If it is the glory of an actress to make a play appear written just for her, then Gladys George is a playwright's dream. For "Lady In Waiting," which Margery Sharp adopted from her own novel, is far from a great play. And yet with Miss George sparking it on, laughing and flouncing through inane situations, the loose joints of the plot all fold into place and the minor characters, typed as they are, can be laughed away.

Not only is it Miss George's evening from curtain to curtain, but the supporting cast, with the exception of Alan Napier, have a bad habit of being rather commonplace people whom we have seen too often on the stage before. The comedy of "Lady In Waiting" has far less to do with Margery Sharp than with Miss George for its author deals in situations rather than barbed lines. And it is these situations where Gladys George takes over and makes us eat out of her hand. She can be coy and bawdy in one breath, charming and hussyish in another, and yet beneath it all she breathes an enticing exuberance and unaffectedness that attracts the dignified and wealthy Sir William Warring to her.

The plot, which you may remember from Miss Sharp's "The Nutmeg Tree," is a set-up for the extravaganza which Miss George dotes on. It opens with her in a bath tub, selling a lot of junk to a pawn broker who stands outside the door. It ends with Miss George, as Sir William's wife, claiming the title of "Lady," rarely associated with her name before. In between Miss George returns to her daughter, whom she hasn't seen since she was three and finds her a prig and just as stuffy and sure of herself as the rest of the British "palace" set.

At first, the plot would seem to be thread-bare, even implausible in spots. Well, it is. And many of the speeches are dull and the minor characters poorly drawn. But Gladys George dominates the play like Louis XIV's sun. And like him, "la piece c'est moi."