THE CRIMSON PLAY-GOER

Outside of a conventional telephone conversation for the beginning and the villain's change of heart at the end, Lou Tellegen's "Underneath the Bough" at the Colonial is distinctly at play of an unusual type.

The plot, which is rather candid without being risque, conters around jean Pone Pierre, a "Blue-Devil," who is in America to urge the United States not to go back on the French in their demands for indemnity from Germany. In the opening scene, we have presented to us the romance between Pierre and Mildred, which had its inception in France before the action of the play. Mildred is trying to obtain a divorce from her husband, Casper Henslow.

Henslow's lies, the clever satire on the average American love of scandal versus the noble ideals of the French, the breath of sentiment introduced from the pages of Dante Gabriel Rossetti all go to make the play something more than a comedy.

Mr. Tellegen, in the role of the tall, good-looking Poilu, plays his part to perfection. His English, interspersed with French, endows the character with a power which none but he could give. The supporting cast is admirable. From Mr. Ivan Simpson, as Sir Arthur Arkwright, the spineless Englishman, to Miss Bogislav, as Madame Helene, the French modiste, there is little that can be said other than praise. No review would be complete unless some mention was made of Miss Belwin. She, as Mildred, fulfills all the requirements of the pretty heroine in love--madly in love--with her soldier hero.

The play is rich with bits of real humor, with real acting and a plot reaching at times true melodrama. Surely Boston is fortunate to have Lou Tellegen here.