"PASSING OF THE THIRD FLOOR BACK."

Otago Witness, Issue 2955, 2 November 1910, Page 69

"PASSING OF THE THIRD FLOOR BACK."

This mystic play, by "Jerome K. Jerome," will be staged by the Hamilton, Plimmer -and Denniston Company in His Majesty's Theatre on Monday, November 7. It ia a play that must be seen to be understood, and when seen plenty go away wondering and trying to find an answer to who is he ? The character of the Mysterious Stranger is one that, while it pleases, certainly astonishes those who witness -it; and they go away criticising in their own minds the idea that "Jerome" had in his mind when he created the character. Was it supposed to bo the Divinity? "Jerome" says no; it is intended to be a sort o£ "Better Thoughts," trying as a mortal to inculcate the same into tho minds, lives, and habits of all those with whom it or ho comes in contact. The scene is laid in Bloomsbury Boarding House, when the landlady, tho servant (otherwise the slavey), the boarders (both maie and female), one and all are practising their little peccadilloes and kleptomaniac idiosyncrasies towards each other. It causes many a hearty laugh to see one watering the milk, another stealing (or borrowing) the candles, etc., etc., when suddenly the Mysterious Stranger arrives and' engages " The Third Floor Back Room," which is virtually a lumber room up three flights of stairs—hence " third floor back." He immediately starts engaging them in conversation, commencing with the landlady, and is not very long before he has changed the whole tenor of the behaviour of the inmates, after which he passes out and away to other labours. Miss Lizettc Parkes, of " Peter Pan" fame, is in the company; as also is Mrs Robert Brough, together with a caste of some thirty artists). "Tho Third Floor", can only be played four nights, as tho remaining three of the season will bo devoted to "Lover's Lane." The box plan opens to-morrow rrornjng at the Dresden, with no extra charges for booking.