"THE PLAY'S THE THING."

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 13376, 18 March 1909, Page 2

"THE PLAY'S THE THING."

"AN ENGLISHMAN'S HOME." A SENSATION IN ENGLAND. (fbom orR own conrtEsroNPENT.) LONDON. February 5 - What Kipling said .hiring the War about xhe mucldi.d oafs at thc jiaoLs has bf-<>ii said once more, rr.rst forcibly, on thc dramatic stage. Du--inK the past year or so the apathy o: the Engli.:-h people on the question of defence has been most marked. The volunteer system, -which is supposed to havo failed because it ivas not compulsory, has been replaced by a systct'i which provides for hardor work and more inton~o training, but ii s: i:l le-per-dent on voluntary service fur its recruitment. The result so far lias r.oi been at ali oiicouraj-ir.g. The lr.uiicns v.lio ought to be training for military service aro hanging: over the r.-.ils a? football and cricket matchc.. ivai-iii~ tl.emseive-. hoarse. Yet they ore patriotic in a way. They are quite -.viiiing to sing s national boat.t-.saug.:> when soiiio new Lad'ysinith hnn boon relwvoj by a hardworking, patient, and <_'.- _._>i_,t<l hireling army. a THE MOTIF OF THE PLAY. Ir is exactly thf.se characters anl thf.-so phases of lifo that "-\ Patriot" iia.s seized upon in laying his scene f.r "An- Englishman's Home.'' He picka miudle-claas family—why the distinction ?—well-to-do. decent people glorying: in their home comforts. Tl.«» boys arc experts in football and cricket lore— not .players : they engage in Limerick competitions nnd read regii.arlv evei-y word of the football papers. Tho _;irls, too. listen eugnrly to sporting criticisms. Father Brown plays diaboh> day and evening, a pleas-ant, hencst. oh': Englishman. Paul Robinson is m tlie group, too, a serious young man who rece-ives no end of banter because he is a volunteer. He is just bemoaning the fog which prevents tho company from training. Thc Brown family are cynically an;used, when, 10, at the door appear figures in strange uniforms, rude men who walk in uninvited.

Mr Brown, ignorant of the mooning of tho iiiti-u.s-ion, and believing the men to he practical joker... is furioiio. He -ivanfc to prosecute for trespass and talks loudly in the- time-hon-oured iasliion of tho English man's home, his cnstle. The possibility that has actually occurred, tho evasion of the Fleet by the enemy and the roiding of England under cover of tho fog, had never presented itself to Mr Brown, as -to millions of Britishers. What is to be done? The men cannot shoot; the women cannot make a bandage; they are simply peace-loving citizens—ridiculous non - combatants. They have to succumb: Father Brown pours forth a rabid speech, the girls giggle nervously, and' the family joker continues his foolish jests. The raid continues. Everywhere the enemy finds England unprepared. The author makes what appears to be ungracious ridicule of the volunteers who, after all, are in spirit exactly what the Territorials should be. The volunteers come on the scene—fussy, inconsequent, ignorant amateurs, burning to do something, but with not the vaguest idea how to set about it. There is no ono to give orders, no one to direct. Captain Finch, their commander, is as full of downright ignorance as he is of zeal. And a part of the invaders' army rolls back again, and the Englishman's home in Essex, defended by this small body of volunteers, without any guns, has to stand a siege from the artillery of the enemy. One of tho first to fall is tho foolish jester, Geoffrey Smith, who, standing on the table "to see the fun," rolls down, a piteous corpse—one" of the earliest victims of the war. All these later scenes in the play are exceedingly well managed. Everything is done to give a tremendous impression of the peril of tho situation, tho superior powers of attack on tho part of the enemy, tho hopeless incapacity of the besieged. And now comes the grimmest episode of all. Mr Brown, who refuses to leave his burning and demolished house, aud who inveighs against everyone else as cowards and traitors, finds himself at the last left entirely alone. He seizes a rifle, and after some bungling, manages to fire several shots at the advancing foo. So he is caught red-handed as a combatant, and when Prince Yoland enters the room in which tlie furious Mr Brown has attempted to defend himself, orders him off to be shot. Shot he indubitably is, despite the terrified appeal of his daughtershot because, though he had no training and was not a professional soldier, he took up arms in his country's cause, and remained the obstinate pugnacious, garrulous, but also gallant English fool to tho very end. Then apparently, just before tho fall of the curtain, comes a reversal of fortune • for a British force surprises the invaders, and wo see them menaced by British rifles at the close of tho play It. is an inartistic, but possibly a popular way of ending the play. Borne tribute, after all, must bo paid to British national pride. In tho first few days of its career, tho play created a more practically effective sensation than has been tho case with any dr-ama within memory. Each night has witnessed growing excitement. Nothing could be more" evident than that the play has risen right out of the merely artistic plane and become a matter of national importance. All tho most prominent people in political and military circles have been crowding tho theatre evening by evening. As to the general booking, it has been simply overwhelming On the day after the first production, the enthusiasm, both afternoon and evening, and the number of distinguished people in tho audience were remarkable. Crowds were turned away from the doors. A weli-known peer waited over an hour on the chance ot getting a seat. Even Mr Winston Churchill only succeeded in finding a place through the unexpected return of a couple of stalls. After tho performance a Press representative had a talk with Mr Churchill. Although the President of tho Board of Trade naturally did not wwh to give an official opinion upon such a matter, he let it be understood that he enjoyed tho play heartily, that ho found it not only exceedingly clever, but eminently calculated to wake pcoplo up to realities A license was granted to "An Englishman s Home" only on condition that no suggestion of tho invaders' nationality was made.