The Theatre: Best Plays: Jun. 21, 1926

These are the plays which, in the light of metropolitan criticism, seem most important.

SERIOUS

CRAIG’S WIFE — The tale of a woman who cleaned house so recklessly that her husband went out with the dust.

THE GREAT GOD BROWN—Eugene O’Neill unwinding the devious fabric of two men’s minds—two enemies who traded the spirit for cash down.

LULU BELLE—Lenore Ulric in a formidably frank discussion of commercial immorality in a Negro night club.

BRIDE OF THE LAMB — Wherein religion and sex tangle themselves inextricably in the life of a stupid, small-town wife.

LESS SERIOUS

THE LAST OF MRS. CHEYNEY— Ina Claire nearing the end of her run in thepatent leather comedy of crooks in a London country house.

AT MRS. BEAM’S—A spinster attempts to reform a villain who she believes will eat her alive.

CRADLE SNATCHERS—A rowdy adventure over the week-end with three young men and three not so young women.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST—Oscar Wilde’s wit in agile and incisive revival.

WHAT EVERY WOMAN KNOWS— Likewise revival, this time of Barrie, with Helen Hayes giving probably the best performance of her career.

MUSICAL High notes and low comedy abound effectively in these: The Cocoanuts, The Merry World, Iolanthe, Sunny, The Vagabond King.