COMEDY IN BUSINESS

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12455, 25 May 1926, Page 4

COMEDY IN BUSINESS

"GIVE AND TAKE” OPENS FINE JEWISH - COMEDIAN. Even the gods of business must smile at “Give and Take.” This American comedy from the pen of Aaron Hoffman, takes some time to 6egin, hut once it behins it contains many laughs to the square minute. And. the first night’s audience at the Opera House last night enjoyed it fully. The day of Jewish comedies is with the United States. First there were the Potash and Perlmutter plays, then, as is reported, “Abie's Irish Rose,’-’ now “Give and Take.” This latest play is a cleverly woven comedy, and not at all the propaganda which it threatens to be in the first act. Here there is much talk of the rights and wrongs of employers and workmen, of their respective worries and rewards, and one suspects that Hoffman is rather pleased to be able to allow the employer to score heavily in many lines. The first act was necessary, however, be it conceded, to prepare the ground, and once embarked upon the second act the play shows itself to be a very lively farce. It is not pleasant at the first curtain to see John Bauer, the hard-working proprietor of a fruit cannery,. with his thirty years of effort in ruins around him, his best friend turned against him and his son a traitor to his class. Hard-pressed by his banker, Bauer is forced to submit to the weapon of the threatened strike and fo form bis business into an industrial democracy run on the same lines as the Government of the United States, with President, Cabinet, Senate and Congress all complete. And it is by the efforts of Jack Bauer that this is brought about. That is the situation when the second act opens, and it is a situation full of possibilities: a business which, is dependent on the vote of a thousand workers: a proprietor-presi-dent, who can do nothing without his men’s consent, and with a foreman now styled Secretary of State. But the author does not devote bis time to more than a sly gibe at the workers which ho gives through the medium of tho works’ whistle as a signal for Cabinet meetings, rest periods and the sitting of the recreations committee. He is too busy getting on with the play. And there is much to happen in a series of scenes which are immoderately amusing. How Bauer’s note is met by the subscription of his thousand workers who march on the bank to withdraw their money; how Bauer, determined to carry on, retrieves the trademark which he has signed away in despondency in return for the offer of a job on the closing of his factory j how he is visited by a deus ex machina, or literally a god with the machine in the person of Thomas Craig, who signs a contract for the purchase of the entire output of the works for a year to stock his fleet of antomobile stores; how Bauer fights through to buy large quantities of fruit, only to find that Craig is a lunatic—these things, with much comio and some sentimental relief, fill a hilarious evening. And, of course, there is a satisfactory ending, and we leave the industrial democracy with colours flying still. The cast is small but excellent. As Bauer, senior, Mr Harry Green gave a character sketch, which was never less than good and frequently much nearer excellent. In a difficult part he never once clowned or exaggerated, and will remain in memory as a fine comedian. Mr Edward de Tisne provided what, in years gone by, would have been called an “original” in Albert Kruger,. the foreman, who becomes Secretary of State. His work was refreshingly novel, and his “Lincoln” moments most entertaining. Solid capability best describes Mr George Hewlett’s Thomas Craig, and Mr Hal Percy as Bauer junior performed satisfyingly. The Daniel Drum of Mr Edwin Lester was another clever sketch of an odd banker. The sole woman in the play was Miss . Vora Spaull, who carried her responsibility lightly and well. “Give and Take” will be repeated aH this week.