"THE IMPOSSIBLE WOMAN."
The joy of _Tante_ (from which novel Mr. HADDON CHAMBERS has adapted
this play) was that many chapters went by before the reader realised
that _Madame Okraska_ was indeed an impossible woman. One began by
liking her; went on to criticise; decided that she wasn't so nice as the
author intended her to be; and then discovered suddenly that she wasn't
intended to be a sympathetic character at all, and that, in fact, our
changing attitude towards her had been just the changing attitude which
would have been ours in real life. That was Miss ANNE DOUGLAS SEDGWICK'S
art. She took her time. Mr. CHAMBERS on the stage has not the time to
take.
And so "_Tante_" is shown to us at once as a histrionic vampire, feeding
on the admiration and love of others. _Gregory Jardine_, in love with
her ward, _Karen_, has already seen through her; we have seen through
her; the question is, when will _Karen_ see through her. Forget about
the book and you have the foundation of a good play here, on which Mr.
CHAMBERS has built skilfully. I gather from the fact that he took alone
the call for "Author" that he would wish us to forget about the book. I
cannot quite do that, but I can say with confidence that whoever has not
read _Tante_ will enjoy _The Impossible Woman_ fully, and that the
others will at least find it interesting.
Miss LILLAH MCCARTHY was a superb _Okraska_. Since she had to reveal
herself plainly to the audience, the temptation to overplay the part
must have been great, but she resisted it nobly. Mr. GODFREY TEARLE,
still a little apt to smile at the wrong moment, was a thoroughly
efficient _Gregory_; but Miss HILDA BAYLEY did not give me a very clear
idea of Mr. CHAMBERS' _Karen_, and was certainly not Miss SEDGWICK'S.
Miss MAY WHITTY and Mr. HENRY EDWARDS, in the small but important parts
of _Mrs. Talcot_ and _Franz Lippheim_, were of very great assistance to
the play.