"THE BARRETTS."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 137, 11 June 1932, Page 2 (Supplement)

"THE BARRETTS."

PRODUCT lOX IX AUSTRALIA. The astounding success of "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" has left Melbourne and Sydney breathless (says "The Graphic"). To many of us the love story of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning is familiar, to many of us it is not, but it lias certainly not presented itself in all the vividness with which it i* brought out on the stage. It is a simple story of universal appeal, and as it is presented it cannot fail to appeal. Margaret Rawlings, the brilliant young English actress, at her first appearance in Australia endeared herself to Australians and upheld her reputation. Her portrayal of Elizabeth Barrett wan masterly from the opening scene, in which, tired of a life of illhealth and of the tyranny of her father over her family, she is ready to give up. Then comes the miracle of her recovery, starting from the time when her lover, Robert Browning, grasps her wrists and infuses eon\e of his vitality and will to live and to love into her. Her steps towards recovery are emphasised in each scene, her help to the other members of the family, and her filial elopement; each is drawn with a vividness and artistry to which we have become unused.

ID. Bellenden Clarke, as t lie overbearing, tyrannical and half-marl father, who'niakes tlie life of his family a licl! on earth through his efforts to enforce liia unnatural wishes on thorn, presents a typo which we. wen-e in danger of forgetting, the old-style actor who is absolutely at home in the f>art which exaggerates even the "heavy father" we used to know, for lie is true to history, even though his descendants have objected that he was maligned. Right through, with supreme artistry, he. conveys (he souse of his perverted mind, even though neither author nor producer lias given him a chance to inform the audience directly, and right up to the lust net of brutality, when lie order* destruction of Elizabeth's dog, he lives the part.

Barry K. Barnes, another newcomer to Australia, was rather disappointing on the opening night, but has since mafic amends, and presents Browning with all the vigour and vitality we have learned to be his. As an ardent and tempestuous lover, a fighter, and a man, wo have, him brought to life.

Tiio rebellious Henrietta was excellently well portrayed by Mary Macgregor, who lived the part of the only one of the family who had the courage, if not the strength, to withstand her father's will, even though she is temporarily crushed at times.

Kathleen Goodall caused a surprise by making the part of Wilson the maid ono to remember. From her first appearance, her obsequious entrances throughout, and her final part in the elopement scene, she inade the maid human, but still a servant.