A VOO-DOOPLAY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 127, 26 November 1923, Page 2

A VOO-DOOPLAY

"THE CAT AND THE CANARY"

If^the legitimate drama » to b« laved, something has to be done *to counteract the strong popular preference shown for the moving pictures. s This seems to be the view .taken by the theatrical worlds especially in America, in giving stag* room to hush-hush plays like " The Thirteenth Chair," "Seven Keys to Baldpate," " The Bat," and now "The Cat and the Canary." .Something hag to be done, in sheer "self-defence, with the spoken drama, maugre its limitations, to satisfy the craving for sensations of the waking nightmare. Producers of moving pictures realise very well that there is money to be made by exploitation of the sense of the horrible iv the greater part of all mankind. 'With their unlimited financial r t nd other resources,' they can and do make the raising of goosefiesh a profitable business proposition, hence the vogue of the VO6Doo play. "The Cat and the Canary," eeen for the first time here at the Opera House on Saturday, is one of them. Its writer, John Willard, is shown as deficient in dramatic technique, as he is. fertile in ingenious ideas. With lordly gesture he brushes probability aside. He lays himself out to play the bogey man for all the part is worth, at the same time providing abundant material for honest laughter. If there were not a mysterious murder— at least such is inferred—" The Cat and the Canary" would come into the category of comedy. But the murder is a mere detail in the play. • The chief features are its thrills and its creation of an atmosphere of horror from beginning to The .management requests that all who have seen the play will not disclose its denouement to. those who intend to soe it;_ but if this reasonable suggestion were ignored, it would not seriously weaken the illusive character of "The Cat and the Canary," or render it any the less " creepy." It would not, either, affect the heartiness of the laughter evoked by some comic episode or the hysterical giggling, rising to a crescendo of shrieks at the slow opening of a secret door, or at a ghostly hand seen thrust through a hole in the wall. However, there is no good reason to betray th« confidence reposed by the management in the audience by revealing the plot or story of " The Cat and the Canary." At the same time, the performance provided some interesting questions for students in elementary psychology; and, ghost story as " The Cat and the Canary " is, it has an agreeable love interlude (rather too long). This may be in order to placate those in all audiences who demand that sort of thing in any play, and will not be happy unless they get it. 5 ■ '

" The Cat and the Canary " wa6 excellently acted. For all its faulty dramatio workmanship, it gave Miss I«obel Wilford a great chance as the principal lady, the victim of much of the voodooism and bogey business. She took that chance and showed all through that she thoroughly grasped the idea of her part. She was refined, charming, and at times dramatically powerful; above all, she thoroughly understood -what was expected of her in a play of this kind. Mr. Garry Marsh, as a young vet., a typical college product (according to American stage and story conventions), was; the only member of the company wh&.gpoke with-some.■• semblance of an American accent:' He had an excellent character to represent, and he made the utmost of his opportunities. To Mies Georgia Hsrveywas allotted the partT'of Mamm Pleasant, a -West Indian negres», custodian of the house supposed, to be haunted, and a confirmed believer in Voo-doo. Miss Harvey no doubt played the part as instructed, and she w»s wholly successful in making the character as uncanny as it was reasonable to expect. She probably had more shudders to her credit than fell to any other member of the company. But* in make up, speech, and demeanour she more resembled a -woman oi Western India than a West Indian woman. Mr. Reginald Wykeham had a rather inconsequential and apparently uncongenial part to play as one of a set of disappointed relatives. Light parts were given to Misses Ailsa Grahame and Jane- Savile—both capably played. As a lover and, finally as but'no matter what, Mr. Eobfert Geddes was admirable. " The Cat and the Canary " will be repeated this evening. Those who like hair-raising incidents interlarding their comedy are strongly urged not to miss it.