Evening star., 1935-08-27


audience, even If his cast were coll
lected from a school for dim wits.
1t so happened that those precau-
tions we're wasted at the Roadside
Theater's revival Of 1.-THE Henrietta"
last night, for that excellent Summer
company displayed its most brilliant
assemblage of performers and put on
the best show Of the season in. pre-
senting the ancient farce.
With Denis Connell and Ann Ives
carrying high the banner of comedy,
the Roadsiders trouped gaily through
a drained and intricate story.
The obvious and obsolete dramatic de-
vices which stud Mr.. Howard's script
became in their hands sources of some
of the evenings best laughs, and the
profoundly Stilted, romantic interludes
we're read with such superb abandon
that the audience found love suddenly
very funny and pleasant to behold.
Occasional scenes in The Henrietta"
are innately funny enough without the
aid of burlesque treatment and these
were played straight, as they should
have been. Mr.. Howard's dusty niftieS
earn him no laurels as an immortal
wit, but he had skillful eye for farce
and supplied some of the legitimate
giggles of the evening.
The play derives most Of its Situa-
tions from the fact that four different
couples are forever getting mixed up
over a filly named Henrietta, a ballet
~ 70 ND q in n cy
stock, which is, oddly enough, also
named Henrietta.
Old NICK VAN ALsTYNE, the wolf
~ of Wall street, is promoting the
mining stock, his courtship of hand
some widow and the matrimonial for
tunes of his tribe. He has one son,
Nicholas, jr., who is working himself to
death tryin gto cheat his father, and
another who is idly studying to become
an idiot. The elder boy, weakly played
by Milton Hirshfleld, now and then
emits three short gaSps and fopS on
the floor, palpitating like a trained
seal, but the instant he Is revived by
doctor he defies advice and returns
conscientiously to his treachery.
At one time this deplorable lad
almost wrecks his fathers fortune, but
the old man is saved by his dafty off,
spring, Albert, and the shock kills
Junior. Juniors demise, incidentally,
reaches a new high in unreal1ty, Mr..
Hirshfeld giving vivid demonstrations
of the art of balancing on small
chair while unconscious and even after
death.
With little Nicholas safely pushing
up the daisies, everything clears up
nicely. Old Nick gets his widow,
young BERTHE is reconciled with his
true love, Nick, Jr.'s, widow marries
medico who has been incoming To-
Quaciously in the background for three
acts, and the curtain falls around
11:3o.
The performances delivered by
Denis Connell and Ann Ives as Old
Nick and Cornelia Opdyke cannot be
too highly praised for their vigor and
skill, this pair forming the best local
comedy team we have ever seen In
action. The supporting cast, with ex-
ceptions aforementioned, also acquits
itself creditably, with Richard String
fellows BERTHE, Ralph Fowler's DR..
Wainwright and Dorothy Dietz' work
as the wife of the nefarious Junior
topping the list. The others are
Robert Duke. Ralph Thayer, Marvin
Beers, John Rappolt, jr.; Lansing Hall
and Jean Smith.
Edith Aliens clever settings won a
round of applause last night, while
the costumes by Dorothy Croissant
were likewise pleasing. Harold Wein-
berger, the director, achieved a SEN
sihle balance between straight and
burlesque treatment Of scenes.
DOTH the Community Players pro-
duction of "Androcles and the
Lion" at the Sylvan Theater and the
Chevy Chase Lake beauty contest will
be postponed tonight in case Of in
clement weather at the scheduled
starting time.
The Irish in Us" comes to the
Metropolitan for another week begin
ming tomorrow. James Cagney, Pat
O'Brien and Olivia de Haviland star In
this one.
Anna Karenina," Garbo's twen-
tieth picture for M-G-M, marks her
tenth anniversary in American films
and with that studio, and is being
released here as she celebrates a
birthday, or whatever it Is actresses
nave instead of birthdays. The pic
tlre was screened for the local cricks
today.
Jean Harlow is considering becom-