Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-08-01
MYSTERY AND COMEDY
At GARR|CK THEATRE
Friday the Thirteenth" Opened
Last Night Before capac-
ity House.

PLAYING TO the largest house eeen In |
the Garrick Theatre since tho VIII
mington Players have becn staging
their productions here. the members
OF the local company outdid themselves
last night In the comedy mystery play
'F'riday the Thirteenth" The crowd
ed house was kept thrilled and inter-
ested at all times and tho comedians
were very successful In the way they
produced the fun and laughter from
the many clever lines nlled with wit
and humor.
'Friday the Thirteenth" ie n creation
OF Milton Goodhand, n member OF tho
company, and is n mystery play some
what on the type of tho BAT" II is
replete with thrilling points and
rather heavily invested with
amusing situations. Although the
plot is carefully woven and the
interest OF tho audience Is kept active
until very close to the end. the climax
come too close to the end to make the
play leave the proper impression on the
guests. The effect Ia very much rs IL
the interest comes too decisively to
close at the denouement and the au-
dlence Is apt to go away without hav-
ing retained much OF the plot.
The play opens with plans being
made for tho wedding which Is 10 take
place that night between Helen Norcn
and Jack Winworth. While the bride
Ia being dressed upstairs tho bride
groom Is asked to show them tho fam
lily helrloonls. lie gocs to the safe
and produces thom and from that mo-
ment on tho story begins to be n com
plete mystery as TO who has tho iewee.
The whole play IL centered around thie
point and the effect 10 very good for
the most part. There are certain crudi-
| tlee however. which might bc ovor-
come with n more careful STUDY. Sew
eral of the parts are overdono bat th,e
could he rectifled by moro careful
| Interpretation and by tightening the
| lines In certain places. Frances Keenan,
| plays the part of the bride and does
the act very VOL. She is quite charm
ing both in the bridal costume and In
the suit I'm which she subsequently ap-
| pears. She handles her part very ef-
| fectively. The opposite lead which ie
played by Robert Lynn IL very capably
| carried. He plays the bridegroom part
with h.e usual grace and ability. Miss
Lee Smith and Herman Cripps make
an admirable team for the comedian
characters and keep the audience In
| constant laughter whenever they APP
per on the stage. Miss Smith is charm
| ing in the part Of a young girl who
has been admired and proposed 10 un-
successfully for four years by Herman
CrIpps. The latter Is very comical in
the manner in which he supports Mise
Smith in the constant interplay OF
laughter producing conversation.
David Calls. as Simpson, the butler
displayed some OF tho best acting seen
on the Garr!ck stage this year. with q
minor part he showed his ability q
produce remarkable effect and II
most places wac the character 10 per
fection. Although his acting WAS a
times too studied. for the greater par-
he was in perfect Accord with IN.
part. Tho servant character has yer!
seldom been better taken IN stock
E@telle Reilley and ]. Howard Gordon
took the parent part. In this pla,
, they were the aunt and uncle an,
! both did very we'll. Miss Reilley par
ticularly played the shewisl
, wife successfully. Milton Goodhand
: the author. showed ability both 10 IN
, terpret and 10 play the part OF Jone
!, the detective. At all places he wa
! perfectly sure OF his part and the wa,
10 display the character. He was sup
ported by Joe" who IN the program
WIS listed as Frank"
George Connor IN the character O
Raudel Noren. stepfather of the brid
and villain IN effect. ably develops
the part. AS the curtain falls we lear
what his true position in the play Il
Albert 1ando. actor and stage al
rector. put on the show. The interrn.s
sions were filed with music by tn
pianist. Frank Gilman.