"PASSING OF THE THIRD FLOOR BACK."

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XXI, Issue 2729, 9 December 1910, Page 2

"PASSING OF THE THIRD FLOOR BACK."

COMING TO PAEROA

The. Hamilton, Plunmer and Denniston Company will appear in the Criterion Theatre on Tuesday, 20th December, and stage " The Passing of the Third Floor Back." The poetry andj^—, the sordid realism of life jostle one another continually in Jerome K. Jerome's strange new comedy. The author seems to ingeniously shadow forth this fact in the title, in which the first word conveys a sense of mystery, while the last is a technical pharse peculiar to lodging-house keepers in London. The Bloomsbury boardinghouse, upon which the curtain rises, is described by the acidulated landlady as "a den of lions," but it is in fact a den of thieves, illustrating the adage that " humanity must perforce prey upon itself." In this teacup whirlpool of the petty meannesses of social life there suddenly drops an element of good. It is not necessary to suppose that the author intended the ■■> passer-by to be Christ Himself. The, ..- symbolical nature ot the character is, however, insisted upon; and the sug- ■— Sfestion that the stranger .represents the better self seems to amply meet tlie dramatic situation. He passes by and he passes out, this angel of grace, and leaves the cheat, the slavey, the painted ' lady, the shrew, the snob, the bully, the hussy, the satyr, the coward, the cad, and the rogue all touched with human gentleness and mutual love. Necessarily the playwright's scheme requires delicate handling. It forms, indeed, one of the most fragile pieces that could be imagined. The methodical symmetry of the working out, the know. ledge that the stranger must "tackle 11 each individual backslider in turn, as if at a school examination, and the occa^_, sionaL intrusion of the supernatural «rto~\ the commonplace of every day existence, create stage conditions demanding the utmost care and artistic experience upon the part ot the players. The " H.P.D." Company bring all this,to bear on the play, and the result is a very fine performance. The box plan opens at Harris 1, jeweller, on Thursday, 15th inst.