MARIE TEMPEST SEASON.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17431, 17 April 1922, Page 9

MARIE TEMPEST SEASON.

"ME PIM PASSES BY." A little lovo, more than a littlo true comedy, a vacillating old man and a pair of gaudy curtains, are the chief properties of "Mr Pim Passes By," which was produced by Miss Marie Tempest and her company for the first time to a crowded house in the Theatre Royal on Saturday night, and those "props" made a very delightful little play. In fact, it can bo said, without qualification, tht "Mr Pim" js quit© <tho most entertaining piece Ilia Tempest has offered during ait her visits here. A. A.. Milne supplied the book, and in doing so he wioto a littlo masterpiece of drama and comedy. Kight through the pieco the comedy flows eaci:y, n-sver with c forced situation, but wh:ily spontaneous, wholly natural, and wholly original. As a matter of fact, the story is really about nothing at all, unless it bo the questioned decease of a, former and most undesirable husband, and the author has bui:t up a splendid littlo comedy on a most foundation, and has succeeded in erect* jg a solidly built structure. Some of Miss Tempest's pieces, have been interesting comedies chiefly because she and Mr Gruhaine Brown have made them so, and have lilted them from mediocrity to "good stuff," but ''Mr x-im' actually "supplies tho goods," and Miss Tempest and Mr Brown round it off as only true artists can. Comedy does not usually lend itself greatly to character study, but Milne has created two or three studiss in his play, and the paits of George and Lady Marden are distinctly above tho usual comedy roles. As Olivi?,, Miss Tempest is superb. So natural is she that one might easily imagine that the character is not that of Olivia, but that of Miss Tempest. It is not a particularly heavy role, but it gives Miss Temnest just the opportunity to prove what a thorough comedienne she i 3. She relies on no stage effects, no gestures, to aid her comedv —she jnst speaks, but what a fund of fun, "and of artistry, lies in her spoken word. As all her plays have shown, she i» a- thorough' mistress of comedy, while when a little drama comes along she knows how to handle it. Mr Graham© Btowh, as George Marden, is in a class quite by himself. In a staid comedy tart, freshened with a touch of whimsicality, ho is perfectly at home, find such ,is his role in "Mr Pim.' Never is his comedy forced. Like Miss Tempest, his personality carries him through to a triumphant finish, with a whole train of hearty laughs in his wake. He is a cultured actor, and all his work is tinctured with a spontaneity and naturalness which the prescription of the usual comedy actor dees not contain. Miss Tempest and Mr Brown rely not' so much on the pieco as on their own conception of comedy as it should be to carry, them through, and they certainly place the hall mark on everything they take up, be it poor or good material. .There is another artiste in "Mr Pim" to whom all praise must be <?iv6n, and that ia the ingenue, Miss Mario Ney, who gives a refreshing interpretation of the love-torn "Dinah." She is breezy and attractive throughout, and i>3 the typo of girl who should be heard of in bigger roles later on. Mr Aehton Jarry makes an excellent study of the small part of Carraway Pim. ' "Old-man" character roles seem to suit Mr Jarry best. The minor parts were in caoablo hands. "Mr Pim Passes By" was preceded by » reallv fine, little one-act play, "The Dumb and the Blind," by Harold Chapin. Chapin, though an American,. was so stirred by the earlier phases of the war that he joined up with the English army, and ho fell at the curly-' age of 29, when his inimitable ahort plays, all genuine studies' of the life of the lower classes, were just coming into repute. "The Dumb and the Blind," a treatise on "Cockney" life, ia one of his best, and with Mr Grahame Brown and Mr .Steff McDonald as tho chief characters, it is great. Miss Doris Gilham and little Miss Kathleen Gardiner fill the other two parts, and Miea Gilham does tho "Cockney stuff" extremely well. Mr Brown and Mr McDonald, however, fill their roleß like ft pair of veteran "ijondonora." _ _ , ' •"Mr. Pim Passes By" and "Tho Dumb and tho Blind", will (ho repeated to-night.

THE GREAT ADVENTURE. To-morrow evening will be tho last Eight of this exceptionally interesting season, and tho dual appearance in New Zealand of ilisa Tempest, Mr Browne, and their .company, i'or this important occasion, in responso to numerous requests, it has been decided to present "Tho Great Adventure," a particularly brilliant dramatisation of Arnold Bennett's stirring story. Mr Browne, of course, play 3 tho artist, whose fame, boring him to death, concocts a scheme that promises complete ! from social amenities. His valet dies, ana the harassed painter proclams to the world that it la himself that is dead, and has his valet buried in Westminster Abbey in.-hi* stead. From this proceeding ' extraordinary ■ complications arise, which during three hours form an endless source of amusement. Miss Tempest will be seen : an certainly one of. her best of many excellent characterisations, that of "The Little Putney Widow," who mothers and protect.'! the artist genius, and finally marries him. As for Mir Browne, he is seen at hiß best, in this' entirely Bplendid play. Tiio box plans for to-night will bo open all day to-day at Topper's Toy Cave LoUte Store.