HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 34, 9 February 1903, Page 2

HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

"A LITTLE RAY OF SUNSHINE."

On Saturday evening Mr Thornton's Company made a new departure. "& Little Ray of Sunshine" is purely a comedy with the merest upper-crust of sheer farce. And, however much one may care about farce, aud though one has the utmost admiration for the acting in that kind of the present company it has to be acknowledged that the change is for the better.

A comedy more charming, more good and wholesome, and yet more destitute of cant, more laughable and yet more touching, it would be hard to find. From start to finish it breathes tenderness and goodwill, ancl yet it keeps one in a ripple of appreciative laughter. Without going back on our favourable judgment of Mr Thornton's previous performances let us acknowledge now that his latest study is far and away the best piece of work he has so far accomplished. As Lord Markkam, the tender-hearted, mischievous, whimsical old jester, just returned after long years in Australia, Mr Thornton's art is at its very best. Every wrord and every movement is perfect. This Gerard, Lord Markham, is the uncle of Sir Philip Ashton, who, in order to be of service to his friend, Dick Markham, has ruined himself by placing himself in the hands of one Dobbs a moneylender. An underplot tells 'of Sir Philip's coming marriage next (Christmas) day with Connie Markham (Dick's sistei;), and of Madge Ashton's (Philip's sister)love for Dick. The main action concerns itself with the approaching sale of Ashton Hall in order to satisfy its owner's debt to this Dobbs. Oa Lord Markham appearing, he, is taken for Dobbs, enters into the spirit of the joke, and plays his part with relish. He meets Dobbs, who mistakes him for Sir Philip, and treats him with a roughness which he (Lord Markham) exactly, imitates on meeting again with the real Sir Philip. Then Polly, the housemaid at the Hall, mistakes him for a possession of her own, and he is claimed below stairs as soon as he is rejected above. Then follow endless complications. The merry old man, to his delight, is Wilson's man, sent round with the wedding cake; he is "Harris's man," he is "ilr Dunn,"'and he is "Mr Green," he is .everything that too eager expectation on the one hand and the desire to conceal him on the other can make liim. And always the little old man laughs his merry cackling laugh, and rubs -his hands in child-like glee—and plays tho part expected. Then he meets with Saunders, his old butler, and convinces him of . his' identity in a scene that is beautiful and touching. They keep their secret, and the old man maintains his role of the money-lender, accepts cheques for the debt, passes them on to Dobbs in the character of Sir Philip, only to be refused, and thus to-train his cue of how to.treat the real debtor in the'character of Dobbs. Dobbs' words even are repeated, and the cheques refused with! rough disdain. Things get more and more serious, until at Last "Jerry's" warm old heart can hold out no longer, and (still as Dobbs) he relents and'postpones the payment of the debt sine die. Then, received as a friend, he announces that the expected Lord Markham will appear at midnight. I*3 does. Such is a merest hint at the plot, and if it hag as much as suggested, the elusive charm of the whole comedy, something will have been done towards satisfying the just debt owed by a critic to real and undoubted merit. Mr Thornton's fine performance has .Iready been discussed. It was an artistic triumph, the finished technique and still more the deep human appeal of' which will not pass quickly from the minds of its audience. Mr Bradley was maily and otherwise good as Sir Philip Ashton. and Mr John Denton's Reggie, his Eton brother, was highly coloured, but satisfactory; while , Dick Markham was capably taken by Mr. Galwey Herbert. Miss Vera Fordyce was quite charming as Connie -Markham, and Madge Ashton was perfectly interpreted by Miss Nor- , bury. Mr. Joseph Wilson again showed his versatility and his power of evolving a finished character study as Mr. Carlton, a diplomatist friend of the Ashton family. It can safely be said that Mr. Wilson has a world of success yet, before him, for his work is of quite singular merit* Mr. Dobbs was sufficiently offensive in the good hands of Mr. Ernest Carder. Lady Dorothy was admirably taken by Miss Phoebe Mercer. Saunders (the butler at the Abbey) war. portrayed by Mr. Cambounio with singular naturalness and reality. "A Little Pay of Sunshine" should be played to-night to a full and enthusiastic house. Such good things are too rare to be slighted.