Young Wisdom

Examiner of Plays' Summary:

An American play: that is to say the scene and characters are American, and so is much of the dialogue. It is a good specimen of its kind, containing plenty of fresh fun and sound, if not novel, sentiment. An American judge has two daughters. The elder, infected by 'advanced' nonsense about women, which she only thinks she takes seriously, has so influenced her younger sister (who really takes it seriously) that the latter, on the eve of her marriage informs the bridegroom that she will not marry him unless he will live with her for a time first to prove if they are really suited to one another, this being the principle doctrine of the sect. The young man, a very conventional character, is aghast and confides in another young man, the lover of the elder sister. They agree to pretend to carry out the idea, to elope severally, and meet at a lonely house where they will chaff the girls out of their folly. In act II they are there, and the inmate, an artist, falls in love with the younger daughter. After various misunderstandings they all go back home, where, in act III, there is a terrific row with the parents, the Judge insisting on the immediate marriage of the original pair. They refuse and in the end the artist and the younger daughter, and the elder daughter with her lover, agree to motor away again and marry at once. It is a good natured satire on this particular 'advanced' idea. That, as the basis of a comedy, might have displayed [sic] an older generation, but since absolutely nothing untoward happens and the whole dialogue and incidents are on quite innocent lines, the play is without hesitation. Recommended for License. G. S. Street