Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-13

SIlOOJIleSC ana
ablest chosen casts ever to be seen
IN the theater, you will find at the
BelaSco net only two or three, but a
good half dozen, of the most puissant
performances this side Of the Eifel
Tower.
Mrs. Patrick Campbell's brief IS
minutes charadings as the warm
blooded Countess Polaki is worth
more than three hours emotings
by many of our first actresses, and
Ronald Squire's handsomely polished
Antoine, the Mr.. Fix-it maitre
d'hotel, Is as quiet and clever and
distinguished a bit of acting as may
be seen anywhere.
While these two artists Of the
theater are rewarded by being
starred" in the play, there are
others who deserve an equal place
in the brilliant armament Witness
the almost uncanny performance by
Miss Helen Haye Of a Partisan lady
whose manageable troubles of her,
children and their gold plunge
her into scene after scene of nerves;
witness Helena Daley smoothing
out with wonderful finesSe the fall
ureS in her own married life; wit
ness Rafael Corio as fiery gigolo
who tries to reform and can't; or
Derek William as the much barbered
son, or Anne Teeman as the patient
Nicole, or Margaret Dale, or Lora
Baxter. or Anthony Ireland. All,
all of them, so good-it's as hard to
stop naming them as it is to begin.
But you won't find anywhere more
capable lot-and they deserve a
great deal of credit for an almost
letter perfect performance on their
opening night.
The play itself is, of course. thor
oughly continental and a trifle more
leisurely than one could wish for.
Yet the satire Is SO smooth and the
handling of it so expert that, as they
used to say, scarcely q dull momenS
slips in.
The action" (there is little Of it,
takes place in Partisan apartment
guished lady fights out the her
culean- battle of marrying her
children off to properly gilded wives
and husbands. In this case, how
ever, Author Bourdet has reversed
the usual tactics in that the sons
are the pursued and the daughters
the pursuers of their intended mates,
and all their affairs are aided and
abetted by the maitre d'hotel.
Through these episodes of mother
and granddaughter troubles pass
the typical rich American girl.
blonde and frankly animal, gigolo,
who makes stab at working IN
the conventional manner, and various
Argentinians and shop girls whose
gold, or lack of gold, is the cause
Of the burden under which mamma
staggers. In the end, the lady'S
struggles are rewarded by her mani
cured son marrying the rich Ameri-
can, even though she knows that he
plans to leave this lady to marry
the shoplady of his heart, after he
has swallowed as much of her gold
as possible.
No doubt few of the many words
in this will be shipped before the
play reaches Broadway. Even as 1t
stands, however, it has moments OF
great joy-and the only note of sur
prise came when Mrs. Pat Campbell
slipped onto the stage without be-
ing recognized. One of the grand
ladies of the stage, she deserves more
than she got last night, in spite Of
half a dozen curtain calls, and SO
does the play in the matter of audi
ence, for only handful of people
were present to greet this handsome
" performed play at its American
christening. E. de S. MELCHER.
Good Show
At the Gayety.
At the Gayety this week the show
"A shapes up fairly WELL Georgia
Sothern, one of the ''red-head va
riety," knows how to please the tickle
audience. Numerous numbers and
encores hardly seemed to satisfy
the clamorous fans. Shapely figures
and dancing feet whirled to the tune
of snappy scores when Georglas
aristocratic colleague, Connie st.
Clair, steps into the entertainment
with flashing feet and voice
which "copped" the singing laurelS.