Evening star., 1922-12-19
NATI0NAL-Margaret Lawrence
in "Secrets."

have come out Of famous old London
| town. But when Secrets" travelled
| across the Atlantic to open last night
at the National Theater the balance
leap in the right direction. Not
little OF the tribute. however. Is due
| to the altogether delightful Miss Mar
earet Lawrence. whose characteriza-
tion Of loving woman. from the Gay
iof her elopement-when the good e
a girl herself-until today. showed
remarkable facility of range and
sureness of touch.
| The story of Secrets" Is the story
of lifetime-a married lifetime-and
man and his wife. secrets from
rest Of the world. secrets that on.
one man and one woman know Sc
crets that bind them together. or Sc
crets that cast them apart 1t IS u Q
story of love that grows perfect
| through experience and practice. as
the quaint little old lady explains In
1.-The final scene. 1t is the story OF
a loving woman who never wayers
! and of q strong man who is ruthless
power-a passionate man who strays
to other women. but who never
ceases to love his wife Because OF
her great love. and his. the woman
condones tho mans faults.
Secrets" is quaint. 1t is dramatic.
It contains both humor and pathos. 1t
runs, in fact. the whole gamut OF emo.
tionS It brings to mind the lines OF
the old song. which ran:
Love that lasteth tn 'tis old.
| The authors OF Secrets Rudolph
Beiser and May Ellington. have taken
a leaf from those older novelists who
believed the story Of love does not be-
| gin with the counting and end with the
| wedding, but that it begins with the
wedding and ends with death. In
Secrets they have picked four dramatic
! incidents in the lives Of Sir John and
Lady Carlton. In all four Lady Carlton
| IS found at the right hand OF her lover
|1ss7. she is the blushing maiden of
eighteen. who defies her parents to elope
to America with the young clerk from
her fathers counting house. In 1870.
she is the wife Of a rancher in Wyoming.
who does not hesitate to kill to save the
grande dame, who dedes the world to
stand beside her husband. entangled in
the meshes OF a love affair with noto-
! rious woman OF fashion. And thirty.
fragile old lady. who helps him to vic
tory in his fight with death.
! II there Is g criticism to be made
of Secrets" 1t Is the criticism that
might be leveled at all productiors
which show to the auditors conditions
! as they are today, and then seek, BY
the artificial means OF a dream. to
| reveal the story of the past. In a
measure, the auditor knows In ad-
tvance what Is to be the outcome OF
| each scene. each situation. Tho pro-
logue in the new play serves. 1t Is
true. to give the name. BUT with the
/, epilogue transformed into a final act
| the same end could have been accom-.
plshed.
Miss Lawrence. in hoop skirt, which
required yards OF material that might
well bankrupt the modern girl. with
her reddish gold hair In the fashion.
| able wrinelets OF the day. captivated
| the large audience that greeted her
i'll the rough garb of the frontiers
mans wife, nor even in the hadeous
''bustle" of the sos.
| The producer. Sam II. Harris. has
surrounded Miss Lawrence with an
able supporting cast. Sir John Carl
ton is played by Tom Nesbit. whose
acting adds to the success OF the
play: Mrs. Eustace Mainwar ing-the
| ''vamp' of forty years ago-is played
by Diantha Pattison. a clever fmper-
Orlando DAILY. the pompous father Of
| the early Victorian days: Lillian
Brennard. the sentimental maiden
aunt: Mrs. Edmund Gurney, as the
Houston and Shirley B. Pink. The
settings and costuming OF Secrets"
have been admirably executed and
i have their peculiar part in the pro-
duction.
| B. F. KEITH'S-Aunt Jemima.
(, While top-line honors are bestowed
F, upon Aunt Jenima by the house man.
1 agement, there are at least four other