The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-01-07
RAM PLAYERS in
MIGHTY FINE
TASK

TllAEs arAFF PHoTo
An admirable production Of GIL

An admirable production OF Gill
bert Emery's American play,
.The Hero" by the Rams Head
Players last night adds distinctly
to their record OF solid achieve
ment.
The underlying theme Of this
postwar drama is tragedy, its
mood is generally sombre, its
characters pathetic as they move
through life in small town, mis-
understood and unhappy. For
this reason the accom- lishment
Of the Players-in grasping so ef-
fectively the spirit Of the play,
in emphasizing forcefully its frank
and natural dialogue and best OF
all in intelligent characterization
lis worthy Of more than passing
tribute.
Just q word for the story. The
Hero" in Gilbert Emery's tale is
a first class unprincipled cad.
known as Oswald Lane he had
an unsavory record as a boy that
eventually compelled flight. He
is gone for twelve years and in
the interim his older brother An
drew Lane had happily married
and had taken the aged mother
into the household. When Oswald
eventually turns up he is taken
into the family and given a fatted
calf welcome. His record as a
soldier is accepted as absolving
his past misdeeds. In return for
this kindness he proceeds to COM
promise the dull-witted Belgian
housemaid who serves the family,
trifles with the affections Of his
brothers wife and completes the
record of perfidy by stealing An
drew's fund as the church treas
urer, that he may return to his
French paramour. A providen-
tial fire defeats his purpose in
the end.
This ia a rather artificial and
shallow climax to q play that is
otherwise sstructurally sound, but
for that one must cavil with the
author.
Distinction is a word that fits
as the ailing mother of the two
boys. She enveloped the char
acter perfectly injecting here and
there q touch of naturalness that
added UNNECESSARILY to the per-
self spontaneous round Of APP
plause-Quite an honor from a
Rams Head audience. Ronald
Slavery. as the hero. gave a thor
oughly convincing picture of this
restless, cruel and selfish man OF
moods. Oswald. the hero. lover
of children. devil among the
women and the truer Oswald,
scheming and crooked. were char
acter completes realistically
limned by skillful playing. Jose
phine Hutchinson as Martha. I"
the maid, had a purely emotional
role which she handled deftly and
effectively. Miss Hutchinson WIS.,
ually portrayed woe by con-
vincing expression, but a failure
to project her voice beyond the
first row is handicap. the more
marked in a biiou theater. Rich
ard Elwell was the ANDREW
Lane" a good old scout as his
brother described him, plodding
and honest. but a prophet with
out honor in his own home until
the finish. Mr.. Elwell treated him
sympathetically. Ruth Harrison
was Hester Lane TAndrew's wife),
and little Amanda Chittum made
a loveable and clever boy as An
drew Lane. jr.
The single setting provided by
Robert Byrne was adequate and
| the lighting and direction of Rob
ert Bell merit more than ordinary
| enconiums. For an opening per-
| Torrance the play moved excep.
| tionally smooth and accelerated
tempo will make it even more
enjoyable
To all who would encourage
worthwhile effort in the theater
the RAMS Head performance OF
1.-THE Hero" is recommended as
an enjoyable evening at the play