The Washington herald., 1922-06-12

In dealing with summer stock, Il
10 often advisable to allow a. wide
critical margin fon the manner In
which q play IL presented. The Be-
lasco Players. however. reverse the
process this week and ask no lati-
tude at all for themselves. In other
words. the presentation of The
Ouija Board" the new Beiasco or
spring, is accomplished with one
or two exceptions. in q manner that
smacks OF January, not June.
The ouija Board" apparently
aims at capitalizing the vogue for
spook-hunting. II seriously serves
the psychic cause, though the man.
ner OF its service from the stand
point of writing. 10 oftentimes close
to the verge of clumsiness. 1t has
TO do with a wealthy Chemist, a
beautiful daughter. an adopted son
with the cocaine habit. a convict
turned charlatan. a literary. spook-
chaser and the usual member Of the
secret police.
The convict ch8rlatan. by means of
an aptness at handwriting. has con-
WINGED the chemist Of his ability to
communicate with his dead wife. The
dead wife intervenes at one point In
the seance, forces the faker to reveal
his deception and earns the latter a
fatal stab wound. A few hours later.
the chemist himself Is shot while
listening to a pho nograph and the
way is cleared for some elaborate
third-act sleuthing by the writer and
his detective friend which finally i'm
pl,cates the adopted son and brings
the girl to the hero. The play is dis
tinguished by the usual mechanics
Of mystery plays. such as blue lights
tolling bells. .concesled shots, sudden
death and an undercurrent OF
romance. -.
Like most plays of this species. It
Is not wise to attempt to dissect II.
Much of its thrill Is mechanical thrill
and not all of II seems in keeping
with probability. 1t does. however.
maintain a strong current of sus-
pense and romantic interest and the
manner in which It has been staged
by Lumsden Hare. makes II a highly
interesting play from the point OF
the theater-goer and an unusually
well-handled production from the
technical side.
Earle Foxe and Wanda Lyon have
the leading roles in the story, but
for once the cast Is overbalanced
with talent. The performance is
purloined by Chester Morriss. whose
| impersonation of the young drug
addict Is strong and engrossing
characterization. Lumsden Hare. as
the chemist with a weakness for the
hereafter. also assists in overwhelm-
ing the chief roles of the play. Miss
Lyon, as the girl of the story.
makes a creditable essay at dra-
MATES, while Earle. Foxe, as a
writer and student of psychic phe-
nomena. cannot look the part. The
playwright. in fact. swas none too
sure OF this character, himself. for
he forces the detective. the natural
Investigator. to frequently abdicate
in the writer's favor.
A word must also be said in
praise of Miss Audrey Hart. a new
conner, who shows unmistakabie
aptness at farce. Brandon, Peters
gave a vivid and accurate portrayal
of the false medium. though Henry
Dufry. as his convict friend. turned
melodramatic relief into something
like burlesque. Wallis Clarke, as
| the detective, will improve as the
week passes. :
The play. by and large, Is a really
interesting mystery melodrama, or
ferine a full measure of thrills and
handled with unusual skill. 1t 10
easily one of the best stock per-
formances of the season.