If the criterion by which the success of a play is to be judged is the degree to which it fulfills its pretensions, then "The Perfumed Lady" must be adjudged an eminently successful play. It sets out to be a pleasant light comedy, and in no place is this aim forgotten. The result is a play in which the dialogue is amusing, the plot well-conceived, and the characters admirably drawn. Precisely because it does not attempt too much, "The Perfumed Lady" accomplishes a great deal.

It is a risque play all through; the moments of bogus high comedy which mar the efforts of the smartly cynical gentry are pleasingly absent. The theme is the ancient and unfailing one of seduction--but without any philosophy or moralizing, except for the rationalizing in which any normal man might indulge when unexpectedly surprised in a bedroom with his lithesome stenographer; this bedroom is--as it should be--the center around which the action of the play revolves. It is in this fatal bedroom that Warren Pascal is caught when his fiancee and her brother unexpectedly arrive; poor Warren with admirable technique had just lured his sparrow-brained stenographer in there with a bribe of lingerie, when suddenly all his fun is spoiled and his engagement ruined into the bargain. But Warren is not a man to be so easily defeated; he fairly drips with fine ideas, which unfortunately go askew until the very end when all is forgiven by all concerned; and then everyone trips merrily out to some delectable form of lechery and the play ends on a cheerful note.

Aside from being a highly enjoyable comedy, "The perfumed Lady" is also graced by some of the most competent acting seen here this season. Miss Marjorie Peterson gives a performance to which nothing but the word delightful can be applied; in addition to being an extraordinarily capable actress, she is also what some of the boys would justly describe as a smooth babe. The rest of the cast maintain the high standard set by Miss Peterson; and to say this is to pay them no mean compliment. As always at the Plymouth the sets are excellent. Thora Donelle  Marjorie Peterson Warren Pascal  Brian Donlevy Catharine Pellett  Helen Brooks Homer Pellett  Louis Jean Heydt Eva Mordecai  Ollie Burgoyne Janice McNish  June Martel Hans Patt  Carl Johan