“THE BEST PEOPLE.”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20075, 16 April 1927, Page 10

“THE BEST PEOPLE.”

“ The Best People,” it is confidently claimed, will live up to their reputation when they commence their brief season at His Majesty’s Theatre to-night. The playwrights, David Gray and Avery Hopwood, have blended impudence and epigrams in delightful fashion, and the triumph of youth is symbolical of every country where jazz has taken the place of “ The Maiden’s Prayer.” “ The Best People ” might belong to any country in the world, for they are a cosmopolitan product of the earth and the lack of responsibility which apparently goes with it. But in this version of the story of rw conflict between parents and children the parents are wealthier than usual and the children more headstrong and troublesome. Moreover, the story is related with so much freshness, charm, and humour that it possesses all the appeal of originality. And, although the authors have palpably no other desire than to construct an amusing comedy, they have, by satirising the crassness and obtuseness of their too-wealthy parents, and the boorishness and bad behaviour of their badly-brought-up children, done more than raise a laugh at their expense. They have succeeded in furnishing a cogent moral. Not only is the play different in its amusing qualities, and not only does it administer in a pleasant fashion a health giving pill of morality, but it is presented by what is confidently claimed to be the finest company that has appeared in New Zealand for many a long clay. It has been termed a “cluster of stars,” with each part “ a gem of characterisation,” and one Melbourne critic wrote: “Every time any of them are on the stage for a brief space they all seem to get away with the star part temporarily. The company includes Misses Marian Lord, Helen A. Audiffred, Beatrice Day, Marion Sterly, Eileen Morris, and Messrs Robert Adams, William Macauley, J. B. Lowe, Richard Ehlers, H. Lane-Bayliff, and Reginald Collins. The box plans for this evening’s and Monday’s matinee and evening performances are now open.