"MOLLY BAWN."

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2527, 30 July 1915, Page 8

"MOLLY BAWN."

BY THE ALLEN DOONE CO,

"Molly Bawn," a comedy drama in four acts. Cast:— Mr Allen Doone revived that cheerful comedy-melodrama "Moily Bawn" at the Grand Opera House last evening, a play that "was originally produced here a little over two years ago and ono which has endeared Mr. 'Doone to many an Irish loyalist. It is not perhaps the play itself'.which lias had that effect, soi much as Mr. Docne's personal performance and what :is incidental to it. "Molly B.nvn" has all the qualities of 'popular melodrama, its glaring lights, and gloomy shades, its villainy and. its heroics, and the whole is gently lubricated with the oil of Mr. Doone's pleasant comedy and cheerful songs anent Ireland. The plot concerns the affairs of the aged Lord Amherst, a. cantankerous old man with a confusing habit of speaking the truth wit.i .a bluntness that would be coarso in anyone but a peer of the realm. Ho has three grandchildren, by two daughters and ft son, who have disappointed him in their marital affairs. Two of these, Philip Shadwell and Marcia Amherst, are living with tho old man, and ars' secretly desiring his demise when tho fit takes him to invite the third grandchild, Eleanor Massareue, to visit him ; the old maii having had the acumen to perceive that the "loving care" of tho other two, is liot altogether disinterested. Eleanor (Molly Bawn) is a charming Irish girl, and immediately enslaves tha heart of blithesome Ted Luttrell and captures the affections of Lord Amherst. Seeing the way. tho • wind is blowing, Philip breaks with Maroia to whom he is betrothed, and seeks to win Molly, but to assure himself which way the money is going ho purloins Amherst's will. Ho is discovered with' it by Luttrell, who raises a rumpus, whereupon .Shadwell accuses the young Irishman of being the thief. It is Marcia who gives Philip away to tho old man, but' Amherst knows by this time' that Maroia is just as false and mercenary as Philip, and in the end, after Amherst has been poisoned by Marcia, "Molly comes out a winner of the fortune, and Mrs. Luttrell in present prospect. One lively scene embodies a fancy dress ball at the Amherst mansion, during the progress of which Mr. 'Doone appeal's as Kobert Emmett, the Irish patriot, and recites, in a shaft of calcium light, his famous speech from the dock. The innovation fired the enthusiasm of the audienco to fever heat, and when Mr. Doone immediately afterwards sang "A Toast to Erin" there were thunders of applause, and the sinking of "The Wearm' of the Green," which resulted, brought .a further outburst. Mr. Doone's performance as Ted Luttrell was a delightfully natural bit of character acting throughout, and was thoroughly Irish in its humour and impulsiveness. Othc-r songs contributed bv Mr. Doone were: "Mdly Bawn," "Colleen Bawn," and "Molly's Eyes are Irish." Miss Edna Keeley mnde an acceptablo Molly, and Miss Ethel Bashford acted with bright intelligence the unsympathetic role ' of Marcia. Mr. Prank Cnllinane, in a ghastly make-up that was not warranted, played Lord Amherst with no suggestion of subtlety or indication of the breeding that should bo inherent in the last of a line'of English peers. On the lines selected Mr. Cullinane's performance could not, however, be said to' be ineffective. Mr.'-Olive Farnham as Philip Shadwell, was> properly snobbish under his veneer of affected Mr. Tonl Buckley did not look the Indian servant with the Russian name (Dimetri) at any stage in the play—ho was; too stout and comfort-able-lookingjjto' suggest the eeriness of the dumb role. Mr. O. Kdgcworth was quite well fitted as Eithelbert von Eithel* (a society ass, not a German spy), and Miss Ethel Grist was- cajiital .fun as Sarah (Molly's bouncing maid). "In Old Donegal" will be produced to-morrow "night.