'SUSPENSE!'

Evening Star, Issue 19795, 20 February 1928, Page 6

'SUSPENSE!'

‘Suspense,’ Die play which scored such an extraordinary success in England. and which is coining to His Majesty’s next week, is said to possess Dio most skilfully-concealed “crook” known to the stage. Moving silently and swiftly in the dark, his sinister presence is felt throughout the entire story, and the efforts of Scotland Yard to drag him into the light result in some extraordinary situations. It is not until the last three minutes of the play that his identity is established. Suspicion falls almost equally upon all the characters in the story, and each suspects the other until the original issue is almost forgotten in the ensuing complications. A mystery story of the first grade, ‘ Suspense ’ is also a fine comedy. No low-comedy servant intrudes to upset the continuity of the story with absurd remarks; none of the usual stage tricks are resorted to. It is the author’s knowledge of human nature, his keen sympathy with human failings, his masterful handling of the English language, and his faculty for creating vigorous characters which have placed him in the forefront of the younger school of dramatists, and ‘ Suspense ’ is in a class by itself. Considering it impossible to stage ‘Suspense’ without him, the author is introducing to New Zealand audiences one of the best character actors of the English stage, Frank Calnon, who, in the ro e of Lee Wang, a Chinese valet, reveals an uncanny knowledge of tho Oriental, his stealthy presence bcing_ responsible for most of the “creeps” in an exciting story.