
try home of the younger Champion
CheReys the mother who has flown away
and paid for her folly, the grouchy and
sodden companion in her fight, and her
husband who comfortably and philo-
sophicaIly survived the domestic tragedy
Of his early married life. 1t is the pur-
pose of these whom the years have dis
1lusionized TO prevent q repetition of the
same folly in the new generation. But
young Mrs. Champion Cheney disregards
the lesson Of their unhappy experience
Like her husbands mother, who has come
back "a ridiculous caricature OF pretty
woman grown old" she fits away with
the young man with whom she thinks
she WIZ find love and freedom, and thus
is the circle of Mr.. Maughams cynical
story closed.
honors with sense of comedy which has
seldom marked her former appearances
As the artifcially preserved woman,
empty and vacuOus, her contribution
was as ingratiating as it could well be-
and close behind her was Ernest Law
ford. John Drew as the irascabIe groucn,
entered a new field and qualified as
most interesting character actor.
The success of the play was immediate
and decisive, and it has taken its posi-
ton among the few successful of the
many plays produced.
ELTON CASE" Is
VERY THIN DRAMA.
1.-THE Elton Case" the meIodrama by
William Devereaux, the actor, produced
by George Broadhurst at the Playhouse
does one thing. it convinces us that
truth is stranger than fiction" 1t also
convinces US that reporters for daily
newspapers often write more gripping
stories than playwrights write plays
- Elton Case" is a thinly disguised
Katizadon Of a recent famous murder
rstery which remains unsolved in the
' police records of New York.
A card expert covetous Of an affiancpd
bride of a barker involves her in a game
in which she seeks to win enough money
to extricate her brother from the results
Of his populations. and when she is un-
able 70 pay in cash, demands that she
pay in another way. He is licentfOus
cad, with mans feminine entangIements
and when the woman comes to his
apartment as agreed = seeks to evade
her obligation by the simple expedient of
shooting him with 4 pistol which he has
assured heT-and believes-is unloaded
Sue later makes a confession, but be-
cause some Of his affairs have been with
women of high station the district at
torney and police inspector agree that
the case can never he prosecuted.
especially as a woman enters for no ap-
parent reason, and exposed to these two
Officers her heavily yelled face. With
this rather preposterous expediert the
curtain falls before a puzzled and some
what offended audience.
Mr. Broadhurst has staged the play
becomingly, and Charles Waldron and
Byron Beasley act the parts Of sweet
heart and card expert acceptably. Chrys-
tai Herne is wasted upon useless role
and altogether it is a strange affair, IN
worthy of serious consideration.
1t is so filled with fncongruties and
preposterous premises that one hestates
to accept Mr. BrOadhurst as the pro-
Queer, the program to the contrary not
withstsnding.
Afr. Beasley was q member Of Gregory
Kelly's stock company in indianapolis
last summer.
ENGLAND FURNISHES
A PICTORIAL MELODRAMA.
sThe Blue Lagoon" which came over
from London under the chaperonage of
the Shubert's. is n pictorial melodrama
with the most gripping stage effects
that have yet come from the other side.
They include a burning ship at sea. a
shipwrecked party in a small boat, a
pictorial island in the South Sea and an
elemental rain and windstorm. When
this has been said. and due credit given
for very good acting, there is little more
to add.
The play is adapted from the Stack
poole story, and Norman Mac Owen and
Charlton Mann. who prepared it for the
stage. have retained most Of its incidents
After presenting a realistic ship scene
followed by its destruction by fire. the
two children, with the old sailor. are
seen drifting Later they have taken
refuge on an island where this sailor
meets death because he ate some berries
Thereafter the interest is in the growth
of the two castaway%and their gradual
development religiously and literally
The secret of life, well as the religion
of life, comes to them naturally. They
live for years on the island, interrupted
only by the arrival of a lecherous sailor
Who meets a just death as he lays I'm
pious hands on the maiden. In the
meanwhile, in London, the father of one
and uncle Of the other learns that they
may be alive and sets ont 10 rescue
them. The picture presented to his view,
Of their primitive life with a love off
spring between them In a rude cradle
makes him question the wisdom of re-
turning them to civilization.
The story is episode in its telling and
not especially gripping, but the color
full cOstumes-or lack of costumes-and
the stage settings on the island and the
Incidental music made the event one OF
distinctive novelty. Two children, An
drew LawlOr and Lorna Volare, fur
nished most of the interest as players.
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ADJUSTMENTS.
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