“Between Eight and Nine” (3).

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20 Mins.; Full Stage. Two-thirds miscast and with a fairly good dramatic theme that becomes humorously melodramatic through bad handling, this vehicle sponsored by the Roland West Producing Company, falls considerably below the standard raised by some of their previous productions. The theme is a slightly altered duplicate of a similar act that appeared over the Orpheum Circuit a few years ago, played by an English company. It deals with domestic life and shows a married man returning home unexpectedly to find his wife entertaining another man. Some preliminary dialog ensues previous to the interlude’s entrance, after which the story assumes a semi-comic sphere and alternates between comedy and drama to finish where the husband compels the man to drink a glass of wine supposedly charged with a deadly poison. The man, after much whimpering, drinks the glass and after testifying to the wife’s innocence is given passage money to Europe. The act closes with the husband reserving transportation to California. Upon the wife’s query as to the intentions regarding her, he replies he proposes to take her along. There seems little visible fault with the script, beyond its comparison with the other, but the affair has been staged on a cheap basis and hardly looks heavy enough for the pop houses where drama and melodrama are in demand. Both men lack expression and carry no light and shade in their deliveries, while the woman’s part is composed principally of pantomime, of which little is forthcoming. With a capable company the piece might qualify for the two-a-day time. What commendable features exist are solely due to the author, not mentioned on the program (nor is the cast).

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