Show i rL LE- LE T THE It ENE NEW W P PLAYS LA Y g Lg r es Darnton i T- T T THE LURE LEADS TO LOWEST DEPTHS OF UNDERWORLD next Certainly no play pia so fiO sow WHAT w brutally tr frank as the LurA Lur in ell re revealing nt the tho vicious side of ot life Ute lia luu lia been seen seon In this country for foi not Of only does docs It handle tho tilO white whito slavo question without gloves or even oven tongs tonS's but Iut it leads to the tile lowest depths of ot tho the underworld through the sort of ot that Is associated associate in the general mind with red lJ lights Incidentally It is ts no lO secret that two oth other r plays R with witha a n similar scene may find their way hero horo in Iii a short time lime unless public opinion calls a halt t on dramatists dramatist who hope to f P. P i Hi Vincent Serrano n o. o the Sp Sl Special Agent Mary Nash n h ILl ILi the Girl appear In tho the guise of social reformers George Scarborough hitherto nameless 01 on the stage and without even cn a mana managers manager's maha- maha gers ger's name to stand sponsor for tor him at atila ila atine ine Elliotts Elliott's theatre has hae at least the satisfaction of ot knowing that he hest st startled h his audience But he evidently didn't didn t cato care to face tace it it for tor in answer to the applause at the end of the second act Vincent Serrano who had a rolo role that that hu ho could play with a clear con- con stepped to th the footlights and explained that Mr Ir Shubert couldn't find ind the author It was vas upon this tills act that the play pia depended for tor the sensation it unquestionably created When hen the garish re resort resort re- re sort of ot otla Madam Madan la am Lockwood was disclosed disclosed dis dis- lie lie- closed it was W greeted with sophisticated laughter laug A strange sense of ot humor was as displayed ed b by the audience at other moments but for fOt the tile most moat part its In- In was held b by the uncompromising Jog ing realism of the tho pla play this in spite ot of ot some very cry J bad nd acting At the tile same time there was WaR a sense of oC uncertainty as aR to what hat might happen that recalled the aroused by the first production production pro pro- o of Mrs Warrens Profession slon sion at the theatre However the actors betra betrayed ed no more nervousness nervousness nervous nervous- ness than marks marl s any first night Oddly Oddly Odd Odd- ly r ough ej-ough It was the audience that under a strain For FOl one thins thinK it apparently did not know y quite how to tako take the tho play pia Quite aside from the tho question whether er the stage is the place for exhibiting a 1 phase QC life liCe revolting in its ugliness ugh ugh- ness and ness and I for tor one bellevo believe It Is not not not- Mr l Scarborough plainly knows knos what hat he is writing i about and his directness go 10 far to redeem tho the occasional occasional oc oc- oc- oc crudities of his work worle In Madam Madain house to which the department oro r girl Jirl Sylvia Innocently Inno goe oe goeR to o 1 I work the mone money from which vi wi ila table le her to save sa the tho life Ufe of her Invalid mother the tho Int interest grows rows so ten tense e as ns to become painful There is is of ot course the tho feeling that the special agent who is running down wn white slavers ers and has falen Clen in love lovo with th tile girl irl will be on hand when Il he h. i la is most needed but In turning on her herand herand herand and believing the worst he ho proves d de- de iw- iw moment disappointing for tor a of ot the play This is 1 the weakest point In his hili obvious Attempt to build up upa a strong B scene ene the author va wastes both effort and time and nd mor moreover o er make makee his white slave slavo hunter huntor talk like the lIle hero of ot a A. cheap melo melodrama But tho tue I rescue of ot Sylvia and another inmate who rushes shrieking into the further beat beat- Madams room to escape legs Inge brou brought ht the second act to an ex exciting exciting ex- ex citing finish the thrill of which was wa distinctly felt Celt It was waa simply a case cas case of ot stark staring realism This act which also alo concerned olt with a suicide ofa of ofa of ot horrors hor- hor a girl upstairs was a succession tore nothing more For effectiveness it Is only fair to lo add nothing moro more was need needed cd The capture of ot the thc rat like c cadet t and 1 the tho politician who Ivilo was wal tho the L womans woman's silent partner was WM neatly though rather too easU easily effected in the last act act- Loathsome R as tile the character of ot the tho slimy cadet cadel wa was WIH George Iro mado It tho the most Interesting of ot all b by hi his re remarkable rc- rc acting H He lie was wa so true trite to type that It seemed a miracle he es escaped escaped escaped es- es being mobbed b by tho the audience There really should be bo some way of ot killing off these white slavers on tho the stage st Rut nut as a study in degeneracy from the sickening l leer er to tho the twitchIng twitching twitching twitch twitch- ing fingers Mr Ir Probert's work was as no noless noless less than admirable Edwin Holt as nS the politician who shared share the Madams earnings bad had a firm grip on his part and Miss Susanne but Willis contributed a telling characterization characterization colored as aa tho the mouthed close servant of ot the establishment lIss Dor Dorothy th Dorr as the tho Madam was I un unspeakably penk bad acting for or all the tho world lIlee an old fashioned tragedy I queen who had nev never r learned how to act acL Miss Mary Nash succeeded only in suggesting the tr trying existence of ot a A. I poorly paid girl Her nai ete was th theatric and the early earh part of ot her hor performance performance per per- utterly rh lacking In sympathy toward the tIle mother AH As this uncomplaIning uncomplaining invalid Miss Lucia Moore was an nn altogether r sympathetic tJ figure ure As tho the victim of ot the cadet Miss Lola May MM uttered a most moet piercing scream and sugg suggested stel the tho weak type of girl Via Via- incont In- In cent cant Serrano was far tar from being a a. convincing con con- secret agent though he had his good moments Ho He fared worst of ot all nIl allai at ai the hands of ot the author An over over- sentimental doctor was played for tor more moret t than an ho he was worth b by Mortimer Mor- Mor tint tini Trust a a- talkative old optimist to lo become tedious While Mr Ir Scarborough h succeeds in showing h how w much 10 o or r 16 IB cents may mean to a a. person who Is hard up ho holets holets holets lets sentiment carr carry him awa away His building of a scene Is better than his use uso of language But It must be ad admitted ad- ad d that hi his vicious characters are lifelike And moral lesson aside I aside I seriously doubt Its lauded value value value-a a play like The Lure makes its most general general gen gen- eral oral appeal solely because of ot its V viciousness id OU en C 59 |