GUY BATES POST

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 3247, 18 January 1926, Page 9

GUY BATES POST

RETEALED 70 P AhMURSTOX north in “Masquerader.” On Saturday evening at the Oper*. House, Mr ouy Bates Post appeared for the first time before a Palmer** ton North audience in “The Masquer** ader”. ‘The great actor has gained' an international reputation; fcfld, aft SO Saturday’s performance, that fame *• will be felt, by every member of the audience, to be fully deserved. In “The Masquerade'.' - ' Mr Post play* ~ a dual role, perhaps the supreme test of an actor's art. Other plavers have essayed such a representation notably Mr Post’s compatriot Richard Mansfield, whose portrayal of the double role of Df. Jekyll and Mr Hyde wilt still be remembered by the Older generation of playgoers. But in that weird play the actor was helped by the physical dissimilarity between the two characters, whereas la this adap-, tatlon from “John Chllcote M.P.”, the whole point of the drama depends upon the physical likeness and the moral difference between the wretched drug-addict and tho well-balanced journalist The rapid deterioration of John Chllcote, released from atf* restraint after his compact with Led* or, he takes morphia in eVef-incroasr Ing duantitles, is n awellously po#t hayed by Mr Post; and the quit*’ changes to the Character of hIS bettef self as illustrated in John Loder mak* it almost incredible that one is seeing the same man. The scenes 14 LOder’s ’edging, where Chllcote I*, shown obsessed by the hallucination* Induced by the drug, are a wonde** ’ tui display of the actor’s taieafc “Whispering, whispering, they arc a)* , ways whispering. Don’t let them ln'% 1 abd the dismissal of his best friend' the old family servant: “D —*—d lackey, d d lackey." As Loder, Mgi

Post was equally convincing, and iq! the scenes with Mrs Chllcote, with, whom he has fallen JO love, and who*; believing him to bo her husband, makes frank love to him, he was tender and showed with marvellous skill, the struggle between his love and thesense of duty. In the lighter parte, he was also good, as. for instance, in. the episode where he cleverly overcomes the difficulties caused by hi* unfamillarlty with the Interior of • Chilcote’s house. . The role of Evf Chllcote was finely played by Miss Eil« ecu Sparks, who was especially efface . tive in the scones where sha coaxed the, two politicians to giye her husband another chance; and in the .domestl# scene with Loder. An important part was that of Brock, the faithful old . servant, admirably and consistently,, played by Mr Wilmington Barnes. To Palmerston playgoers special In* terest attached to the appearance off Miss Cecil Haines, who showed remarkable dramatic power In her delineation of Robbins, the servant girl' In garret scenes with the drug addict The mounting of the play was superb . and the stage management wonderful; the changes froth Chllcote to Loder, and vice versa, being so skilfully managed as to leave the audience wondering "how it was done”. At the conclusion in response to insistent re- , calls, Mr Post made a graceful little speech, thanking the large audience for their appreciation. "Art tc be successful must be approved and especially is this true of dramatic* art" Palmerston North Is fortunate lb having a visit from such a consummate artist as Guy Bates Post; and it Id likely that the Opera House will not be able to accommodate the audiences which will flock there to seb the great actor in "The Green Goddess” and “The Bad Man” which are to he presented this week on Thursday and on Friday Jan. 29. Visits of first-class dramatic companies are all too rare in Palmerston North for any to be- missed and it will probably be a long time before we have an opportunity of seeing an actor of the calibre of Guy Bates Po< with such superbly mount*! plcjp.