The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1921-09-06
THE CAST:
BY LOUIS ASHLEY.

rs there another way out of this
house?" asks Mildred Harvey, break.
ing for the door, and the audience tit
tiers. The spell Is broken utterly by
that sally. and two hours or more Of
the most earnest endeavors on the
part OF a capable company are thrown
out of the window.
"Other Lives" might be more sue.
cessful as a bit of stagecraft II e.
eapor Ayeril might have been permit.
ted to stay dead instead OF merely
playing dead. The whole elaborate
machinery, with cut backs" Ia based
upon her suicide by gas in a hall bed.
room as the sole means Of staving off
ruin and disgrace from those about
her. And then Mrs. Nommorta Us
there anything In q nameO comes TO
the front and produces the missing
woman and the play falls to the
ground. deader than any doornail you
ever glimpsed.
Perhaps the principal fault with
this new play 10 that the climax Is
reached In the second act and that a
mere anticlimax comes in the final
scene. The heights are reached in
DIR. Harvey's laboratory. There the
girl defends her love and her loved one
against the chilling wife who would
drag down the temple. Miss Servoss
Is excellent in that scene, her out
ragged womanhood giving her fire and
convincing appeal. Quickly she
reaches her decision. takes charge Of
. well.nigh impossible situation. and
departs upon her suicidal errand.
There Is a distinct lec-down there
after. The prologue has shown her
turning on the gas and jumping into
- -
her careless. lighthearted manner with
her father. the lovable old inventor
The second act sees her in moments
Of love, followed by her denunclation
OF Mrs. Harvey. And then comes dull
ness. mere triviality. II continues to
the end.
What need IL there OF charging the
picture With small details? We know
she Ia tenderness itself toward her
sister Nancy. We know she Is gentle
ness itself toward little Billy. q pre-
cocious child with a 1eft.handed pa
ternity. And yet all this comes after
that scene in DR.. Harvey's laboratory.
There Is the weak place in "Other
Lives" And when Mrs. Harvey uncon.
vincingly gives her husband to the
wouid.be suicide and makes a joking
exit. the vehicle strikes a rock and In
overturned.
Mary Servoss In excellent in her
character of the doctors laboratory
assistant who falls in love with him.
is discovered by the wife and decides
on selfimmolation to shield other
lives" near and dear to her. She
gains earnest support OF her rather
weak case in that fiery scene in the
laboratory. She makes friends under
all situations. chatting with her
father, fooling and playing with Billy
Dean. wisely admonishing her sister
and instructing Mathew Derrit. She
is the real woman in her tete-a-tetes
with DR.. Harvey.
Craufurd Kent's DR.. Harvey 10 good
largely because II Is not forced. A
little wooden here and there, II con-
vinces when he tells his society-loving
wife the truth about herself. One
then realizes her for the woman who
could shatter at one sweeping blow
the experiment that has taken months
OF hard work.
whitford Kane IL the impractical
father, bitter toward one errins
daughter and foolishly blind toward
the one remaining under his roof. He
becomes hysterical toward the end,
but. on the whole, leaves a satisfactory
imprint upon the play.
Ernita Lascelles IL excellent.> Her
entrance. with her bitter. biting,