BEDROOM FARCE

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 46, 1 September 1928, Page 7

BEDROOM FARCE

I . I "A CUCKOO IN THE NEST" "To any decent-minded person there is nothing wrong about your sleeping on the floor of my room." "No; but where's the decent-minded person '!" Those lines contain the kernel of "A Cuckoo in the Nest" as readers of Ben Travers's laughable novel of that name are aware. The play, however, does not strictly follow the book, nor is this to be expected or desired. In his comedies Ben Travers appears to work from a formula, one that has been tried and tested on a very large public, and invariably with hilarious success. "Rookery Nook" as a play was slight in structure, but "A Cuckoo in the Nest," given for the first time at the Opera House last night, is cobweb by comparison. It was most cordially received by a receptive audience that settled itself down to enjoy an evening of clever and innocuous foolery. The newly-married Wykehams are off from Paddington to stay with people in Somerset. She settles down comfortably in the corner of the carriage by the window, and he is there, too. Owing to nrisundei-standing over the_ purchase of papers for the journey he misses the train. The young and pretty Mrs. Hickett also misses the train. She is bound for the same country house, and as Wykeham is an old friend they decide to motor there. On the way the car breaks down miles from anywhere, and the couple put up at a meagre inn with one bedroom and a landlady with a conscience. They play the old trick of being husband and wife, and then the fun begins—in the bedroom. The same accomplished company . which so skilfully handled delicate situations in "Rookery Nook" giyes a fine account of itself in this succeeding comedy, or' rather farce, for in the smashing of bedroom crockery there was quite a Chaplinesque touch about the scene. Mr. Hastings Lynn asJlr. Wykeham carried most of the weight of the farce on his shoulders, I consolidating his reputation of an unusually clever comedian. Miss Helene Simon was admirable as Mrs. Hickett, prime cause of so much bother and bewilderment, delightful, too, ■ia her selfishness with a bed to herself. Miss Minnie Rayner as the landlady of the inn was given an ovation as soon as she appeared on the stage. She revelled in the part. Excellent, too, was Miss Nellie Mortyne iv the part of a suspicious mother-in-law with a genius for jumping at wrong conclusions. Much fun was got out of the part of her husband, Major Bone, played by Mr. Cyril Vernon. The email part of the Rev. Sloley Jones was well handled by Mr. Leslie Victor. A capital portrayal oE a Somerset girl, chamber-maid at the inn, was given by Miss Jane Comfort. Lesser parts were in the capable hands of Messrs. Basil Radford, Victor Fitzherbert, Alec Alves, and W. Clifton (who rather overdid his rusticity), and Misses Beth Mackey and Willa Lyndberg. "A Cuckoo in the Nest" is strongly commended to all in search of laughter. It will be repeated this evening.