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.
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