KING’S THEATRE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20414, 26 November 1940, Page 5

KING’S THEATRE

A. J. CRONIN’S “THE STARS LOOK DOWN” “The Stars Look Down,” which opens at the King’s Theatre to-day. is a grimly dramatic story . about coal-miners. The author. A. .T. Cronin, feels strongly on the subject. He has put forward ".through the mouth of his hero, ah eloquent plea for the nationalisation of mines, and lie has dwelt sympathetically, also, on the struggle of the miners against owners. A section of the mine is dangerous. The men refuse to work it. The mine manager pooh-poohs their objections, and enforces his will at the end of a long 'and bitter strike,, following which there is a disaster. The triangle formed by Michaelßedgrave, Margaret.Lockwdod, and. Emlyn Williams tf'bhrs..little relationship to the rffitiitig problem; but.it gives the story $ hsf£ 6't personal interest. Redgrave is the,.Strident. ,an idealist at odds with.., thW . pbvei't.y. and self-seeking which’, sufr.dund him on. all sides, b.ut SS fAlls into the toils of a cheap little keeper’s . daughter. That is. Miss Lockwood’S chance. She turns her back completely on the ingenue parts which have beset her for, so long, and presents a hardhatured vulgarian, with sincerity and address. The creature can cloak her tfud’ personality from her lover by md’ans of pseudo-genteel manners, because he is a simpleton from a mining village; but the audience sees the Character ,in all its rawness. The true mate .of. the* girl is an ostentatious swindler., However, as he is just as un'tfu'stworthy in love as in everything else, the, twp cannot permanently corhe. together,. .The girl’s soul is filled With a great longing for him, and consequently a burning discontent with the shabby nobility of the student, who has now become her husband. Emlyn Williams gives the mean-spirited, sharper a splendid breadth of effect, making everything seem easy and natural, instead of consciously clever. __