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“The Unmasking”. 24 min F.S. (one dark change) 2 shows. This is one of the most ambitious sketches that has appeared in Vaudeville for a long time. The action turns on a swash-buckling theme brought down to modern instances. The story tells of a society girl’s love for an actor for whom she breaks an engagement with a former suitor. The action works up to a scene from Richard III where the two contestants for the girl’s hand playing the part of Richard III and Richmond on the Bosworth Field. It develops that murder is intended by the mimic Richmond, so that Richard unmasks himself and they proceed with a duel in real earnest, the latter being victorious and killing his rival, just as the other participants in the real drama rush upon the stage, making a strong finish. The first part of the playlet is somewhat stilted, and the audience felt it. It was plain, however, that everybody wanted to give them a good show and once in a while there was some little applause for clever lines or work. Davis is a man of personality, though lacking the professional touch, and the same may be said of the others who do not get quickly into the business, although when they do at last forget themselves in the theme their work is more smooth and harmonious, working up to a brilliant climax, realistic and thrilling. Two to five curtain calls have been the final reward, and the newspapers have been more favorably inclined towards this sketch than anyone of so ambitious an order for a long time, — more so than toward Murray Carson and Miss Beringer. The stage-setting is immense and the costumes of all participants are very stunning, which helps the act materially.
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University of Iowa, Keith-Albee Vaudeville Collection, Manager Reports, 30 April 1906 – 4 February 1907