ANOTHER MYSTERY PLAY COMES TO BOSTON

"Whispering Wires", at the Plymouth Theatre is another of those popular mystery plays, which depends more on mechanical devices for its effect than on any inherent dramatic qualities. It cannot be as seriously criticised on these grounds however, as its predecessors, "The Bat" and "The Cat and the Canary",--the mechanics are not quite as essential, and incidentally the results are not as terrifying.

The story concerns a millionaire who is threatened, first by a letter and then given two hours to live, by a telephone message. His daughter and heir, in love with an Irish gentleman, is also warned, and after the father is sacrificed in the interest of melodrama, slain in the most mysterious, unaccountable fashion, the effort to save the daughter becomes the mainspring. There is a good, rugged detective, who is not entirely without intelligence, like most stage detectives and a fair share of off-stage ones, and the millionaire's secretary, who assists in throwing the audience onto the wrong scent, helped out by a somewhat sinister-looking man servant.

On the whole, the acting is better than in the ordinary mystery play. Ben Johnson as the millionaire Stockbridge is excellent, and we regret that his early demise prevented his appearance in the second and third acts. A hard, uncompromising, relentless capitalist, he nevertheless excites the sympathy of the audience, especially when he is sitting around waiting to be murdered. At this juncture the stupidity of the detectives reaches its climax; ordinary common-sense would have saved Stockbridge as eventually it saved the daughter. The daughter, by the way, is well done by Kay Laurell although she is a trifle too cold and expressionless to be quite convincing. Jane Houston, as the secretary, goes to the opposite extreme, with rather too much vigor; the other parts except that of Drew, the detective, are minor, but unusually colorful. Jackson, the too-amiable operative, and Jeanette, Miss Stockbridge's maid, have little to say, but they make a definitely pleasant impression, while Pay-son, the dubious man servant and "The Trouble Hunter" from the phone company have distinct characters in spite of their infrequent appearances.

"Whispering Wires" does not reach quite the high points of "The Bat", but it has the merit of never lagging, of wasting no time at all and of affording all the excitement that one actual murder and one near-murder can stir up in present-day barbaric theatre goers.