New Britain herald., 1922-12-05
HAIR RAISING PLOT l IN PARSONS DRAMA
"The Cat and the Canary" ll
 Gbostly Mystery Play
(By Herald Reviewer).

If you like mystery shows in which you can pit your own conceited de- tective ability against that of the au- thor, without a chance of guessing right; if you like a plot that for gen uine spcokiness, will make your hair stand on end and involuntarily make you turn around as you switch off the light before climbing into your little bed, then go to Parsons theater in Hartford and see John Wiilard's "The Cat and the Canary" by all means It will be repeated tonight and tomor- row night, with a Wednesday matinee
 This show, which played for 4S con secutive weeks at the National theater in, New York, closed there Saturday night and reopened at Parsons last night, being one of the few big time plays that come directly from New York to Hartford.
 As a mystery play it can be com pared only to ''The Bat" but wherein ''The Bats" mystery had to do with the discovery of known life and blood burglar and slayer, The Cat and the Canary" has to do with a homicidal maniac at large and rath- CT sizeable flock of supernatural ghosts. It is a play that for it's blood curdling, uncanny, weird situations might have been the product of Ed gar Allen Poe's mind; and for an un- expected ending might have been the brain child of o. Henry. From the time the curtain rises in the first act until about minute before it is drop ped in the third act the entire au- dience is held spellbound, breathless and sometimes somewhat frightened, but never is the solution guessed and to describe the plot now would only spoil 1t for the many who undoubtedly will wish to see it for themselves. Suffice it to say that when a self-sat- isfied reviewer of shows who rather imagines himself to be blase and hard boiled as regards mystery plays ad- mits that en route home along a dark street, after seeing the play, involun- tarily feels like looking behind him every other minute and jumps aside when a dry leaf rustles across his path. the play must have something"
 As staged, this play is all that could be desired and the lighting ef- fleets do much toward enhancing it's ghostly atmosphere. The cast is superb, each one being especially well qualified for their especial part.
 Miss Sylvia Fields as Annabelle West, the young heroine of the play, meets with instantaneous approval. Winsome, entirely charming, she ra- diates personality and the sympathy of the audience is with her at all tmes as it is with Paul Jones, played by Richard Sterling, who is an ad- mittedly timid young man but who in the real crisis overcomes his fears and becomes a man among men. MT. Sterling's characterization is one of the high spots of the play and to him also falls the lot of carrying the prin- 'cipal comedy role swhich interrupts the heavier scenes. Blanche Friderici, playing the role of Nanny Pleas ant, West Indian voodoo woman and faithful family servant, is the real "heavy" of the show and her work alone is capable of making it suc- cess as a "spook" play. Percy Moore makes a good Roger Crosby, law yer; while Beth Franklyn and Clara Verdera as Susan Sillsby and Cecily Young respectively. hold up their parts we'll, the former being especially true to life as Q talkative female who cannot keep a secret. Charles Wilder, possessed of a most likeable personal ity, is most capably handled by Ryder kaape who seams to possess real qhi1- ity: and the part of Harry Blythee, a rival, is well taken by Carl Eckstrom. pr. Patterson, another mysterious and ghostly character. is allotted to Harry D. Southard and Hendricks, a burly guard at an insane asylum is played by Edmund Elton.
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