In a rather facetious critical mood Mr. George Jean Nathan once observed that American high comedy failed because when one character had insulted another, something devastating was said in return; whereas, in English high comedy, the offended person simply strolled off the stage announcing that he was going out to have a little tennis What Mr. Nathan says is not strictly true; yet high comedy in both England and America certainly does not fulfill its possibilities. Superficially it is good, but at the crucial moment it bogs down and turns from drama into sentimentality.

This is exactly the case with Mr. A. E. Thomas play "No More Ladies." At first sight it is impressive, but in retrospect it is seen to be riddled with faults. The plot is hackneyed, for it is the ancient story of what a wife does when she learns that her husband has been unfaithful to her. The lines possess a certain surface cleverness and brilliancy, but an unevenly mixed Coward-Barry-Lonsdale ancestry is painfully evident. In welcome relief to these mediocre features is the character portrayal; with the exception of the acidulous old lady who astounds the younger generation by being much more modern than they are and by freely using such words as bitch. Teresa, Sheridan, and Marcia are all well-drawn characters, easily recognizable. Yet in spite of this excellent delineation, in the big scene between Marcia and Sheridan, what should be a tensely dramatic situation turns all too easily into a saccharine and obviously adumbrated fiasco; mutual forgiveness between them finally comes when Marcia says, "I had hoped that when I passed away I could say, 'Thanks for a perfectly swell party.'"

Mr. Thomas has failed to write a really good play; but then so have Mr. Coward, Mr. Barry, and Mr. Howard on all too many occasions. The great pity is that it comes so close to achieving its goal and yet misses it so definitely.

There is not much to say about either cast or direction other than to remark that both are excellent. Miss Watson and Mr. Douglas are more than adequate and Mr. O'Malley and Miss Ryan are very good indeed. To Miss Ruth Weston, however, the major honors must be awarded, for a delicate interpretation of a part which might easily have been badly bungled. Mr. Barratt is to be congratulated on two particularly fine sets.