"Old Acquaintance"

"Old Acquaintance," which brings Lady Jane Cowl and Peggy Wood to Boston in a pre-Broadway opening, is a diluted mixture of "The Women" and "The Animal Kingdom" without that certain something which made those two comedies successful. Its plot tells at great length how an aging litterateuse, Miss Cowl, loses her last paramour. How she could ever have caught one must be classed as a deus ex machina. Miss Wood is convincing as the feline crony.

The two leading ladies are talented actresses, but their performances might be helped if they would learn their lines. This simple procedure on their part would save the few good gags in the play from being muffed and would obviate the necessity of their ad libbing the finale.

The lust appeal is a winsome smoothy, handicapped by her big feet and her loud, monotonic voice. Two male characters, one of whom is an amazing personification of a Jordan Marsh clothing dummy with a Picadilly accent, are uninspiring. The remainder of the cast consists of two maids, one black and one white, who will be wasting their talents for serving tea and answering doorbells if "Old Acquaintance" actually lasts on Broadway.