THE MAGISTRATE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1832, 31 December 1886, Page 18

THE MAGISTRATE.

11 The Magistrate," the piece in which' Messrs Williamson, Garner, and Musgrove's Comedy Company opened at the Princess Theatre on Boxing Night, is written by Mr Pinero, a man who is himself an actor as well as an author, and who understands thoroughly the requirements of the stage, especially the requirements of that comparatively new stage product — farcical comedy. In " The Magistrate " are included all the recognised elements of farcical comedy. There is a husband staid and rich in dignity, but for all that not so immaculate as he looks. Upon the stage few gentlemen of oppressive respectability are immaculate when it comes to the pinch. There is also the wife, the unbending head of the household, flawless but for one small weakness which lands her, of course, in a position of tha most extreme difficulty. There is the youth in Eton jackets and collars severely innocent beneath the parental eye, but with a pretty taste for champagne suppers and bright eyes already developed • there are a couple of well-drawn military men, and a hungry flirt. All this is material with which some excellent complications may be woven. To begin with, Mrs Posket't has deceived her husband, the worthy police magistrate of Mulberry street ,with respect to her age. {Having deceived him with respect to her age, she has also deceived him with respect to the date of her former marriage, and as a consequence has further deceived him as to the age of young Cis Farringdon, her son by that former marriage. We are therefore confronted by the distressing circumstance of a youth in the garb of 14 with the tastes and small vices of five-and-twenty. Cis as a matter of fact is only 19, but he is a well advanced and distinctly promising lad at that age. Already he can fleece his stepfather at cards with systematic regularity, and can extract money from the same excellent gentleman to invest surreptitiously upon some particularly " safe thing." On the unfortunate night with which the play deals he does worse. He inserts his feebly protesting parent into an overcoat, and bears him bodily off to a petit souper at a West End hotel. As it happens, Mrs Poskett has suddenly learnt -on this evening that Colonel Lukyn, the godfather of the model boy, who is, of course, acquainted with the lad's real age, has returned to London, and will dine with her husband the following night, aud in all probability betray her pious fraud. She therefore determines to seek out the colonel forthwith, confess her peccadillo, and bind him to secrecy, and she sets out accordingly in company, with her sister, the hungry flirt. As luck has it, their mission takes them to the Hotel dcs Princes, and they interview Colonel Lukyn in a room adjoining that in which Mr Poskett and his engaging stepson are holding high revel. Delay is occasioned by-the hungry flirt, who, during Mrs Poskett's appeal to the colonel, finds stewed oysters upon the sideboard and a drenched lover upon the balcony, and the consequence is that closing time comes and goes and the hotel is suddenly invaded by the police. In the general confusion the ladies, the colonel, and the damp lover, together with Mr Poskett and his juvenile tempter, are all bundled indescriminately behind sofas and under tables; but they are unearthed by the officers of the law, and the names' and addresses of all taken with the exception of Mr Poskett and young Farringdon, who escape from the police with difficulty, after a long 6tern chase. Unluckily, in their endeavours to screen the ladies Colonel Lukyn and Captain Vale, jthe moist lover, offer violence to a constable, "and this leads forthwith to the arrest of the whole party, who are detained in custody all night to appear at Mulberry street Police Court in the morning. Act 111 finds all parties in as hopeless and bedraggled condition as could possibly be desired. The worshipful Poskett appears in his courtroom to transact the day's business, battered, bruised, and bathed in yellow clay. He shelters himself from the gaze of his subordinates behind a torn copy of the Times, but manages to resolutely withstand the entreaty of Colouel Lukyn for the release of the two unknown ladies. It is not until he has sentenced the whole of the unlucky party to seven days' imprisonment without the option of a fine that the ladies' veils are raised and the full horror of the situation bursts upon him. The eventual release of the delinquents and the mutual explanations in the Poskett household bring three acts of irresistibly amusing nonsense to a close. The piece from beginning to end is full of ••points," thedialogue is really brilliant.and the situations are exceedingly clever. It is difficult to see, too, how the characters, taken as a whole, could have been better played. Mr G. W. Anson, as the magistrate, was remarkably funny, and before the first act was, over had secured an unmistakable hold upon the audience. His make-up and facial expression suited the character to a nicety, and there was no tendency to turn the business into boisterous burlesque. The humour was as quiet as it was telling. Mr Titheradge as Colonel Lukyn showed himself what he has been long recognised to be on tbe other side, an actor of polish and consummate skill. He played admirably in both the second and third acts ; and Mr Frank Cates gave a study just as perfect in its way as Captain Vale, the modern fop, weakly impressionable andstrong in lassitude and shirt collar. Mr D' Arcy Stanfield as young Fanningdon, the Harry Greenleaves of the piece, had a very important and very effective part, and did about all that could be done with it, drawing many a hearty laugh in the course of the evening. Miss Annie Taylor, a very capable actress, who, like Messrs dates and Titheradge, was a member of Mr Garner's original London Comedy Company, did good service as Mrs Pookett; and Miss Clairbourne as Charlotte Verinder, the young lady with the appetite, and Miss E. Fischer as Beatie Tomlinson, the inamorata of young hopeful Fanningdan, both acted with sprightliness and naivete. Mr Stanmaur as a French waiter, Mr Beverly as the police inspector, and Miss Lvster, Messrs Calvert, Bryant, Clitherow, Wyndham, Bryer, and Matthews made up the rest of the numerous caste, and all filled their parts in a thoroughly satisfactory manner. It is a long time in fact since we have seen a piece played with suoh allKound smartness, and this io light coniedv is eWrythipg,