The Washington times., 1928-11-27
ROI AND YOUNG
TN A DROII
PLAY

There is on display AZ Polls The.
ater q most remar kable play about
king who learned TO be kingly.
It might be entitled The Revolu-
ton of q Rubber Stamp or The
King who Found Himself. |"
But it is called neither one of
these. Possibly Robert Emmett
sherwood did not even think of
these titles when he had finished
writing the play. They are both
rather poor, and would be entirely
too long in electric lights. So the
play is called The Queens Hus-
band
The queens husband, in an
island kingdom Of the North Sea"
we quote from the discreet lines
IN the programs highly likable
nonentity, victim of the curse Of
ROYALTY, making the phiIosophe
best es it in lOveless marriage
and utterly ignorant of the affairs.
OF state. because the queen did his
part in running the government.
Roland Young is an engaging
figure in the title role. He gives
il q whimsical quality, q feather
light shading which the part other
wise might have lost. He Is, in q
word, ideally cast. In stature.
pLysiognomy and in his reading Of
the lines he is indeed no more than
4 queens husband.
This play which came from
Eherwood's i typewriter after il had
produced The Road to Rome,
gives US q new viewpoint on the
old problem Of the struggle OF
royalty against the demands Of
royalty the king wanted to be
free, the princess who wanted to.
marry the man OF her choice and
not the sap princeling Of neigh.
boring state.
There is princess. You know,
played well and prettily BY Marie
AleIs. Hugh Rennie is forced TO-
stay within the bounds of q con
.ventfonal lovers role, but man
ages to give ii some fire, regard
less. Tyrreu Davis strolled on
and off as the hateful, dissOluIe
prince with whom the princess
was to consort for the glory OF
the kingdom.
But one Of the big prizes Of the
delightful evening Is the perform
ance of Gladys Hansen as the
queen. herself. in person. Ungal-
liant comparisons with another
queen came to mind as the
partner Of King Eric VIII tAir.
Young1 announced she was TO-
take q trip to barboro,Is America
to raise money for her beloved.
nation. Yet never once does Mr..
Sherwood skip over the lire which
divides good taste from bad. Tne
direct comparison il never
present.
All in all, It is q fine cast that
helps king Eric to settle the af-
Gairs of his kingdom and his
laughter, which he does in such
shy and unassuminE manner that
sven the snrewd audience Of last
night was amazed at his secret
cunning.
In that cast. we might mention
Edward Rigby, as the snobbisn
Iootnnan who plays checkers with
The king, David Landau, as the
clustering premier. General North
.rup: Wallace Widdecombe, as the
sauve Lord Birten; Benedict Nc
Quarrie. on stage but q few
minutes. but flaming splendidIy as
Laker. the anarchist, and Parker
Esennelly. IN the role OF DR.. Fell
nan. the liberal leader Of the
people.
The Queens Husband" is q
grand and gioriously intimate
comedy of life on a throne. The
name of Molnar comes to mind as
The play IL discussed, but Mr..
Sherwood has worked intelligently
and with great good humor to
make 4 play which outmolnars
Molnar's stage tales Of life among
The royal pawns. It Is earnestly
to every lover OF the
best the modern theater affords.
r.